Petter Solberg has his championship campaign off to a fine start this season, and the Norwegian scored his second win of the year at this weekend’s Rally Mexico. Driving the 2005 spec Subaru Impreza in its debut, Solberg took the lead on SS1 and never looked back. While Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm applied steady pressure on Leg 1, Peugeot management instructed Gronholm it was more important to bring his 307 to the finish ramp in the points rather than risk an off chasing Solberg. Despite Gronholm’s second place finish, it was good event for Peugeot, as Markko Martin has continued his consistent driving, finishing on the podium in third place. Sebastien Loeb, after damaging his Citroen during the shakedown, started well, but more problems with his Xsara left him well down the order at the end of Leg 1. Loeb drove well for the next two days, however, securing a handful of stage wins and climbing back to fourth place overall. Loeb’s teammate Francois Duval was not as fortunate, and Duval retired on Leg 2.
Mitsubishi also continued their good form in Mexico, with Harri Rovanpera finishing in fifth and Gilles Panizzi in eighth. While neither were in the hunt for more points, they were the only team besides Peugeot to get both cars to the finish ramp, leaving the Japanese marquee tied with Ford for second place in the manufacturer’s championship. This was the first rally for the team to test new active differentials on the Lancers, and both Rovanpera and Panizzi said more work would have to be done, leaving the team quite optimistic for their chances on the run of five gravel events following Mexico.
Ford’s Toni Gardemeister could only manage sixth place on his first Mexican event, and though the Finn lost the overall championship lead to Solberg, he is still in the thick of the battle. Ford privateer Antony Warmbold took seventh, furthering his cause of getting a full factory drive in the very near future. Warmbold has been a consistent top 12 finisher over the past two seasons, so expect his services to be in demand by the major marquees after the season.
Other notes from the rally:
Subaru’s newest recruit, Chris Atkinson nearly stormed into the points in his second WRC event, holding as high as fifth place on Leg 1, but damage to the suspension on his Impreza cut short Leg 2, and a drop in oil pressure on Leg 3 finally forced him out of the rally in an attempt to preserve the engine (WRC rules mandate engines must survive two events before overhaul — this is a cost-cutting measure). Subaru management is quite pleased with Atkinson’s progress however, and with the series of gravel events on the schedule, he shoud find himself in the points very soon.
Skoda could do no better than a ninth place for Armin Schwarz. The team introduced the 2005 spec Fabia in Mexico. Jani Passonen did have problems with both his car’s gearbox and a cow, and could do no better than 13th. Both drivers did say, however, that the new Fabia faired well on the rough roads.
The championship travels across the globe in April for Rallye New Zealand.
Posted on 13 March 2005