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Post by rallynick on Oct 17, 2005 23:04:01 GMT
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Post by Vivski on Oct 18, 2005 1:03:34 GMT
News from the Moose... Team Boss: "This weekend we have proven that the car has a lot of speed and we can compete for victories. It was an excellent performance by Gilles to take 3rd. Unfortunately Sebastien dropped 30s when he hit a mountain goat near the top of Turini. We hope he can recover for the next round. My congratulations to Francois and Team Mixa. They had a very good package for this rally. The C4 is obviously very strong." Loeb: "I could not get the feeling in the car. At the top of Turini, there was a goat in the middle of the road. It was very slippery so I could not avoid it." Panizzi: "I beat all the Loebs!"
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Post by Grenville on Oct 18, 2005 1:53:14 GMT
What a start to the first rally of the season! A lot of questions were being asked in the off season. One that was definately on the minds of everyone was "how strong will the Citroen C4 be?". Well I think everyone got there answer! Mikko Hirvonen(Team hairpin left) started off the rally with the fastest time but unfortunetly couldn't keep up his early pace. Then Sebastian Loeb(Moose Power) hit a mountain goat dropping about 30sec. It is rumored that PETA is on their way, so Loeb may be linched before Sweden. In the end it was the C4 ,run by Team Mixa and driven by the young belgian Francois Duval, that took victory in the tricky conditions of Monte Carlo. Behind him was Gardemeister in his Focus followed by Panizzi in his Focus. Just out of the points was Mark Higgins in his Skoda Fabia. An amazing drive for a man who suprised a lot of people.
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Post by Grenville on Oct 18, 2005 2:15:10 GMT
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Post by Grenville on Oct 18, 2005 2:28:09 GMT
Well all I can say is what a dreadful start to the season! We were just not prepared for this rally. Its as simple as that. We had a recurring brake problem that cost both of our drivers the rally. Sola's brakes failed on stage 2 causing him to hit a tree, then McRae's brakes failed on stage 3 causing him to go off the road breaking the suspension. Sola:"It was not a good rally to say the least" McRae"Not the result we wanted for sure. I think the team has a lot of work to do before New Zealand. Even if we hadn't had the brake problem our car didn't show any speed." We have already begun testing in Sweden. We have a lot of work to do!
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Post by FordTeamRS on Oct 18, 2005 6:30:24 GMT
Damn we had a really bad rally. Of course Loeb took a little time to adjust himself to a new car, and of course Atkinson has never competed here previously. Quite a sluggish start but we're hoping for a better result in New Zealand
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Post by mattwrc on Oct 18, 2005 6:42:59 GMT
for team hairpinleft it wasnt the weekend we had planned fine we dont expect the hyundai at this stage to be the fastest car however this was only the first round of a vast championship
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Post by Vivski on Oct 18, 2005 10:28:23 GMT
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Post by rallynick on Oct 18, 2005 14:05:11 GMT
i think its worth reminding you that, unlike RFC3, there are n ow almost 30 cars in every rally, so you should consider any result in the top 8 a good run!
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Post by rallynick on Oct 18, 2005 19:23:34 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]rowland rally racing[/glow] we have had a good solid start to the season, but could not repeat our podium finish like last season. thank you to panizzi for getting the car home, yet we were expecting a bit more from him richard made a great return rally, with a great ss1 time, and all i can do is apologise to him for the breakdown. we are also very happy for mark higgins in the lions05 skoda, the sister team to rowland rally racing, run by my long lasting friend 'reeder' to boost richard chance of winning new zealand, we have begun a intensive test week for him, to improve his feeling with the car, and to get better reliability. our resources are limited as we have not picked a development department like most other teams, but we will do are best
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Post by rallynick on Oct 18, 2005 20:15:42 GMT
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Post by chrisfinch on Oct 19, 2005 8:20:33 GMT
FIM boss chrisfinch was understandably diappointed with his teams start to the season. "Gronholm had a nasty roll in shakedown and the car was severley damaged. It was touch and go as to whether we could make the rally start, and we just couldn't get it ready in time." Finch was impressed with Galli's start. "Gigi was not always on the pace, but I think he came back well to finish 12th. Although he didn't get any points, I am confident for him in New Zealand." It is a long way back for FIM after that poor start, but with so many teams, it is not difficult to get back up. "Other teams will have the problems we have, and luck evens itself out over a season. Onto gravel next, and me and the team believe we can get a good, points scoring finish on our drivers' favourite surface."
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Post by 205GTi on Oct 19, 2005 15:13:25 GMT
Woo Hoo a finish so early on in the season, this years lookin good for MCD
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Post by Curt on Oct 19, 2005 16:05:20 GMT
I'm very happy with the teams results in Monte Carlo. I believe I am the only one to have both drivers score points . I'm surprised Loeb didn't do better, instead Gardemeister excelled my expectations.
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Post by Mixa on Oct 22, 2005 13:40:20 GMT
Citroen Racing Team Mixa Press release:
Duval wins the Monte Carlo Rallye and the 1st win to the all new Citroen C4!
Team boss Mixa: In the rally all gone really well. I am really surprised as all gone way more better than I expected. It seems Citroen C4 WRC is quite ready and our drivers are ready to the season too. In this rally Duval showed that he was the right driver to the team but unfortunately Toni´s(Gardemeister) problems forced him to retire before the rally even started. In the team base we will need to analyze his problem before the next rally and the tests how this was even possible. Offcourse we knowed that Citroen C4 might have reliability problems and this was a lesson to us whats might be ahead. To the next rally we will go to win again but its will be really hard as all the teams will do hard work to go for the top. As I said we are a new team and its sure we will need to work hard in the future too and learn more to the circle of RFC.
Francois Duval: It was nice to take my 1st RFC victory down here in Monte Carlo. I want to thank my team and the new Citroen C4 WRC for this victory. This was deffinately the best start to the season what was possible and I am trying to keep us at the top of the table.
Toni Gardemeister: We came to here to look a good result but rally stopped for us before it even started to the mechanical problems. Honestly I am really disappointed. I am still happy to the Duval´s win and for the win of the team but I wish the better times for us are still ahead. We will attack in the next rally.
Citroen Racing Team Mixa thanks all the sponsors and the fans for this great result.
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