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Post by Grenville on Apr 15, 2006 22:11:01 GMT
Fiat have announced with a day to go, that they plan on entering the Deutschland Rally with a Fiat Punto S2000. Behind the wheel will be unknown driver SpeedWolf. The British driver is said to be very excited to take the Punto on its 1st competitive outing. *The S2000 Punto has been seen testing but nothing much has been revealed about the car or FIAT's plans.
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Post by Grenville on Apr 16, 2006 1:46:27 GMT
*DAY 1* Rally Germany was destined to be one of the best rallies to date. FIAT made a surprise appearance as they entered their Punto S2000. Not much was known about the car, but it ended up showing great pace. Also the long awaited C4 made its 1st competitive appearance and made its mark on the rally by getting the fastest time on the 1st stage! *Day 2* The infamous Panzerplatte stage was on the menu for day 2. The stage proving very quickly that it is not one for mistakes. Add rain on to that and you have a very dangerous stage. The 1st victim was EvoSpi in his Lancer. He hit a hinkelstein, destroying the front of his car. Subaru's Curt was next to fall victim to the huge concrete blocks. Going around a blind corner, he clipped the wall rolling end over end. Tumbo managed to stay out of trouble and clocked the fastest time. *Day 3* The last stage of the day saw Mitch, Tumbo,and Igor fighting it out for the win. Mitch dropped out of contention when his Ford suffered turbo problems. Tumbo did well on the final stage, but Igor blitzed the rest of the field with a fastest time and the overall win of the rally. Lower down the leader board Danii brought her Impreza home in 3rd, a great result for the German on her home rally. Mixa over came his recent bad luck to bring the C4 home in an impressive 4th place. The debut for FIAT went well as SWolf got a respectable 10th place. A great battle for the driver's title as Matt and Curt are still just seperated by 1 point. Brilliant stuff!
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Post by Grenville on Apr 16, 2006 1:47:31 GMT
Let me know guys what you think of the new format. This way I can report on more drivers vs. the old style. I have also updated some team logos.
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Post by tumbo on Apr 16, 2006 2:47:05 GMT
Skoda Report:
Firstly congratulations to the FIA (rallying83) on the updated format. Hopefully this style will continue for the remainder of the season as the whole team found the event more personalised and enjoyable.
We have nothing but praise for both our drivers, Lita held onto her nerve and put aside recent poor results with a well deserved second with the race going down to the final stage. Tumbo was in with a shot until he made an incorrect tyre choice and suffered for it. We are pleased to finally score a decent finish for both cars and feel the added factory support will be beneficial in achieving the most out of the current Fabia.
Tumbo "yet again the team provided us with a rally winning car and we were unlucky not to post our first victory of the season. While 6th doesn't appear much in the final standings it served to keep the team's mid-season surge going. With another podium notched up in Lita's 2nd we are hoping to finally crack through for a victory before the end of the season. The tyre choice for the final stage was well off the mark, having gone with slicks for the second day and dragged myself into contention the rain fell at the wrong time in the final stage. Having seen Igor go out on a hard compound to such effect I hoped the clouds would hold out but they opened up with only 6kms to go. The car was like an ice-skate and a spin on the final corner cost a certain podium position."
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Post by OverSauron on Apr 16, 2006 5:34:28 GMT
Let me know guys what you think of the new format. This way I can report on more drivers vs. the old style. I have also updated some team logos. Gren, about logos, could you add maybe Peugeot logo to the OMV's one? Thanks! I dedicate this win to the Russian rally champion Alexander Lesnikov, tragically lost on this week in a road incident.
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Post by mattwrc on Apr 16, 2006 8:44:38 GMT
i really like the new format - when it was loading was thinking is thier something different Kronos Report: Well it finally arrived the C4 and well it proved to be an ultra competitive car just as we thought it would be. Mixa managed a strong 5th place on the rally which will make up for some of the recent misfortune that has been experienced. Because of the 5th overall we now retain the manufactors championship lead. Overall my event was less competitive. The poor pace was mainly due to myself not been able to get to grips with the car at first - so i decided with the retirement of main rival Curt to use this rally as a test session. Kronos are planning to use the C4 again later in the season depending on FIA approval
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Post by Mitch on Apr 16, 2006 8:57:27 GMT
I love the new format!
Stobart Ford Report: Mitch: "Very disapointed. Once again fighting for the win and the car lets me down. I am starting to lose count of the failures were having. FTRS is slipping further back in th championship and we are both struggling with the car. The car is going through a stage of many faults.
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Post by Grenville on Apr 16, 2006 14:46:04 GMT
**Suzuki Report** Not a great rally for us but not bad either. We came close to scoring a point, but CFinch put in a really good time on St Wendel. Germnay is a rally where it is crucial to have the perfect set up. I was playing with the settings all rally and I think that slowed me down. Overall though the team is happy. We are still in the baby stages of the car as we still have much testing to do. So to get the results we have with a brand new car, is definately something the team should be proud of.
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Post by chrisfinch on Apr 17, 2006 8:25:09 GMT
Red Bull Skoda: Finch Amid wild rumours he may be spending next season at Fiat, with new S2000 Punto, Chris Finch scraped eigth place after a fight to the finish with R83. "I'm not happy again. We are challenging for the manufacturers title, and all we can muster is 7th and 8th. Congratulations to igor on this sad weekend for him and I do like the new format, it is much easier to gather data."
When asked about a move to Fiat, Finch added, "I've made no secret I'm looking for a new team for next season. With Fiat recruiting my good friend Speedwolf, it's definitely an option to look at. Right now. I'm keeping my options open."
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Post by Mixa on Apr 17, 2006 9:36:55 GMT
BTW does this idea would have something to go for... I mean what about if the teams what are taking part next year would offer the deals for the drivers when we are getting closer to next year and you would example get 3 contract deals and there even could be multi year contracts?? I think it would be awesome and would make this one even more greatly
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Post by Grenville on Apr 19, 2006 18:24:30 GMT
I was thinking about that also Mixa. Only issue I see is that I have the GroupB RFC after this so after that is done and everyone has decided that they want to do it then we can do. LOL. Complicated I know. Basically I would like to wait until GroupB has finshed and see what everyone would like to do.
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Post by Grenville on Apr 19, 2006 18:30:39 GMT
Some teams caught testing for the up and coming Neste Rally Finland. Ford are hoping to pull off a 3rd win of the season. The Kronos/Citroen team is back in the Xsara after a more than succesful debut with the C4. Word is that the FIA has given Citroen approval to run the C4 in as many events as they wish, so expect this to be one of the last rallies for the Xsara. Interesting picture of Colin McRae giving some words of advice to the Skoda/RedBull rally teams. The scot was asked by Skoda to advise them on the best way(s) to make the Fabia more competative. The 2 Skoda teams have had some good results but have still not been a huge threat this season. Colin has put his name down on the entry list for Rally GB at the end of the season. He has yet to choose a car for the rally.
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Post by Mixa on Apr 20, 2006 11:33:02 GMT
Yaw!! The rally I have been waiting. I have a lot of supporters here and the win at the home ground would be awesome and that is the one I only want for this rally. A top3 is also quite ok but I think my supporters dont agree with my opinion.
We are at over a half point of the season so its better to collect good results if I want to fight for the titles.
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Post by Grenville on Apr 22, 2006 21:52:09 GMT
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Post by Mixa on Apr 23, 2006 0:08:03 GMT
I wish Matt will add more to Kronos news but once again somehow its always the 1 stage what costs me some points and this time it was the win as I seemed to be off pace on Ouninpohja . Anyway the 2nd place was excellent and now I am back at the title fight. Cant say more than my bad luck has left for a second atleast but it might jump back in a second also so I wish my hard days are behind. I am still surprised to be on title fight even due my 5 or 6 retirements this season and 3 or 4 came in a row .Looking forward to Japan what should be good event to me and I wish better for my team mate also.At the manufacturers looks good. EDIT: BTW quite poor times on the 2.06 km spectator stage at Killeri horsetrack and 2 retirements
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