'06 Rally WRC in Monaco holding the lead

zetec · 22-01-2006, 11:36 PM

Well I'm hoping for a win to start what might be a sensational season for the new LS '06 Focus WRC. Loeb is being held back by Gronholm and tomorrow will be a tense day (or tonight should we say while we are sleeping) to see if he can hold out his 2 minute + lead.

Here's some pics of the action so far, must say it's arguably the most photogenic rally of the year, helped by the cars running on road rims and doing lots of nice handbrake turns!!!!!

It's incredibly hard to find WRC photos during the Rally, I found them from the Automobile Club of Moncao's website but I had to screen capture them!!!! Urgh. Enjoy.

zetec · 22-01-2006, 11:59 PM

More...

zetec · 23-01-2006, 12:00 AM

and finally...

VS the mighty Mk I Focus!!!

FOCUSonTHIS · 23-01-2006, 12:08 AM

good work matt. I'll give u my 2 thumbs up for the pics, i'm praying for gron to win tonight in my sleep too

vztrt · 23-01-2006, 12:09 AM

How is Atkins going?

zetec · 23-01-2006, 12:24 AM

http://www.rally.com.au/home/latestnews/articleid=1873

Chris Atkinson maintains a strong hold on a points scoring position with one leg remaining of the Rallye Monte Carlo.

Atkinson and co-driver Glenn Macneall continued their conservative approach towards the event during the second leg to be in sixth position overnight and remain on track for a career best result in a tarmac event aboard their Subaru Rally Team Australia Impreza WRC2005.

“During the opening leg we benefited from some good tyre decisions which helped us move up the leader board and today we knew we would drop a few positions but we have lost a bit more time than we wanted to,” said Atkinson.

“When I was preparing for this weekend I was very conscious of final stage of today which included the famous Col de Turini section. This section has caught so many people out in the past so I took it very cautiously, I was probably too cautious but I’d loose some time than push too hard and make a mistake which could end our rally.”

Tomorrow’s third and final leg of the 74th Rallye Monte Carlo will again consist of six stages with a total competitive distance of 116.30 competitive kilometres, including two passes across the treacherous Col De Turini section of the event.

“The aim for the start of the weekend was to obtain a solid result and score some points, right now we are on track for that, tomorrow will be about picking the pace up a bit to ensure we maintain our position in the points without taking too many risks,” said Atkinson.

With one leg remaining Ford’s Marcus Gronholm has a two-minute lead over Toni Gardemeister who is hotly pursued by Manfred Stohl. Dual World Champion Sebastien Loeb was the big mover throughout the day winning every stage contested and elevating himself from eighth to fourth position.

vztrt · 23-01-2006, 12:26 AM

Thanks mate. Good job with the pics as well

zetec · 23-01-2006, 12:34 AM

My pleasure. Expect me to ramp up my reports on the Focus in the local ARC when it hits the track this season starting March in Canberra. I'm in heaven!!

orsest170 · 23-01-2006, 12:55 AM

He won boys.......the first of many victories in 06 I'm thinking. Not bad though, first time out (excluding rally OZ) for the new Focus and a win is alrerady on the board. Can't help but be impressed by Loeb's comeback (finished 2nd) after his crash on Day 1 though. Should be some ripper battles between those two this year. Btw, Atkinson finished 6th.

zetec · 23-01-2006, 01:25 AM

Woot now I can sleep!!!

Zetec20 · 23-01-2006, 11:04 AM

Nice pics, now can anyone name a wrc car that looks better than that?.............. yeah i didn't think so

Fast Eddie · 23-01-2006, 11:11 AM

Top effort for finding these photo's Matt. Is it just an illusion but is there a larger diameter wheel on the front of Gronholm's Focus? And the MkI's still look great.

Now for the Rally of Canberra! I'm going to start planning for this in the next week or so. I know it's early, but I'm keen.

I hope we can get some EUROFORDCLUB members attending the R.O.C.

orsest170 · 23-01-2006, 09:26 PM

Matt, I forgot to compliment you on these pics - they are amongst the best I've ever laid eyes on. Not only do they feature (as Zetec20 has already pointed out) the best looking car in the WRC

:, but the Monte backdrops are simply breathtaking. Were there any high res versions available? I’d love to use some of those pics as my desktop.

zetec · 23-01-2006, 11:22 PM

Yee Haa this is how to drive a Mk I !!!!!

Unfortunately I can't find any other hi-res but am looking. These are high-er res but not 1024 size for full screen. They have a good gallery collection, had this link at work today, knew it was saved somewhere.

Here's some more, but I'll keep looking. Rally pics are amongst some of the hardest to find these days, good ones that is. It's stil an underground sport.

http://www.rallye-info.com/gallery.asp

AUIII XR8 MAN · 24-01-2006, 12:57 AM

Congrats to both Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen hopefully the frist of many win for Ford and a FIA World Rally Championship.

Both the new & old Focus look hot.

outback_ute · 24-01-2006, 01:23 AM

Let's hope this is Ford's year! It has started well.

tabaccs · 26-01-2006, 12:56 PM

Managed to stumble across a few high res pics (1024*768) of the new wrc focus.. gotta love the oz superturismo rims they run it on.. enjoy!!

http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/focus_wrc.asp

27-01-2006, 03:23 PM

Great pics with great views. wow, makes me want to come over and see a rally.