03/09/2007
The Grönholm-Loeb duell goes beyond any intensity record

"When Sébastien and Marcus fight for the victory, the rest of the drivers only have the chance to watch the battle from the distance", said Guy Fréquelin a couple of days ago when referring to the extraordinary level of these two drivers at every round of the championship. The result of the Rally New Zealand, finished yesterday with the smallest margin in the history of WRC racing between the top two cars, shows clearly, what everyone thought: the drivers' world championship title will not be decided until the last round. The Finn might have a comfortable advantage now, but the next two races are on asphalt, the first of them being the RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, and this will clearly favour the Frenchman: Place your bets!

Nobody in the championship remembers such a close finish like the one we saw yesterday in Mystery Creek, simply because there had not been anything like it before. Three tenths of a second is something so tiny that a WRCar driven at full speed would only cover 7.5 metres...the distance of less than two cars! And all of it after having battled at full speed for more than 350 km: a true deed only a few drivers are capable to achieve. But 24 hours later, that most interesting thing is to know more about it from the main characters themselves, the drivers and their team managers.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and the Citroën C4 WRC
The tyre choice for the last specials of the third leg was again very difficult and the Citroën pairing decided to use a slightly harder compound than their rivals did. Sébastien faced the last loop of the rally with the debate of wanting to keep the leadership and the need to avoid any mistake: "We managed to keep up with Marcus' pace in many stages but we lost some time in every special. Moreover, it started to rain when we were at the start of two of the specials. I pushed as much as I could always thinking that the eight points of the second place would always be much better than a blank".

Before the super especial at the end of the rally, Seb had a disadvantage of seven tenths of a second against Gronholm. Under the watchful eye of all Citroën Sport team members, who had travelled from the service park to watch the 3.14-km super special live, Sébastien and Daniel set a an incredible time at the wheel of their Citroën C4, but only managed to make up four tenths of a second, thus finishing the weekend three tenths behind the winner: "We missed the win by four tenths of a second. What a pity! But it was reassuring to know that we have been fighting for the victory throughout the weekend and that's very encouraging for the rest of the season".

Guy Fréquelin, highest official at Citroën Sport explained: "This rally had to be complicated for Citroën Sport on the paper. Sébastien and Daniel only made the reconnaissance of this round in 2006 and had not raced many of the specials before. It was also the first experience of the C4 in New Zealand and Dani had only participated here once. Yes, we expected a very tense weekend, but in the end, it was much more than expected. The tyre choice was the key from start to finish and thanks to all members of the team and the impeccable support of our tyre partner BFGoodrich, we chose slightly different compounds than our rivals many times, and we were right in most of them. Sébastien and Daniel made an excellent job. They were three tenths of a second behind the victory and were unlucky as they were the only ones with rain at the start of SS 15 and 16".

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen and the Ford Focus RS WRC 2007
At BP-Ford, the great Marcus Grönholm tells us: "It was an incredible fight throughout the weekend and this victory has been fantastic for my hopes to clinch the title. It is closer now and I just had the best successful battle of my sports career; I just love the sports moment I'm living. There was no space for mistakes in the last stages of yesterday, no doubts when using the clutch, no unnecessary skidding, and everything worked out well. I'm really happy for the team and it was so exciting to see how they all were there watching the last special, because it was right next to the service park. Thus we were able to share our excitement".

"I was very calm in the Ford during the whole last leg because that is something I learned after many years of attacking. The only tension came when it was time to choose the tyres because the conditions were difficult and when you are so close to victory, the wrong choice can mess up everything achieved so far. It's good to have been able to extend our advantage in the championship a bit further and I think that we are going to have a great end of the season".

Malcolm Wilson, BP-Ford Team Director, thinks that the synchronization between drivers and team has been perfect and with no doubt the key for the victory: "this big success is psychologically good for Marcus and it has served to consolidate our position in both championships. It's been an exceptional race, I had never seen a finish like this before. When I saw Marcus jumping on the roof of the Focus on the finish line I was really moved and I knew that we were writing history. but I'm going to send him the invoice for the bumps on the roof!".

This result has also been very satisfying for the Ford TeamRS Director, Jost Capito: "the uncertainty and the final excitement we saw this weekend are a proof of the ingredients that make this sport, the WRC, so exciting".