World Rally News

Peugeot dropped behind Citroen in the manufacturers' championship following the Acropolis Rally - and now five points separate the two heading into the second half of the season.

by Rob Wilkins.

by Rob Wilkins. Subaru have been somewhat off the boil of late and as such, after Sebastien Loeb's run of five successive wins, Petter Solberg has dropped well behind the Frenchman in the battle for the 2005 drivers' title.

Mitsubishi and Skoda have both been given permission to miss three events in 2006 - after the World Motor Sport Council [WMSC] convened in Paris and granted their request.

Colin and Alister McRae will headline the UK's premier rally car show at Castle Combe Circuit on Saturday August 13.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb continues to lead the Acropolis Rally at the end of day two, now over 1 minute up on his nearest challenger, Ford's Toni Gardemeister; Carlos Sainz completes the provisional podium, while Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen round out the top five...

The organisers of the Acropolis Rally have agreed to 'review' the penalties handed to Subaru and Mitsubishi - after their cars were found to be underweight following the Athens super special stage Thursday night.

Subaru and Mitsubishi have been fined by the stewards of the Acropolis Rally after the cars of Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson, Stephane Sarrazin and Gigi Galli were found to be underweight following the Athens super special last night.

SS6 - Rengini 2 (11.84 km): Sainz fastest through SS6; Loeb second; Gronholm third; Henning Solberg fourth; Galli fifth; Sarrazin retired from the leg - suspension damaged; Atkinson retired from the leg - engine; Petter Solberg slowed by broken driveshaft; Andersson leads the JWRC; Gronhol

SS5 - Eleftherohori 2 (18.44 km): Gronholm fastest through SS5; Gardemeister second; Loeb third; Rovanpera fourth; Henning Solberg fifth; Hirvonen had transmission problems; Petter Solberg lost time with a broken driveshaft; Andersson leads the JWRC; Gronholm leads the overall event by 6.8

Subaru World Rally team driver, Chris Atkinson has retired from the Acropolis Rally after an engine failure forced him out on the penultimate stage.

Rally Sardinia Junior winner, Daniel Sordo has insisted that changing co-drivers' is no big deal - and that he is confident he will gel with his new partner, Oriol Julia, despite the fact the two have never met!

The Motor Sports Association [MSA], the governing body of motor sport in the UK, has named the first six people that will benefit from the new 'British Rally Elite' programme, which aims to help British rally drivers and co-drivers who want to follow in the footsteps of former World Rally champio

by Rob Wilkins. Skoda team leader, Armin Schwarz has said that he is hopeful he might be able to finish in fifth this weekend on the Acropolis Rally.

The Michelin name will disappear from the FIA World Rally Championship in 2006 after the French tyre manufacturer announced that they would instead promote sister brand, BF Goodrich tyres next year.

Production Car WRC competitor, Xavier Pons will make his debut with the OMV backed Kronos Racing squad next weekend, when he drives a Citroen Xsara WRC on the Acropolis Rally.

Citroen have confirmed that Francois Duval will return to the team for the Rally Argentina next month - and the remainder of the season, following his two-event 'break'.

The all-new Suzuki Swift Super 1600 car, which is scheduled to make its world debut on the Rally Finland in August, completed more than 300 trouble-free kilometres during a two-day test in Wales last week.

Peugeot's Markko Martin could be on his way back to Ford in 2006, when the French manufacturer quits the WRC. The news broke during the Rally of Turkey last weekend, when, according to rallymagazin.de , a French television station reported that an agreement had been reached.

Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports technical and managing director Mario Fornaris has announced that he is to leave the WRC team at the end of the month, citing personal reasons for the split.

SS15 - Phaselis 2 (28.98km): Loeb returns to the top of the timesheets with victory on SS15. Gronholm takes second to close the gap to Petter Solberg by another two seconds.

Toni Gardemeister leads the Ford challenge after the opening day of the Rally of Turkey having worked his way up to sixth place on a tough day of competition.

SS4 - Perge 1 (22.28 km): Galli sets fastest time on SS4, 9.6secs clear of Sainz, with Solberg third. Loeb only fifth, 23.7sec off the pace and loses overall lead to Galli. Atkinson fails to start stage due to fuel leak after SS3 incident.

This weekend the WRC heads to Turkey for another one of the more difficult events on the calendar, with Sebastien Loeb seeking to extend his lead in his quest to retain the title and a familiar face making his return to the WRC.