RallyeNewsletter - http://www.rallye-newsletter.com/ : Greece 05
__________________________________________________________________
2005 Acropolis Rally - 23rd - 26th June
In this issue:
- Rally Preview
- Event Timetable
- Event Statistics
__________________________________________________________________
Rally Acropolis Preview
The Acropolis Rally is based at Lamia, approximately 200kms north east of
Athens. After dropping the traditional ceremonial start in Athens last year,
the rally will return to the capital this year for a start ceremony and
superspecial inside the spectacular stadium built for the 2004 Olympic
Games.
After Thursday night's start the cars will be brought back to Lamia from
where the remainder of the event will be based. On Friday crews face two
loops of three stages (including two attempts at the 32.55kms of
Elatia-Zeli). Saturday sees two groups of four stages on the schedule while
Sunday's final leg features four tests including Pyrgos which, at 34.80kms,
is the longest of the event. The rally finishes at Thermopyles,
approximately 15kms from Lamia, at 1445 local time (1345 CET).
Citroen
The big questions in Greece this weekend (24-26 June 2005) will be can
Sébastien Loeb make it five World Rally Championship wins in a row, further
extending his lead in the World Rally Drivers' Championship, and can Carlos
Sainz add enough points to Citroën's tally to put the car maker back in the
lead for the manufacturers' title chase.Consecutive successes with the
Citroën Xsara in New Zealand, Sardinia, Cyprus and Turkey have taken
Sébastien Loeb 13 points clear at the top of the provisional Drivers'
championship standings, while Citroën has moved to within just 4 points of
top spot in the Manufacturers' table.
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I am effectively beginning to have good
experience of Greece. But this year's route features some 80 km of new
stages and the weather is another unknown factor. Statistically, rain is
rare in Greece in June, but two of my tyre choices last year proved
unsuitable. One because it rained and the other because the rain I was
expecting didn't happen. As for the lessons we have learnt from the last two
events, the fight at the sharp end in Cyprus was prematurely truncated and
the rain took everyone by surprise in Turkey. So, yes, we have the necessary
cards in hand to win, but since we don't know what cards our rivals hold we
will be as cautious as we usually are."
Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti: "I think our strategy will be the same as in
Turkey. I absolutely need to finish, and in the big points. Naturally, if I
see an opportunity to finish better than 4th then I will perhaps change
tactics. Above all, I hope we don't hit any problems so that I can help
Citroën as much as I can one last time."
Subaru
The Subaru World Rally Team will be entering a three-car team in the
Acropolis Rally. The three Subaru Impreza WRC2005's will be driven by Petter
Solberg (co-driven by Phil Mills) Chris Atkinson (co-driven by Glenn
MacNeall) and Stéphane Sarrazin (co-driven by Denis Giraudet). After winning
the event last year in a Subaru Impreza WRC2004, Petter Solberg has the
best possible form ahead of this year's Acropolis.
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "I'm heading to Greece with the objective to win.
I'm ready for a big attack, I expect to take a few risks, but I'm planning
to do all I can to take ten points. I think the whole team and me are so
determined to win now that we have the same goals - win the next rally, get
back on track and get the winning spirit. I'm not going there for second
place. I like the Acropolis rally a lot. It's rough and rocky, but that's
normally good for Subaru and Pirelli, I think they have a good formula in
the conditions and I hope the combination will be successful. The stage in
the stadium sounds like fun. I'm pleased that so may people who love
rallying will get the chance to see the cars. Sometimes it's difficult for
them to get out on the stages. Driving on gravel tyres won't be any
problem - it'll make a hell of a show."
Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "Once again it's a new rally for me and I'm
looking forward to starting it. I'm expecting the Greek stages to present a
different sort of challenge to the Turkish ones, but Subaru has a good
history there. I've only been to the Rally of Greece once before, and then
only as a spectator, but from what I saw, the mixture of conditions will
make the stages good fun to drive. My main objective for the rally is to run
at a solid pace all weekend, not push too hard, and get a solid overall
result. I've been taking full advantage of the Superally regulations so far
this year, but I'm hoping I won't need to in Greece."
Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: "I'm feeling fine and really looking
forward to the second gravel rally in my career. I think for next week I
will have a good car and I'm ready to give my best effort. After my last
rally in Sardinia I was very happy with the feeling, and next week I'll be
trying to improve myself and push a bit more. Since Sardinia my pace-note
system with Denis has developed a lot, and we have had opportunities to
practise it on the recces in Cyprus and Turkey. My main objective is to
improve my car control, it has more performance available than I am using
just yet, so I hope that we'll learn more get more speed and continue like
that."
Ford
With the championship reaching the halfway point and Ford lying third in the
manufacturers' standings, BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson has given
both drivers the go-ahead to drive flat out. "Toni has the opportunity to
drive at 100 percent from the very first kilometre and I expect him to show
the pace that brought him podium finishes on the first two rounds. For the
past few rallies Roman has been under orders to drive cautiously and ensure
that he brought the car to the finish. He has done a great job by avoiding
trouble and scoring points on the last three events. Now I've told him that
he can drive at maximum from the start here and show me his pace," said
Wilson.
Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: This rally is the best of the rough
rallies we do," said the 30-year-old Finn. "It's normally the quickest and
the roads are much better now than they were five years ago. They're wider
and probably not as rough as they used to be, but still a tough challenge. I
enjoy driving there and think it would be realistic to aim for a podium
finish. I have a good strong car and I'd like to have a clean run and get a
good position for the team."
Roman Kresta/Jan Mozny: "I'm really looking forward to Greece because it's a
nice rally in which to drive," said the Czech. "But it's also a difficult
one. It's rough but can also be quite fast and that combination is hard for
the cars. The roads are quite wide and for the second pass through the
stages they will be quite clean. I would compare some sections to the roads
we encountered in Sardinia."
Peugeot
After Sardinia, Cyprus and Turkey, the long tour of Mediterranean gravel
rallies that kicked off at the beginning of April will end over the
sun-baked tracks of central Greece. Peugeot goes to the eighth round of the
season with every intention of defending its lead in the Manufacturers'
championship.
Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "This hasn't been my most successful rally.
There's no particular explanation for that. It's basically down to luck.
It's an event I like, and I think it has improved with the years. I would
naturally love to win the Acropolis Rally, twenty or so years after Juha
Kankkunen picked up Peugeot's last success there. The competition is likely
to be very fierce. My aim is above all to score points for the team."
Markko Martin/Michael Park: "The stages are hard-wearing and it can get very
hot. You have to cover many stages on the different loops with no
opportunity to change tyres, so good tyre management is crucial. So far,
I've never done things by halves in Greece. It's either been very good or
very bad. This year, I will mainly be looking to pick up points for the
team."
Skoda
The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team will enter three cars for the eighth
round of the World Rally Championship, the Acropolis Rally (June 23-26)
where Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka will drive the Fabia WRC 05 alongside
nominated crews Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha and Janne Tuohino/Mikko Markkula.
Jani joins the team for the second three-car entry of the year at the
beginning of a busy period of development that will see entries on at least
two national status events and two more three-car entries (in Germany and
Finland) over the next two months.
Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha: "I look forward all year to the Acropolis Rally.
It is traditionally fast and rough and it is one of my favourite events. You
need a strong and reliable car to cope with the abrasive surface that is
very hard on tyres and suspension."
Janne Tuohino/Mikko Markkula: "This is a hard event but it is faster than
the last two rallies. It is very easy to damage the car so you have to be
clever with your driving. I won the Junior category in 2002 and was seventh
here last year."
Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka: "This will be the first time that I have competed
in Greece but I have driven the recce twice before so I have a good idea
about the stages. We also had a good test in Greece so I am feeling quite
confident and I hope to be able to get a solid result for the team."
Mitsubishi:
The Acropolis Rally (June 23-26) marks the last in a trilogy of eastern
Mediterranean events for the FIA World Rally Championship contenders, and
the Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports WRC team heads to one of the oldest
rallies confident in the ability of the Lancer WRC05 after promising
performances in Cyprus and Turkey. Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen
once again lead the assault, while "Gigi" Galli and Guido D'Amore - who
briefly led the Rally of Turkey - have been rewarded for their efforts by
being registered in the second Lancer WRC05.
Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: "Greece is an event I really like", said
Harri. "It's not such a difficult rally and has been quite fast in the last
few years. It's no longer such a rally of survival, like it has been; now it's
not so rough and you have to go flat out from the start".
Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: "For sure it is not an advantage to have such
little experience, but Turkey was the same and hopefully we can make
something good again. I think we should be careful to start with, understand
the conditions and then decide on our strategy".
__________________________________________________________________
Event Timetable
LEG 1 : Athens - Lamia
337 km
7 Special Stages (128.06 km)
Thursday 23 June2005 : 17.45 - 19.00
SSS1 Athens Olympic Stadium (2.4 km) : 18.00
Friday 24 June 2005 : 09.00 - 23.00
LEG 2 : Lamia - Lamia
Saturday 25 June 2005 : 08.30 - 24.00
422 km
8 Special Stages (122.72 km)
LEG 3 : Lamia - Lamia
Sunday 26 June2005 : 07.00 - 14.25
306 km
4 Special Stages (98.79 km)
Total distance 1065 km - 19 Special Stages (349.57 km)
__________________________________________________________________
Event Statistics
- First organised in 1952 as the Elpa Rally, the Greek event became known as
the Acropolis Rally the following year and has been a round of the World
Championship since the creation of the latter in 1973. It was renamed the
Acropolis Rally of Greece last year.
- The time difference between Greece (GMT +2) and Continental Europe (GMT
+1) is one hour (to be subtracted from the times listed below to obtain
Continental European time).
- For the third successive year, the rally is based in Lamia (215 km
north-west of Athens). The National Trade Fair Centre hosts the start,
finish and single service park.
- The total length of this year's event is 1,065.57 km, including 349.57 km
divided into 19 stages (12 different).
- Recce is scheduled for Tuesday June 21st and Wednesday June 22nd (07:00
until 19:00). Recce of the Athens super-special is on Monday June 20th
(between 08:00 and 17:00) or Thursday June 23rd (between 13:00 and 17:00)
and recce of the shakedown is on Tuesday June 21st (17:00 until 21:00).
Seven of the twelve stages were run in 2004, one of which (Grammeni) is a
mix of new sections or portions between Agios Stefanos and Stirfaka run in
the opposite direction, while four stages (including the super-special) are
new.
- Located near Nea Magnesia, 6.3 km north-east of the service park, the 3.95
km shakedown stage (Thursday June 23rd, 07:00 until 10:00) is identical to
that of 2004.
-The super-special (Thursday June 2"rd, 18:00) takes place in the stadium
which hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. It marks the event's return to Athens
which hasn't been visited since the 2003 start ceremony.
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2005 Acropolis Rally - 23rd - 26th June
In this issue:
- Rally Preview
- Event Timetable
- Event Statistics
__________________________________________________________________
Rally Acropolis Preview
The Acropolis Rally is based at Lamia, approximately 200kms north east of
Athens. After dropping the traditional ceremonial start in Athens last year,
the rally will return to the capital this year for a start ceremony and
superspecial inside the spectacular stadium built for the 2004 Olympic
Games.
After Thursday night's start the cars will be brought back to Lamia from
where the remainder of the event will be based. On Friday crews face two
loops of three stages (including two attempts at the 32.55kms of
Elatia-Zeli). Saturday sees two groups of four stages on the schedule while
Sunday's final leg features four tests including Pyrgos which, at 34.80kms,
is the longest of the event. The rally finishes at Thermopyles,
approximately 15kms from Lamia, at 1445 local time (1345 CET).
Citroen
The big questions in Greece this weekend (24-26 June 2005) will be can
Sébastien Loeb make it five World Rally Championship wins in a row, further
extending his lead in the World Rally Drivers' Championship, and can Carlos
Sainz add enough points to Citroën's tally to put the car maker back in the
lead for the manufacturers' title chase.Consecutive successes with the
Citroën Xsara in New Zealand, Sardinia, Cyprus and Turkey have taken
Sébastien Loeb 13 points clear at the top of the provisional Drivers'
championship standings, while Citroën has moved to within just 4 points of
top spot in the Manufacturers' table.
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I am effectively beginning to have good
experience of Greece. But this year's route features some 80 km of new
stages and the weather is another unknown factor. Statistically, rain is
rare in Greece in June, but two of my tyre choices last year proved
unsuitable. One because it rained and the other because the rain I was
expecting didn't happen. As for the lessons we have learnt from the last two
events, the fight at the sharp end in Cyprus was prematurely truncated and
the rain took everyone by surprise in Turkey. So, yes, we have the necessary
cards in hand to win, but since we don't know what cards our rivals hold we
will be as cautious as we usually are."
Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti: "I think our strategy will be the same as in
Turkey. I absolutely need to finish, and in the big points. Naturally, if I
see an opportunity to finish better than 4th then I will perhaps change
tactics. Above all, I hope we don't hit any problems so that I can help
Citroën as much as I can one last time."
Subaru
The Subaru World Rally Team will be entering a three-car team in the
Acropolis Rally. The three Subaru Impreza WRC2005's will be driven by Petter
Solberg (co-driven by Phil Mills) Chris Atkinson (co-driven by Glenn
MacNeall) and Stéphane Sarrazin (co-driven by Denis Giraudet). After winning
the event last year in a Subaru Impreza WRC2004, Petter Solberg has the
best possible form ahead of this year's Acropolis.
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "I'm heading to Greece with the objective to win.
I'm ready for a big attack, I expect to take a few risks, but I'm planning
to do all I can to take ten points. I think the whole team and me are so
determined to win now that we have the same goals - win the next rally, get
back on track and get the winning spirit. I'm not going there for second
place. I like the Acropolis rally a lot. It's rough and rocky, but that's
normally good for Subaru and Pirelli, I think they have a good formula in
the conditions and I hope the combination will be successful. The stage in
the stadium sounds like fun. I'm pleased that so may people who love
rallying will get the chance to see the cars. Sometimes it's difficult for
them to get out on the stages. Driving on gravel tyres won't be any
problem - it'll make a hell of a show."
Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "Once again it's a new rally for me and I'm
looking forward to starting it. I'm expecting the Greek stages to present a
different sort of challenge to the Turkish ones, but Subaru has a good
history there. I've only been to the Rally of Greece once before, and then
only as a spectator, but from what I saw, the mixture of conditions will
make the stages good fun to drive. My main objective for the rally is to run
at a solid pace all weekend, not push too hard, and get a solid overall
result. I've been taking full advantage of the Superally regulations so far
this year, but I'm hoping I won't need to in Greece."
Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: "I'm feeling fine and really looking
forward to the second gravel rally in my career. I think for next week I
will have a good car and I'm ready to give my best effort. After my last
rally in Sardinia I was very happy with the feeling, and next week I'll be
trying to improve myself and push a bit more. Since Sardinia my pace-note
system with Denis has developed a lot, and we have had opportunities to
practise it on the recces in Cyprus and Turkey. My main objective is to
improve my car control, it has more performance available than I am using
just yet, so I hope that we'll learn more get more speed and continue like
that."
Ford
With the championship reaching the halfway point and Ford lying third in the
manufacturers' standings, BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson has given
both drivers the go-ahead to drive flat out. "Toni has the opportunity to
drive at 100 percent from the very first kilometre and I expect him to show
the pace that brought him podium finishes on the first two rounds. For the
past few rallies Roman has been under orders to drive cautiously and ensure
that he brought the car to the finish. He has done a great job by avoiding
trouble and scoring points on the last three events. Now I've told him that
he can drive at maximum from the start here and show me his pace," said
Wilson.
Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: This rally is the best of the rough
rallies we do," said the 30-year-old Finn. "It's normally the quickest and
the roads are much better now than they were five years ago. They're wider
and probably not as rough as they used to be, but still a tough challenge. I
enjoy driving there and think it would be realistic to aim for a podium
finish. I have a good strong car and I'd like to have a clean run and get a
good position for the team."
Roman Kresta/Jan Mozny: "I'm really looking forward to Greece because it's a
nice rally in which to drive," said the Czech. "But it's also a difficult
one. It's rough but can also be quite fast and that combination is hard for
the cars. The roads are quite wide and for the second pass through the
stages they will be quite clean. I would compare some sections to the roads
we encountered in Sardinia."
Peugeot
After Sardinia, Cyprus and Turkey, the long tour of Mediterranean gravel
rallies that kicked off at the beginning of April will end over the
sun-baked tracks of central Greece. Peugeot goes to the eighth round of the
season with every intention of defending its lead in the Manufacturers'
championship.
Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "This hasn't been my most successful rally.
There's no particular explanation for that. It's basically down to luck.
It's an event I like, and I think it has improved with the years. I would
naturally love to win the Acropolis Rally, twenty or so years after Juha
Kankkunen picked up Peugeot's last success there. The competition is likely
to be very fierce. My aim is above all to score points for the team."
Markko Martin/Michael Park: "The stages are hard-wearing and it can get very
hot. You have to cover many stages on the different loops with no
opportunity to change tyres, so good tyre management is crucial. So far,
I've never done things by halves in Greece. It's either been very good or
very bad. This year, I will mainly be looking to pick up points for the
team."
Skoda
The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team will enter three cars for the eighth
round of the World Rally Championship, the Acropolis Rally (June 23-26)
where Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka will drive the Fabia WRC 05 alongside
nominated crews Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha and Janne Tuohino/Mikko Markkula.
Jani joins the team for the second three-car entry of the year at the
beginning of a busy period of development that will see entries on at least
two national status events and two more three-car entries (in Germany and
Finland) over the next two months.
Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha: "I look forward all year to the Acropolis Rally.
It is traditionally fast and rough and it is one of my favourite events. You
need a strong and reliable car to cope with the abrasive surface that is
very hard on tyres and suspension."
Janne Tuohino/Mikko Markkula: "This is a hard event but it is faster than
the last two rallies. It is very easy to damage the car so you have to be
clever with your driving. I won the Junior category in 2002 and was seventh
here last year."
Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka: "This will be the first time that I have competed
in Greece but I have driven the recce twice before so I have a good idea
about the stages. We also had a good test in Greece so I am feeling quite
confident and I hope to be able to get a solid result for the team."
Mitsubishi:
The Acropolis Rally (June 23-26) marks the last in a trilogy of eastern
Mediterranean events for the FIA World Rally Championship contenders, and
the Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports WRC team heads to one of the oldest
rallies confident in the ability of the Lancer WRC05 after promising
performances in Cyprus and Turkey. Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen
once again lead the assault, while "Gigi" Galli and Guido D'Amore - who
briefly led the Rally of Turkey - have been rewarded for their efforts by
being registered in the second Lancer WRC05.
Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: "Greece is an event I really like", said
Harri. "It's not such a difficult rally and has been quite fast in the last
few years. It's no longer such a rally of survival, like it has been; now it's
not so rough and you have to go flat out from the start".
Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: "For sure it is not an advantage to have such
little experience, but Turkey was the same and hopefully we can make
something good again. I think we should be careful to start with, understand
the conditions and then decide on our strategy".
__________________________________________________________________
Event Timetable
LEG 1 : Athens - Lamia
337 km
7 Special Stages (128.06 km)
Thursday 23 June2005 : 17.45 - 19.00
SSS1 Athens Olympic Stadium (2.4 km) : 18.00
Friday 24 June 2005 : 09.00 - 23.00
LEG 2 : Lamia - Lamia
Saturday 25 June 2005 : 08.30 - 24.00
422 km
8 Special Stages (122.72 km)
LEG 3 : Lamia - Lamia
Sunday 26 June2005 : 07.00 - 14.25
306 km
4 Special Stages (98.79 km)
Total distance 1065 km - 19 Special Stages (349.57 km)
__________________________________________________________________
Event Statistics
- First organised in 1952 as the Elpa Rally, the Greek event became known as
the Acropolis Rally the following year and has been a round of the World
Championship since the creation of the latter in 1973. It was renamed the
Acropolis Rally of Greece last year.
- The time difference between Greece (GMT +2) and Continental Europe (GMT
+1) is one hour (to be subtracted from the times listed below to obtain
Continental European time).
- For the third successive year, the rally is based in Lamia (215 km
north-west of Athens). The National Trade Fair Centre hosts the start,
finish and single service park.
- The total length of this year's event is 1,065.57 km, including 349.57 km
divided into 19 stages (12 different).
- Recce is scheduled for Tuesday June 21st and Wednesday June 22nd (07:00
until 19:00). Recce of the Athens super-special is on Monday June 20th
(between 08:00 and 17:00) or Thursday June 23rd (between 13:00 and 17:00)
and recce of the shakedown is on Tuesday June 21st (17:00 until 21:00).
Seven of the twelve stages were run in 2004, one of which (Grammeni) is a
mix of new sections or portions between Agios Stefanos and Stirfaka run in
the opposite direction, while four stages (including the super-special) are
new.
- Located near Nea Magnesia, 6.3 km north-east of the service park, the 3.95
km shakedown stage (Thursday June 23rd, 07:00 until 10:00) is identical to
that of 2004.
-The super-special (Thursday June 2"rd, 18:00) takes place in the stadium
which hosted the 2004 Olympic Games. It marks the event's return to Athens
which hasn't been visited since the 2003 start ceremony.
_________________________________________________________________
