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Citroën seal New Zealand victory.
A drive of perfect pace from world champion Sebastien Loeb including eight special stage wins secured Citroen's first ever victory in the New Zealand Rally and brought Loeb's defence of his driver's title back on course. Now with 25 points Loeb lies in second position just one point behind current leader Sollberg.
Francois Duval, driving the second Citroen Xsara WRC, produced an equally well judged performance coming home in fourth position to secure his first points of the season, helping Citroen to leap three places from fifth to second place in their defence of the manufacturer's title. Following New Zealand, Citroen have 31 points, ahead of Subaru (28), Ford (26) and Mitsubishi (24) and lie just 12 points behind current leaders Peugeot.
"It's very nice to win here in New Zealand after our frustrating outings in Sweden and Mexico," said Seb. "It shows that we were simply down on luck on those two rallies. I am particularly pleased with this weekend's result because we won in a straight fight with Marcus [Grönholm] and Petter [Solberg]. Also, winning on this terrain - which tended to be a little difficult for us in previous years - is a positive sign on two accounts. First of all, it proves that the Xsara continues to progress and, secondly, the fact that we are now competitive on fast gravel means we can hope for a top result in Finland..."
Francois Duval added, "My target was always to finish inside the top five. I needed to score my first points with the team and I couldn't have taken more risks than I took. It was only my second outing on gravel with the Xsara and I succeeded in being consistent. I am really very happy with this result..."
A fine rally for Citroen was rounded off when Austrian driver Manfred Stohl became the rally's top privateer bringing his Xsara WRC home in ninth position, underlining the competitiveness of the Citroen on the event.
Overall classification of the Propecia Rally New Zealand 2005
FIA World Rally Championship after round 4 - Manufacturers
1. Peugeot, 43 points - 2. Citroën, 31 pts - 3. Subaru, 28 pts - 4. Ford, 26 pts - 5. Mitsubishi, 24 pts - 6. Skoda, 4 pt.
FIA World Rally Championship after round 4 - Drivers
1. P. Solberg, 26 points - 2. S. Loeb, 25 pts - 3. M. Märtin, 23 pts - 4. M. Grönholm, 20 pts - 5. T. Gardemeister, 20 pts - 6. H. Rovanperä, 11 pts - 7. G. Panizzi, 7 pts - 8. F. Duval, 5 pts - 9. H. Solberg, 4 pts - 10. M. Stohl, 3 pts - 11. D. Carlsson, 3 pts - 12. G. Galli, 3 pts - 13. A. Warmbold, 2 pts - 14. Ch. Atkinson, 2 pts - 15. R. Kresta, 2 pts ...
All results subject to FIA confirmation
Francois Duval, driving the second Citroen Xsara WRC, produced an equally well judged performance coming home in fourth position to secure his first points of the season, helping Citroen to leap three places from fifth to second place in their defence of the manufacturer's title. Following New Zealand, Citroen have 31 points, ahead of Subaru (28), Ford (26) and Mitsubishi (24) and lie just 12 points behind current leaders Peugeot.
"It's very nice to win here in New Zealand after our frustrating outings in Sweden and Mexico," said Seb. "It shows that we were simply down on luck on those two rallies. I am particularly pleased with this weekend's result because we won in a straight fight with Marcus [Grönholm] and Petter [Solberg]. Also, winning on this terrain - which tended to be a little difficult for us in previous years - is a positive sign on two accounts. First of all, it proves that the Xsara continues to progress and, secondly, the fact that we are now competitive on fast gravel means we can hope for a top result in Finland..."
Francois Duval added, "My target was always to finish inside the top five. I needed to score my first points with the team and I couldn't have taken more risks than I took. It was only my second outing on gravel with the Xsara and I succeeded in being consistent. I am really very happy with this result..."
A fine rally for Citroen was rounded off when Austrian driver Manfred Stohl became the rally's top privateer bringing his Xsara WRC home in ninth position, underlining the competitiveness of the Citroen on the event.
Overall classification of the Propecia Rally New Zealand 2005
| 1 S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) | 3 h 34 min 51,6 s |
| 2.M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 307) | + 49,8 s |
| 3.P. Solberg/Ph. Mills (Subaru Impreza) | + 1 min 08,7 s |
| 4.F. Duval/S.Prévot (Citroën Xsara) | + 2 min 06,3 s |
| 5.M. Märtin/M. Park (Peugeot 307) | + 3 min 09,1 s |
| 6.T. Gardemeister/J. Honkanen (Ford Focus) | + 3 min 16,3 s |
| 7.Ch. Atkinson/G. Macneall (Subaru Impreza) | + 4 min 37,2 s |
| 8.G. Galli/G. D'Amore (Mitsubishi Lancer) | + 6 min 50,5 s |
| 9.M. Stohl/I. Minor (Citroën Xsara) | + 8 min 15,5 s |
| 10.A. Schwarz/K. Wicha (Škoda Fabia) | + 10 min 18 s |
FIA World Rally Championship after round 4 - Manufacturers
1. Peugeot, 43 points - 2. Citroën, 31 pts - 3. Subaru, 28 pts - 4. Ford, 26 pts - 5. Mitsubishi, 24 pts - 6. Skoda, 4 pt.
FIA World Rally Championship after round 4 - Drivers
1. P. Solberg, 26 points - 2. S. Loeb, 25 pts - 3. M. Märtin, 23 pts - 4. M. Grönholm, 20 pts - 5. T. Gardemeister, 20 pts - 6. H. Rovanperä, 11 pts - 7. G. Panizzi, 7 pts - 8. F. Duval, 5 pts - 9. H. Solberg, 4 pts - 10. M. Stohl, 3 pts - 11. D. Carlsson, 3 pts - 12. G. Galli, 3 pts - 13. A. Warmbold, 2 pts - 14. Ch. Atkinson, 2 pts - 15. R. Kresta, 2 pts ...
All results subject to FIA confirmation
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