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2006 Monte Carlo Rally
The 2006 Monte Carlo Rally (formally the 74th Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo) was the first round of the 2006 World Rally Championship. The race was held over three days between 20 and 22 January 2006, and was won by Ford's Marcus Grönholm, his 19th win in the World Rally Championship. Report The first event of the season saw many changes from the previous year. The new season saw just two full manufacturer teams compete (Ford and Subaru). Citroën supported a semi works effort through the Kronos team. Stobart increased their profile by creating a team using old Fords. OMV Peugeot Norway used the Peugeot 307 while Skoda maintained their presence through a team sponsored by Red Bull. On the drivers front, Ford had a new lineup consisting of two time champion Marcus Grönholm and the promising young driver Mikko Hirvonen. Kronos used Citroëns twice world champion Sébastien Loeb alongside Xavier Pons. Subaru retained Petter Solberg with Stéphane Sarrazin and Chris Atki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 World Rally Championship
The 2006 World Rally Championship was the 34th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 20 with the 74th Monte Carlo Rally where Finland's Marcus Grönholm, in a Ford Focus RS WRC, took the win ahead of France's Sébastien Loeb. After the Swedish Rally ended with the same top-two, Loeb and Kronos Citroën went on to win five rallies in a row. Despite an injury in a mountain-biking accident before the Rally of Turkey, forcing Loeb to miss last four rallies, he secured his third drivers' title, whereas Ford won their first manufacturers' title since 1979. Rule changes In an attempt to cut costs, new regulations required mechanical front and rear differentials, while the central differential remained active. Active suspension and water injections were also prohibited. Cars entered by a manufacturer had to be equipped with the same engine for two rallies; further limitations were imposed on the changing of some parts, including suspension, steering, tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He holds several other WRC records, including most event wins, most podium finishes and most stage wins. Loeb retired from full time WRC participation at the end of 2012. He currently drives part time in the WRC for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, full time in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for Bahrain Raid Xtreme, and full time in the Extreme E Championship for Team X44. Originally a gymnast, Loeb was a four time Champion of Alsace and one time champion of the French Grand East. He switched to rallying in 1995 and won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001. Signed by the Citroën World Rally Team for the 2002 season, he and co-driver Daniel Elena took their maiden WRC win that same year at the Rallye Deutschland. After finish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Duval
François Duval (born 18 November 1980) is a Belgian rally driver. Career 1999–2004 Francois Duval is the son of former rally driver Rene Duval. With victories in four events Duval won the Belgian Citroën Saxo Challenge title in 1999. He began his career as a rally driver at the international level; first, as a driver in the inaugural season of the lower-rung Super 1600 category of the World Rally Championship and later competed in the Junior World Rally Championship aboard a Ford Puma in 2001, the same year in which Saxo driver and future Citroën teammate Sébastien Loeb won the title. Beginning with the 2002 season, he progressed to become a regular driver of a Ford Focus RS WRC with the factory M-Sport-ran Ford World Rally Team. Concurrent with his World Rally Car exploits, he added a second campaign with the Puma in the junior series, taking a category win on the Monte Carlo Rally. For the 2003 season, Duval found himself promoted to the role of regular Ford points-s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 World Rally Championship Season
The 2005 World Rally Championship was the 33rd season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 21 with the Monte-Carlo Rally and ended on November 13 with the Rally Australia. In the drivers' world championship, Citroën Total's Sébastien Loeb successfully defended his title, finishing a record 56 points ahead of Subaru's Petter Solberg and Peugeot's Marcus Grönholm. Loeb also set several other records during the season. He won ten world rallies, beating the previous record of six held by him ( 2004) and Didier Auriol (1992). He also took six consecutive wins, beating Timo Salonen's 20-year-old record of four. Peugeot's Markko Märtin retired after his co-driver Michael Park was fatally injured in their crash at the Wales Rally GB. Citroën took the manufacturers' title for the third year in a row, well ahead of Subaru and Ford. PSA Peugeot Citroën still went ahead with their plan to withdraw both Citroën and Peugeot from the series after the seas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malcolm Wilson (rally)
Malcolm Irving Wilson, OBE (born 17 February 1956) is a British former rally driver and current owner of team and constructor M-Sport. He is the father of former World Rally Championship driver Matthew Wilson. He has been married to Elaine Wilson since 1982. Biography He has over 20 years experience of rallying at world championship level, much of it with Ford. He drove for three factory teams in the world championship, including MG, in whose Group B Metro 6R4, he shared driving duties with fellow Briton, Tony Pond. He spent several years as Ford's chief test driver, developing new rally cars, including the short lived RS1700T and RS200 models. As a driver, he won two British national titles in the late 1970s and achieved a long-held ambition by winning the British Rally Championship in 1994, all at the wheel of Ford Escorts. He crashed during the 1980 Scottish Rally whilst chasing Hannu Mikkola and Ari Vatanen for the lead, breaking both his ankles and almost ending h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Kresta
Roman Kresta (born 24 April 1976 in the Czech Republic), is a Czech professional rally driver. In 2005, he drove for Ford in the World Rally Championship. His co-driver was Jan Tománek. The pair won the Czech national rally championship in 2000, prior to their début in the WRC. Kresta's first World Rally was the 2001 Acropolis Rally, driving a Ford Focus WRC. He has also driven for the works Skoda team, and as a privateer with Hyundai and Peugeot. His performances in his sole season with the works Ford World Rally Team in 2005 were not enough to prevent him from losing his seat to Mikko Hirvonen at the end of the season. However, he scored points in 11 of the 16 rallies held that season, achieving two fifth places in Corsica and Spain. He finished a career-best 8th overall in 2005 and scored 29 points, half the tally of teammate Toni Gardemeister's total of 58. After the 2005 season, Kresta worked for Ford as a test driver. Roman Kresta returned to Czech national rally champion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toni Gardemeister
Toni Gardemeister (born 31 March 1975) is a Finnish professional rally driver in the World Rally Championship. After previously competing for SEAT's, Mitsubishi's, Škoda's and Ford's factory teams, as well as for privateer teams, he joined the Suzuki World Rally Team for the 2008 season. Career Early From the outset of his career Gardemeister had shown himself as a driver of some promise. He won the Finnish Rally Championship Group a (under 2000 cc) title in 1997 behind the wheel of a Nissan Sunny and was driving for the Spanish car firm SEAT for limited outings in 1998 with the Ibiza. He was to become a world championship mainstay by the year 2000 in the firm's Córdoba WRC as team-mate to former world champion Didier Auriol. Gardemeister's impressive drives include a third place in New Zealand in 1999, and a fourth place on the 2000 Monte Carlo Rally. With SEAT's surprise withdrawal from the 'works' scene for 2001 came two privateer opportunities in a Peugeot 206 WRC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Markko Märtin
Markko Märtin (born 10 November 1975 in Tartu) is a retired rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005. Career Märtin, as understudy to then-team mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, rose to prominence with the Ford World Rally Team in the 2002 season. He was leading that year's Acropolis Rally Greece until he suffered two punctures and fell behind the more experienced McRae. He won the equivalent event in Greece the following year as well as being only the third driver in the history of the WRC to break the Nordic stranglehold on the Neste Rally Finland. In addition to this, Märtin was inaugural winner, again with Ford, of the Corona Rally Mexico in the 2004 season. He also won the tarmac rallies of Corsica and Catalunya in the same year. These victories were the last for the Märtin/ Michael Park partnership. For 2005 Märtin departed the team for former constructors' champion Peugeot and its 307 car. He and co-driver Park ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henning Solberg
Henning Solberg (born 8 January 1973) is a Norwegian rally and rallycross driver. Together with his female co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with cars of M-Sport. Solberg is the older brother of the 2003 FIA World Rally Champion Petter Solberg and through his Swedish spouse Maud the stepfather of Swedish rally driver Pontus Tidemand. Career Henning Solberg was born in Askim, but grew up in Spydeberg. Like his younger brother Petter, Henning started his career as a driver in ''bilcross'' (Norwegian low-budget rallycross similar to Swedish ''folkrace'' and Finnish ''jokamiehenluokka'') and rallycross events, and switched completely to rallying in the mid-1990s. Between 1999 and 2003, he became the Norwegian Rally Champion for five years in a row. After several events as a privateer in the WRC, Solberg got a contract with Bozian Racing for the 2004 season. At his first event with the Peugeot 206 WRC, the 2004 Swedish Rally, Solb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manfred Stohl
Manfred Stohl (born 7 July 1972, in Vienna) is an Austrian rally driver who debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1991. Stohl's co-driver is fellow Austrian Ilka Minor. Career Stohl ventured into rallying following the career path of his father Rudi Stohl. Stohl's first professional rally was the 1991 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire Bandama, driving an Audi 90 Quattro with Kay Gerlach as his co-driver. He took his first World Rally Championship points by finishing seventh in the same event the following year. After several more privateer entries in the WRC, Stohl got a contract with Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany to compete in the FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Cars (now the Production World Rally Championship) driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. He finished third in the championship in 1997, second in 1998 and fourth in 1999, before winning the title in 2000 ahead of defending champion Gustavo Trelles. Progressing from Group N production cars to World Rally Cars, Stohl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Wilson
Matthew Wilson (born 29 January 1987) is a British rally driver from Cockermouth in Cumbria. He is the son of M-Sport boss and former World Rally Championship driver Malcolm Wilson. Wilson competed in the WRC for the Stobart M-Sport Ford team. He achieved his best result at the 2007 Rally Japan, finishing in fourth place. Career Early Wilson was initially a brief competitor in single seaters, winning 17 out of 22 races to become T Cars Champion in 2002, before graduating to the Formula Renault UK Championship in 2003, finishing 18th overall for Manor Motorsport. Wilson competed in his first rally, the 2003 Malcolm Wilson Rally, as co-driver to his father, and together they won the event. His first WRC event was the Wales Rally GB in 2004, in which he finished in 13th place overall. He was one of only six driver and co-drivers selected for the Motor Sports Association British Rally Elite training scheme designed for young British drivers in 2005, and became the youngest ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina. Other podium placings include third-place finishes at the 2005 Rally Japan and the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally. Atkinson drives for Team MRF, and competed in the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and made a guest appearance in the World Rally Championship. Atkinson won the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. On 16 August 2012, it was announced that Atkinson would be the number one driver for the WRC Team Mini Portugal outfit for the last five races of the 2012 WRC season. Early career Prior to his motorsport career, Atkinson had a career as a stockbroker. He graduated at Bond University in commerce, majoring in finance and accounting in 1999 aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
