04
June
2006
|
10:00
Europe/Amsterdam
Petter Solberg's Subaru-Pirelli in evidence in the Greek finale
Athens, 4 June 2006 - After the misfortunes of yesterday,
with the two works Subarus on Pirelli at a standstill in the last
special stage of the second day, the last leg of the Rally of
Greece-Acropolis was decidedly more favourable to the Imprezas of
Solberg and Atkinson. Among other things, the Norwegian drove
really well, winning no fewer than four of the day's five special
stages and taking his Japanese saloon on the latest evolution
Pirelli P Zero tyres into the points. Meanwhile, Chris Atkinson was
able to find a good rhythm and climbed back up to just outside the
top 10 after gearbox problems on the first day and yesterday's
broken steering.
"After what happened to me yesterday, I concentrated on doing my best during the last leg and winning four of the five stages today is confirmation of that", Petter explained. "On this third leg, the car went so well and the Pirelli P Zero tyres really performed in the best possible way. It is true that the result does not enthuse, when you consider I was aiming for something much more than seventh place, but that's motor sport".
As well as the fine performance by Solberg-Mills, Pirelli Competizioni saw two drivers on its P Zeros take the top placings in Group N. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Subaru Impreza) preceded Gabriel Pozzo (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) after both had been heavily penalised: Pozzo for technical problems and Al-Attiyah as a result of an officials' decision. Their climb back up the field is really worthy of note, especially that of Pozzo. Mitsubishi's Argentinean said he was pleased with the performance of the Pirelli P Zero XRs on the unmade tracks and stones of the last leg.
Mario Isola, Rally Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, had this to say about this leg: "The results achieved don't reflect the progress made by the car (especially in Solberg's case) or of the P Zero tyres in this event. I want to underline, however, the impressive recovery of Gabriel Pozzo, who, after the problems with his radiator that cost him a 5-minute penalty, was able to get himself back into second place by overtaking with agility cars on our opponents' tyres. Pirelli has already planned a whole series of tests on both asphalt and gravel for the two months' break before Germany so that we can prepare ourselves in the best possible way for the season's second half".
Greece Rally's final classification, WRC 2006 Event nr. 8:
1. Gronholm (Ford) 3h56'26''8
2. Loeb (Citron) +2'26''8
3. Hirvonen (Ford) +3'43''8
…
7. Solberg (Subaru) +5'34''4
…
14. Atkinson (Subaru) +14'01''8
…
18. Al-Attiyah (Subaru) +32'16''5 (1. Gr. N)
19. Pozzo (Mitsubishi) +32'28''5 (2. Gr. N)
For more information and pictures on Pirelli's motorsport activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com
Download the PDF (PDF, 96,5KB)
"After what happened to me yesterday, I concentrated on doing my best during the last leg and winning four of the five stages today is confirmation of that", Petter explained. "On this third leg, the car went so well and the Pirelli P Zero tyres really performed in the best possible way. It is true that the result does not enthuse, when you consider I was aiming for something much more than seventh place, but that's motor sport".
As well as the fine performance by Solberg-Mills, Pirelli Competizioni saw two drivers on its P Zeros take the top placings in Group N. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Subaru Impreza) preceded Gabriel Pozzo (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) after both had been heavily penalised: Pozzo for technical problems and Al-Attiyah as a result of an officials' decision. Their climb back up the field is really worthy of note, especially that of Pozzo. Mitsubishi's Argentinean said he was pleased with the performance of the Pirelli P Zero XRs on the unmade tracks and stones of the last leg.
Mario Isola, Rally Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, had this to say about this leg: "The results achieved don't reflect the progress made by the car (especially in Solberg's case) or of the P Zero tyres in this event. I want to underline, however, the impressive recovery of Gabriel Pozzo, who, after the problems with his radiator that cost him a 5-minute penalty, was able to get himself back into second place by overtaking with agility cars on our opponents' tyres. Pirelli has already planned a whole series of tests on both asphalt and gravel for the two months' break before Germany so that we can prepare ourselves in the best possible way for the season's second half".
Greece Rally's final classification, WRC 2006 Event nr. 8:
1. Gronholm (Ford) 3h56'26''8
2. Loeb (Citron) +2'26''8
3. Hirvonen (Ford) +3'43''8
…
7. Solberg (Subaru) +5'34''4
…
14. Atkinson (Subaru) +14'01''8
…
18. Al-Attiyah (Subaru) +32'16''5 (1. Gr. N)
19. Pozzo (Mitsubishi) +32'28''5 (2. Gr. N)
For more information and pictures on Pirelli's motorsport activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com
Download the PDF (PDF, 96,5KB)