Round 4: 42nd Rally Catalunya 2006

Pictures of the Rally Catalunya 2006 here.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 4: RALLY CATALUNYA

MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION DRIVERS ARE STRONG FINISHERS IN CATALUNYA  

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers packed out the Group N points positions at the finish of the fourth round of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship in Spain today. Sweden’s Hans-Erik Weng and co-driver Anders Fredriksson finished as top Mitsubishi on Rally Catalunya, clinching a career-best second overall in the Production Class. The Group N category was won by Subaru man Oscar Svedlund, but the Mitsubishi drivers were in close pursuit. Weng moved into second place on the opening morning of the rally and remained there throughout leg two. He came under mounting pressure from fellow Lancer Evolution VIII crew Tibor Cserhalmi/Milos Hulka on the final leg, south of Barcelona. Cserhalmi moved into second place on SS13 and held the place for one stage, before a big effort from Weng regained the position for him on the all-asphalt rally’s penultimate test. "This has been a fantastic event," said Weng who, like the rest of the crews had enjoyed the sunny dry conditions throughout the rally. "The car has run really well throughout. I’ve done Catalunya once before . it’s one of the events I enjoy best. My favourite stages are the faster ones, which is where we have made up the time. Taking my best position in the WRC is great for me, but it was a big fight with Cserhalmi today, we could have done without that!" Cserhalmi was disappointed to have missed out on second place by 2.5 seconds, but consoled himself with a podium finish in Group N after a solid run in his Lancer. It was a similar story for Britain’s Stuart Jones and Craig Parry, who were fourth. Jones’ latest-specification Lancer Evolution IX was only just finished in time for the event, which meant he didn’t even have time to test the car at the rally’s pre-event shakedown. The first time he drove it in anger was on the first stage. This was also his first time competing on a foreign round of the World Rally Championship. After sliding into a tree on the first day, Jones settled into a rhythm and posted fastest times on his Catalan debut. "It was an amazing experience," said Jones. "I was really looking forward to this event, but I never expected to enjoy it as much as I have done . it’s fantastic. For some reason the turbo wasn’t giving us as much boost as it might have done, so we were a little down on power for some of the event. I’m really pleased with what I’ve achieved here and with a bit more experience I think we could even have won Group N. The new Lancer is absolutely fantastic, though." Catalan Championship competitor Salvador Canals and Jordi Puchol were fifth after three trouble-free days on the roads which they live close to. Paraplegic driver Albert Llovera delivered a fine result on his asphalt debut in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, finishing seventh seventh in class N4. The Andorran dropped five minutes after smashing a wheel on the opening leg. The usual finish celebrations were suspended in Catalunya last week, after German co-driver Jorg Bastuck died in an accident on the second stage of the rally. In the overall classification, Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb took his second win of the season. The Frenchman’s success was made easier after early leader Marcus Gronholm (Ford) suffered a turbo problem on day one. Gronholm recovered to third, while Spain’s Daniel Sordo was second on only his fourth ever event in a World Rally Car. The next round of the FIA World Rally Championship is the Tour de Corse, April 7-9.

OVERALL FINAL CLASSIFICATION
Pos	Driver Co-Driver	Vehicle	Grp Pos	Total Time	Diff Leader
1 M1	Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena	Citroen Xsara WRC	A 1	3:22:01.7	**:**.*
2	Daniel Sordo Marc Marti	Citroen Xsara	A 2	3:22:49.9	+48.2
3 M1	Marcus Gronholm Timo Rautiainen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A 3	3:23:47.5	+1:45.8
4	Alexandre Bengue Caroline Escudero	Peugeot 307 WRC	A 4	3:24:03.6	+2:01.9
5	Jan Kopecky Filip Schovanek	Skoda Fabia WRC	A 5	3:24:58.9	+2:57.2
6	Francois Duval Patrick Privato	Skoda Fabia WRC	A 6	3:25:39.5	+3:37.8
7 M1	Petter Solberg Phil Mills	Subaru Impreza WRC 2006	A 7	3:25:49.9	+3:48.2
8 M1	Stephane Sarrazin Stéphane Prevot	Subaru Impreza WRC 2006	A 8	3:26:38.1	+4:36.4
9 M1	Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A 9	3:27:03.3	+5:01.6
10 M2	Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi	Skoda Fabia WRC	A 10	3:27:06.1	+5:04.4
11	Chris Atkinson Glenn Macneall	Subaru Impreza WRC 2005	A 11	3:27:35.6	+5:33.9
12	Manfred Stohl Ilka Minor	Peugeot 307 WRC	A 12	3:27:50.1	+5:48.4
13 M2	Andreas Aigner Timo Gottschalk	Skoda Fabia WRC	A 13	3:31:39.0	+9:37.3
14	Stepan Vojtech Michal Ernst	Peugeot 206 WRC	A 14	3:39:18.6	+17:16.9
15 M2	Matthew Wilson Michael Orr	Ford Focus RS WRC 04	A 15	3:39:59.1	+17:57.4
16 M2	Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila	Ford Focus RS WRC 04	A 16	3:40:14.0	+18:12.3
17 J	Martin Prokop Jan Tomanek	Citroen C2	A 17	3:46:04.0	+24:02.3
18 J	Bernard Casier Frederic Miclotte	Renault Clio	A 18	3:46:46.3	+24:44.6
19 J	Kris Meeke Glenn Patterson	Citroen C2	A 19	3:47:09.4	+25:07.7
20	Alberto Piatto Federico Vacca	Renault Clio S1600	A 20	3:47:30.9	+25:29.2
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22	Oscar Svenlund Bjorn Nilsson	Subaru STI N12	N 1	3:50:00.3	+27:58.6
27	Hans-Erik Weng Anders Fredriksson	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	N 2	3:53:17.2	+31:15.5
28	Tibor Cserhalmi Milos Hulka	Mitsubishi Lancer	N 3	3:53:19.7	+31:18.0
29	Stuart Jones Craig Parry	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	N 4	3:53:42.6	+31:40.9
32	Salvador Canals Jordi Puchol	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	N 5	3:57:24.4	+35:22.7
36	Albert Llovera Lucas S. Cruz	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	N 8	4:02:13.9	+40:12.2
50	Thorsten Kuhlmann Detlef Ruf	Mitsubishi Carisma Evo VII	N 20	4:28:29.1	+1:06:27.4
M1 = FIA WRC MANUFACTURERS 1 / M2 = FIA WRC MANUFACTURERS 2 / J = FIA JWRC

(by mitsubishi-motors.com)