January 21, 2007
BFGoodrich^® Tires Sweep the Podium at Monte Carlo Rally
GREENVILLE, S.C.

After a four month absence, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (Citroë n/BFGoodrich Tires) bounced back into the competitive arena by securing their fourth Monte Carlo win at the wheel of a brand new car, the C4 WRC. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti (Citroë n/BFGoodrich Tires) finished second and were joined on the podium by the 2006 Monte winner, Marcus Grönholm (Ford Focus/BFGoodrich Tires) who finished in third. Also running on BFGoodrich tires, the Subaru Impreza put forth an impressive battle with the 2006 Manufacturers title-winning Fords throughout the event.

The Saint Jean en Royans, Antraigues, Burzet, Saint Bonnet le Froid are all classic Monte Carlo Rally stages, yet today's stars only know of them through what they have seen in dusty magazines or old videos. It's been ten years since the rally last visited the Vercors and Ardè che regions, so the past few days gave the current drivers a chance to sample the legendary stages.

The return to the past kicked off with Thursday's Saint Jean en Royans stage high in the Vercors National Park. After slashing 50 seconds off the previous record for the test, Sébastien Loeb (Citroë n/BFGoodrich Tires) pulled out an early assertive lead that he never relinquished. His team-mate Dani Sordo reassured team Citroë n/BFGoodrich Tires about the potential of the brand new C4 WRC/BFGoodrich Tires by tucking in behind the Frenchman in second place, a position he also held until reaching the finish.

After meeting with little resistance in the Vercors, the pair continued to dominate as the event switched to the Ardè che region on the other side of the Rhone where the menu featured some of the great stages that have helped forge the Monte Carlo Rally legend over the years. The two Citroë n C4 WRC/BFGoodrich Tires drivers claimed first and second on all of Leg two's stages and Dani Sordo emerged as a possible threat to Loeb's supremacy when he closed to within six seconds of the leader after the first attempt at Saint Pierreville-Antraigues (46km). But the three-time World Champion showed his teeth on the afternoons repeat run to pull out a lead of nearly 20 seconds as crews returned to Valence on Friday evening. The Ford Focus WRC/BFGoodrich drivers Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen never became a serious threat and Marcus realized his best option would be to settle for a podium finish after gearbox problems forced him to lose ground to the leaders. The next two rounds of the 2007 WRC, Sweden and Norway, will give him a chance to retaliate on the year's two wintry fixtures.

Chris Atkinson was back in fighting form while piloting the Subaru Impreza, which is now running on BFGoodrich tires for 2007. The Australian claimed two stages during Leg three and squeezed past Mikko Hirvonen during the superspecial on Monaco's harbor-front to clinch the fourth spot by a mere two seconds!

Sébastien Loeb (Citroë n/BFGoodrich Tires)
"It wasn't easy to choose the ideal tires for the different loops this weekend. We made some pretty bold calls, some of which paid off – like our choice for Thursday evening – while others didn't, such as Friday morning. That said, BFGoodrich's tires allow you to take certain gambles. They are very versatile and cope well in extreme conditions. For example, the '2-' medium compound [theoretically for dry conditions] works well even in the wet, as long as you succeed in keeping it at its ideal working temperature."

Chris Atkinson (Subaru/BFGoodrich)
"This result is much better than we had hoped for. I had a good feeling and I felt confident with my BFGoodrich tires from the very start. We haven't yet begun to exploit them to their full extent and it's down to us to work on the car."

Matthieu Bonardel, BFGoodrich Rally Program Manager
"Given the weather conditions, the drivers didn't have a choice between studded or unstudded tires, and some of the calls they had to make between the different compound options (soft, medium-soft, medium, etc.) were quite tough. With the conditions frequently switching between dry and wet, the drivers had to make a few compromises. On the sporting side, we saw Sébastien Loeb make a successful comeback with a new car that proved very competitive on this weekend's stages. I was also surprised by the Subaru Impreza which succeeded in rivaling with the Fords on the dry less than four weeks after its first tests on BFGoodrich tires. It's a big weekend for BFGoodrich since its tires have won two legendary events: the world's most famous rally-raid, the Dakar, with Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (Mitsubishi/BFGoodrich Tires) and the world's most famous rally, the Monte Carlo, with Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena."

Statistics: 75th Rally Automobile Monte-Carlo, 1,185.02km, including 328.54km in competitive stages.

Conditions: Damp (Leg 1), then a combination of wet and dry portions for Legs 2 and 3.

Tires used: g-Force Profiler (dry asphalt, soft and medium compounds) and the g-Force Winter (snow) for the superspecial.

Final standings:
1, Loeb/Elena (Citroë n C4 WRC), 3h 10m 27.4s. 2, Sordo/Marti (Citroë n C4 WRC), +38.2s. 3, Grönholm/Rautiainen (Ford RS Focus WRC06), +1m 22.8s. 4, Atkinson/MacNeall (Subaru Impreza WRC2006), +2m 28.1s. 5, Hirvonen/Lehtinen (Ford RS Focus WRC06), +2m 28.3s. 6, Solberg/Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC2006), +3m 12.0s. 7, Gardemeister/Honkanen (Mitsubishi WRC05), +3m 39.9s. 8, Kopecky/Schovanek (Skoda Fabia WRC), + 4m 39.4s. 9, Cuoq/Marty (Peugeot 307 WRC), + 5m 59.7s. 10, Stohl/Minor (Citroë n Xsara WRC) +6m 37.3s. Etc.

Championship standings:
Drivers: 1, S. Loeb (10 points). 2, D. Sordo (8). 3, M. Grönholm (6). 4, C. Atkinson (5). 5, M. Hirvonen (4). 6, P. Solberg (3). 7, T. Gardemeister (2). 8, J. Kopecky (1).

Manufacturers: 1, Citroë n-Total WRT (18 points). 2, BP-Ford WRT (10). 3, Subaru WRT (8)…

Next round: Udenholm Swedish Rally (February 8-11)

BFGoodrich WRC tires available: g-Force Ice

Maximum quota per priority driver: 70 tires (45 of which may be used)

Using motorsports as a proving ground for more than 30 years, BFGoodrich^® Tires is involved in every type of racing, including oval, sports car, drifting, drag, desert, dirt, rally (Dakar and WRC) and extreme rock-crawling. BFGoodrich Tires combines technological expertise with vast motorsports experience, delivering a high-performance tire for every type of vehicle. Visit BFGoodrich Tires online at www.bfgoodrichtires.com.