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March 31, 2006 BFGoodrich® Tires Dominates the World Rally Championships with One-Two-Three Podium Finish and Fourth-Straight Win Greenville, SC 
Three weeks after his triumph in Mexico, Sébastien Loeb (Citroën/BFGoodrich® Tires) was in winning form again during the fourth round of the 2006 World Rally Championships in Catalunya this weekend. The two-time World Champion finished clear of Spanish driver Dani Sordo (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) and Finland's Marcus Grönholm (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires). The BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Profiler proved to be the fastest tire over all sixteen stages on the Catalan asphalt, helping BFGoodrich drivers to monopolize the top-six positions in the final standings. Unbeaten on asphalt since the end of 2004, Sébastien Loeb was determined to continue his run this weekend in the mountains of the Costa Daurada. Even so, it was Marcus Grönholm who emerged as the early pacesetter with his new Ford Focus WRC06/BFGoodrich Tires. The winner of January's icy Monte Carlo and February's snowy Swedish Rally was fastest over the first three stages, pulling out a 10 second gap over Loeb. In his defence, the Frenchman was slowed by brake problems, but he readily admitted that he always thought he was going to have a serious fight on his hands in Spain. 
That battle failed to materialize, however, when Grönholm's turbo failed on SS5, relegating the Ford driver to 10th overall by close of play Friday evening. The same stage saw the Finland driver's teammate Mikko Hirvonen drop from third overall with an identical problem. Their combined misfortunes left the three Kronos Total Citroën/BFGoodrich cars with a commanding lead out front, ahead of Subaru's Petter Solberg and the weekend's fastest privateer Alexandre Bengué (Peugeot/BFGoodrich Tires). Meanwhile, Marcus Grönholm found himself in the same situation as Sébastien Loeb on the Monte Carlo Rally, being faced with the prospect of having to drive flat out in the hope of salvaging some points at the end of the event. Working against this threat, Grönholm earned himself the two fastest times the second day, getting him arms length of the podium, despite the highly-soiled stages produced by the preceding cars copiously indulging in corner cutting. Indeed, these tricky conditions caused the demise of third-placed Xevi Pons (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) who slid off the road. Alexandre Bengué consequently found himself with a foot on the provisional podium, although he was ultimately dislodged with two stages to go by the charging Grönholm who posted the best time on 10 of the weekend's 16 stages. The season's first asphalt encounter produced a number of pleasant surprises from competitive privateers, including the Czech Republic's Jan Kopecky (5th) and Belgian François Duval (6th). The two Skoda Fabia WRC/BFGoodrich Tires' drivers succeeded in beating the factory Subarus of Petter Solberg (7th) and Stéphane Sarrazin (8th). The 2006 Rally Catalunya was unfortunately marred by a tragic accident which caused the death of Citroën co-driver (number 54), Jörg Bastuck, who was hit by another competing car while changing a wheel during stage two. Everyone at BFGoodrich Tires would like to express their condolences to his family and friends. 
Sébastien Loeb (Kronos Total Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) "The early part of the rally was quite difficult and I really had to push hard to keep up with Grönholm. But when he was slowed by mechanical problems, I was able to control from in front. I possibly went for too hard a tire choice for Friday's second loop of stages. After that, though, I was totally satisfied with my medium compound g-Force Profiler 2s. The Mousse system enabled me to finish two stages during leg two when it was difficult to avoid all the stones." Aimé Chatard (Rallies Program Manager, BFGoodrich Tires) "Everyone was a little concerned about the weather, but in the end we had blue skies and relatively high temperatures all weekend. Ground temperatures even reached 33°C on Saturday afternoon. The BFGoodrich drivers had three types of tires available, but at the end of the day they could have done the entire rally with just one type, the g-Force Profiler 2 (medium compound). That speaks volumes for the competitiveness and durability of our asphalt tires, although we could face tougher conditions in Corsica when the championship resumes in two weeks." BFGoodrich Tires Used g-Force Profiler 2: This medium compound tire was used by all BFGoodrich runners at the beginning of leg one with the exception of François Duval and Alexandre Bengué (2-) who chose a softer option to favour added grip early in the stages as they took time to settle in. The g-Force Profiler is ideally suited to a temperature range of between 10 and 25°C. Its pattern can be slightly re-cut with a view to helping the tread reaching its ideal working temperature more quickly. The BFGoodrich tires used by the WRC competitors are equipped with a mousse insert which allows them to continue at rally speed even if air is lost. This system proved particularly valuable during leg two. BFGoodrich News AN EASY RALLY? From the tire point of view, the 2006 Rally Catalunya was made relatively easier by the consistently pleasant weather. Tire choices didn't pose any real problems, although certain drivers had placed the emphasis a little too much on soft compounds in their individual quotas. They had anticipated some rain and had consequently favoured soft compound g-Force Profilers. CORSICA & ARGENTINA. Priority drivers had to nominate their tire choices for the forthcoming Rally Argentina on March 17 and the containers left for South America by ship this week. Tires for the Tour of Corsica will be nominated on Monday, April 3. JWRC The winner of the Junior World Rally Championship classification was Martin Prokop (Citroën C2) ahead of Bernd Casier (Renault Clio) and Kris Meeke (Citroën C2) who finished third after staging a dramatic fight back. BFGoodrich Tires is a partner of the JWRC. CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS (BFGoodrich partners in bold) DRIVERS 1. Loeb, 36 pts - 2. Grönholm, 27 pts - 3. Sordo 14 pts - 4. Stohl, 11 pts - 5. Solberg, 10 pts - 6. Gardemeister, Carlsson 6 pts… MANUFACTURERS 1. Kronos Total Citroën, 44 pts - 2. BP-Ford WRT, 42 pts - 3. Subaru, 31 pts 4. OMV-Peugeot Norway, 21 pts - 5. VK-Stobart, 10 pts - 6. Red Bull Skoda, 8 pts. Next round: Rally France (April 7-9) BFGoodrich® Tires combines technological expertise with vast motorsports experience, delivering a high-performance tire for every type of vehicle from ultra-high performance tuner vehicles, sports cars and SUVs to the hottest sport trucks, pickups and rock-crawling rigs in the world. For more than 30 years, BFGoodrich Tires has used motorsports as a proving ground. Success on the street begins with winning on the track and BFGoodrich Tires is involved in every type of racing, including oval, sports car, drag, desert, rally (Dakar and WRC) and extreme rock-crawling. With 20 consecutive Baja 1000 wins, the most wins in rock-crawling history, and an unmatched record on pavement, BFGoodrich Tires has proven the only records it breaks are its own. Visit BFGoodrich Tires online at www.bfgoodrichtires.com. |
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