September 24, 2006
A Cypriot Hat-Trick for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën/ BFGoodrich® Tires)
BFGoodrich Tires Adds the Season's Roughest Round to its 2006 WRC Record
GREENVILLE, S.C.

Like the Goddess of Beauty Aphrodite who is said to have emerged from the waves on a Cypriot beach near the event's host-town Limassol, Sébastien Loeb rose to the highest step of the Cyprus Rally podium for the third year in a row. And like Aphrodite, his Citroën Xsara WRC/BFGoodrich® Tires, which was 'born of the blood of Kronos', is endowed with the fascinating power of ensuring a perpetual desire… for victory. Once again this weekend, the battle between Loeb and Grönholm proved to be yet another thriller until it turned definitively in favor of the Frenchman towards the end of Day 2. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) joined the charging duo on the rostrum for the third event running, while BFGoodrich Tires runners monopolized the top-seven at the finish of the WRC season's roughest fixture.

With a menu of ground temperatures as high as 50°C and temperatures up to 60°C inside the cars, plus hot, hanging dust, punishing rocks that hammer the chassis and overheating engines that have trouble 'breathing' at average speeds of just 60kph, the Cyprus Rally is undoubtedly the most punishing round of the World Championship. And it lived up to its reputation again this year, despite the organizers decision to resurface certain stages before the start.

Marcus Grönholm (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) is famous for his flying starts, especially in Cyprus, and this year was no exception. The four stages of Leg 1's opening loop saw the Finn claim three fastest times, while Sébastien Loeb (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) spent the morning running first on the road and sweeping a clear line for those further down the order. The second loop enabled the Frenchman to slowly but surely claw back that early deficit however and, by the end of the day, he was sitting on Grönholm's heels, just 6.4s behind after 111km of competitive action high in the Troodos Mountains. Despite setting one fastest time, Subaru's Petter Solberg trailed back in 7th place, while Mikko Hirvonen (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) joined the charging duo on the overnight podium.

It was on Saturday afternoon's loop that the 2006 Cyprus Rally tipped definitively in Loeb's favour after another, morning-long blow-for-blow scrap between the Frenchman and his Finnish rival. Indeed, over the 30.33km of SS11, just one tiny tenth of a second separated Loeb and Grönholm at the flying finish! However, the Citroën driver profited from the second attempt at the same test - which he completed 16s quicker than Grönholm - to ease clear at the top and pave the way for his third consecutive win on the Mediterranean island. The gap between the pair at the end of Leg 2 amounted to some 20 seconds and Loeb was able to control comfortably from in front to go on and secure the 28th WRC win of his career and edge closer to a third Drivers' world crown.

Ford/BFGoodrich Tires will nonetheless be pleased with the close formation finish of Grönholm (2nd) and Hirvonen (3rd) which promotes the team to within just seven points of Kronos-Total-Citroën in the provisional Manufacturers' standings.

Indeed, the Belgian outfit had something of a mixed-bag weekend in Cyprus. While Loeb's victory brought it ten extra championship points, the event proved particularly frustrating for his teammate Dani Sordo who began by failing to finish the opening day because of an engine problem. Happily, the Kronos mechanics were able to make repairs which enabled the Spaniard to rejoin the following day which he completed in 10th place and with one potential Manufacturers' pint in his pocket despite a roll. In the end, however, he was sidelined for good when he was caught out under braking for a junction on Sunday's afternoon's super-special.

Manfred Stohl (Peugeot/BFGoodrich Tires), who secured a surprise 2nd place here in 2005 at the wheel of a privately-entered Xsara WRC, had 4th place and the top privateer award sewn up from a very early stage this time round. His rival Toni Gardemeister (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) spent the morning running first on the road and sweeping a clear line for those further down the order. The second loop enabled the Frenchman to slowly but surely claw back that early deficit however and, by the end of the day, he was sitting on Grönholm's heels, just 6.4s behind after 111km of competitive action high in the Troodos Mountains. Despite setting one fastest time, Subaru's Petter Solberg trailed back in 7th place, while Mikko Hirvonen (Ford/BFGoodrich Tires) joined the charging duo on the overnight podium.

It was on Saturday afternoon's loop that the 2006 Cyprus Rally tipped definitively in Loeb's favor after another, morning-long blow-for-blow scrap between the Frenchman and his Finnish rival. Indeed, over the 30.33km of SS11, just one tiny tenth of a second separated Loeb and Grönholm at the flying finish! However, the Citroën driver profited from the second attempt at the same test - which he completed 16s quicker than Grönholm - to ease clear at the top and pave the way for his third consecutive win on the Mediterranean island. The gap between the pair at the end of Leg 2 amounted to some 20 seconds and Loeb was able to control comfortably from in front to go on and secure the 28th WRC win of his career and edge closer to a third Drivers' world crown.

Ford/BFGoodrich Tires will nonetheless be pleased with the close formation finish of Grönholm (2nd) and Hirvonen (3rd) which promotes the team to within just seven points of Kronos-Total-Citroën in the provisional Manufacturers' standings.

Indeed, the Belgian outfit had something of a mixed-bag weekend in Cyprus. While Loeb's victory brought it ten extra championship points, the event proved particularly frustrating for his team-mate Dani Sordo who began by failing to finish the opening day because of an engine problem. Happily, the Kronos mechanics were able to make repairs which enabled the Spaniard to re-join the following day which he completed in 10th place and with one potential Manufacturers' point in his pocket… despite a roll. In the end, however, he was sidelined for good when he was caught out under braking for a junction on Sunday's afternoon's super-special.

Manfred Stohl (Peugeot/BFGoodrich Tires), who secured a surprise 2nd-place here in 2005 at the wheel of a privately-entered Xsara WRC, had 4th place and the top-privateer award sewn up from a very early stage this time round. His rival Toni Gardemeister (Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) figured as high as 3rd overall at one point before losing ground on Friday afternoon following a puncture. The Finn ultimately succeeded in fighting his way back to 5th ahead of Henning Solberg (6th, Peugeot/BFGoodrich Tires), Xevi Pons (7th, Citroën/BFGoodrich Tires) and Subaru's Petter Solberg who ended up the best-placed non-BFGoodrich Tires finisher in 8th place.

Aimé Chatard, Manager of BFGoodrich Tires Rallies Programme: "The 2006 Cyprus Rally turned out to be less rough and less hard-wearing on tires than we had expected. Without informing us, the organizers decided to resurface a number of stages prior to the start and this left a top-coating of soft gravel which was as deep as 5cm in places. Also, the entry of just forty or so car meant the stages weren't entirely swept clear first time through and the leading BFGoodrich Tires runners made different tire choices for the second passes. For Friday afternoon, Sébastien Loeb opted for the g-Force Gravel H1, while Marcus chose the H2. Then, for Saturday afternoon, Loeb opted for H1s, while Grönholm went for the 'normal' g-Force Gravel. That said, I don't believe it was these differing tire choices that decided the outcome. In the long stage that saw Seb pull clear, his wider tires gave him an advantage of a few seconds perhaps over the 6km asphalt portion, but they certainly don't explain the difference of 16 seconds between the two at the end of the stage. Two tread patterns per driver were authorized for this year's Cyprus Rally. In addition to the BFGoodrich Tires g-force Gravel which all our partners chose, the Citroën drivers nominated the g-Force H1 following their pre-event testing, while Ford's drivers selected the H2 - which contributed Marcus' win in Greece - because they had anticipated there would be a great deal of wear this weekend."

TIRES EMPLOYED

NOTES
BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Gravel '9' and '9+': a 'conventional' WRC gravel tire used in either a medium ('9') or hard ('9+') compound. Nominated for Cyprus by all BFGoodrich Tires runners.

BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Gravel H1: a wider version of the 'conventional' BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Gravel. Nominated for Cyprus by Kronos Total Citroën

BFGoodrich Tires g-Force Gravel H2: a wide tire with a new tread pattern first seen in the 2006 Acropolis Rally. Nominated for Cyprus by BP-Ford.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS DRIVERS: 1, Loeb (112 points). 2, Grönholm (77). 3, Sordo (41). 4, Hirvonen (39). 5, Stohl (33). 6, Solberg (23). 7, Gardemeister (20). 8, H. Solberg (19). Etc.

MANUFACTURERS: 1, Kronos Total Citroën (142 points). 2, BP-Ford WRT (135). 3, Subaru (79). 4, OMV-Peugeot Norway (59). 5, VK-Stobart (30). 6, Red Bull Skoda (22).

Next round: Rally Turkey (October 13-15)

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