Germany - OMV Kronos Citroen WRT - FinishThe OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team has every reason to rejoice. The second place of Francois Duval and Patrick Pivato at Rally Germany confirms the upward trend of the private team.
On the final day Duval fired off a
fireworks display of SS best times which put so much pressure on Ford works driver Marcus Grönholm that the Finn drifted off the road on the last stage and dropped back to fourth place.
Especially on the first day Francois Duval made Germany-triumphator
Sebastien Loeb's life a misery. Following six special stages the Belgian OMV driver lead by 1.3 seconds on the tenth run to the FIA World Rally Championship.
After two spins on the second leg he intermittedly dropped back to fourth intermediate place. But then the 26-year-old turned up the heat, overtook Ford works driver Mikko Hirvonen and put a lot of pressure on WRC leader Marcus Grönholm. With five SS best times – out of seven overall – he also wrote the history of the third day.
A few kilometres into the last special stage Grönholm hit an obstacle with the rear end of his Focus and subsequently lost over one minute. Thus Duval's pushing had been rewarded with second place.
Duval: "We once more tried everything on the final day and it payed off. The fight right up to the last kilometre was great fun.
This second place at my Xsara comeback means that I've reached the hat-trick now since I'd also finished second in 2004 and 2005. What's more, I'm only the second privateer to reach the podium this year. That says a lot for the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team."
Despite the drop out of Manfred Stohl on SS 9 through no fault of his own (engine failure), the second place by Francois Duval means that the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team has still gathered eight points for the manufacture ranking in Germany.
"We are really very satisfied. A podium place is a great feat for any private team. Furthermore, we realised that we are able to keep up with the top. Manfred's retirement was very unfortunate, especially since he'd reached very competitive times at the beginning of the second day. We are on the right track and can be very confident for the next rallies. In New Zealand I'm expecting a very strong Manfred Stohl," explains Marc Van Dalen, Team Principal of the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team.
Source OMV Kronos Citroen WRT
