BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen
ended today's second leg of the Rally New Zealand in fifth place after a
tremendous three-car battle through the lush North Island countryside.
The Finns fought for every tenth of a second in their Ford Focus RS
World Rally Car, aided by Michelin's newly developed tyres which
were again perfectly suited to the conditions in the warm afternoon
temperatures.
Their clash with Markko Martin and Chris Atkinson provided spectacular
entertainment on the fast and flowing gravel tracks close to the
Northland town of Paparoa, 150km north of Auckland. The trio were
covered by just six-tenths of a second midway through the leg, before
Gardemeister and Honkanen pulled away during the afternoon speed tests
to cement fifth place.
After overnight rain, conditions remained dry but humid for most of the
day. However, rain in the late afternoon made the surface damp at the
Manukau special stages on the edge of Auckland, where this evening large
crowds watched two cars at a time race side-by-side around a floodlit
purpose-built track.
Drivers tackled eight speed tests in total, covering 139.49km, including
two passes over the 31.73km Bull stage, the longest of this fourth round
of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Thirty-year-old Gardemeister started the day in sixth in his
Castrol-branded Focus RS. He climbed into fifth on the opening Wairere
stage as the battle began in earnest. The trio traded tenths of a
second on the next two stages to return to the Paparoa service park
covered by just 0.6sec, with Gardemeister in sixth, just 0.1sec behind
Martin.
"We enjoyed a better morning than yesterday," he said. "All the stages
were new to me. I've driven the first two in the opposite direction,
but none of them this way around. The opening stage was quite damp,
in fact there was almost mud in places. The others were quite dry but
there was a lot of loose gravel on the road towards the end of stage 11
and it was slippery. We pushed hard on all three tests and I lost a
little time when I slid wide at a corner on the opening stage. It was
very humid and inside the car it felt like I was sitting in a sauna."
"We softened the anti-roll bar setting this morning but made it harder
again for the afternoon tests," added Gardemeister, who was relishing
the close competition. "It was good for my motivation to be in a battle
like that. It makes me push that bit harder."
Gardemeister opted for Michelin's harder compound new construction
rubber for the afternoon. As on yesterday's opening leg, the tyres
performed superbly. Gardemeister was faster than his rivals on all
three stages to move back into fifth. After the two sprint tests at
Manukau, he returned to Auckland 9.9sec ahead of Martin and 36.8sec
ahead of Atkinson, who fell away this afternoon.
"We had an excellent day and found good speed," said Gardemeister. "The
Focus RS is well-suited to these stages. We had no problems and I
enjoyed driving these fantastic roads. Michelin's tyres were perfect
this afternoon and made a big difference. But we were lucky when we
slid wide on a fast left bend over a crest. The car went into a field
and we rejoined the track further along. Tomorrow we'll continue to
hard and I'm confident we can keep Markko behind us."
BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson was delighted with his driver's
performance. "Toni has driven very well and he has been assisted by
Michelin's new rubber. The Focus has run faultlessly and we have not
had to change anything for two days now. There are still a lot of
kilometres to go and the stages on the west coast can be tricky," he
said.
Antony Warmbold and Michael Orr, driving a privately-entered Focus RS,
climbed to 13th after putting yesterday's power steering difficulties
behind them. Their only trouble today came on stage 12 when an intercom
problem meant Warmbold could not hear Orr's pace notes. They swapped
helmets for the following stages and communications between co-driver
and driver were restored.
News from our Rivals
Overnight leader Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) extended his advantage with
fastest time on the first two stages. The Frenchman then controlled his
pace before adding a stunning win in the 31.73km Bull test where he was
fastest by almost 17 seconds. He leads by 51.9sec. Marcus Gronholm
(Peugeot) and Petter Solberg (Subaru) enjoyed a thrilling battle for
second. The Finn held a narrow advantage initially before Solberg moved
ahead, only for Gronholm to regain second during the afternoon loop.
They are split by just 6.8sec tonight. Francois Duval (Citroen) could
not match their pace and he is fourth. Chris Atkinson (Subaru) was
unable to hold onto the Gardemeister / Martin battle this afternoon but
has a comfortable advantage over Gigi Galli (Mitsubishi). Galli spun on
stage 13, and both the Italian and team-mate Harri Rovanpera lost time
in the next test when the rubber on their tyres pulled away from the
rim.
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