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| Pre-Event Release 1 2 Schedule Entry List Special Stages Leg1 Leg2 Lge3 |
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LEG 1 SUZUKI IGNIS SUPER 1600 PRESS INFORMATION MONTE CARLO RALLY LEG ONE REPORT
 German driver Nikolaus Schelle
led the Team Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 charge on the 70th Monte Carlo Rally on Friday,
ending the opening day of the world-famous event in an impressive fifth position.The German, co-driven by Gerhard Weiss in the rally-prepared Ignis car's Junior World Rally Championship debut, set consistently good times to haul himself up the order throughout the opening day of competition. If Schelle can maintain his position he will be rewarded with two Junior World Rally Championship points a result well beyond his and the team's expectations before the notoriously gruelling rally began. It would also represent a remarkable achievement for his service crew, who battled valiantly to resolve minor suspension and power issues that restricted the Ignis' performance on the opening stage of the rally. "This is a really encouraging start, but we must remember there is still a long way to go," said Schelle. "There was a little drama with the suspension that made braking hard early on, but the team did a fantastic job to keep the car running in such good condition."  After a cautious
start to the unfamiliar event, Juha Kangas/Mika Ovaskainen (Finland) ended the
opening day in an encouraging 12th position in class. Eager to gain experience
on asphalt, Kangas opted to drive at a safe pace, dropping from ninth to 12th
in the dark on the day's final stage but it was a decision fully justified when
12 of the 27 Junior World Rally Championship drivers retired on the opening day."I drove very carefully, as there was still ice in places even though the sun was shining," said Kangas. "I am still changing gear too early, but otherwise the set up of the car was very good."  The optimism generated
by the excellent starts for Schelle and Kangas was tempered by the early retirement
of Japanese crew Kazuhiko Niwa/Kohei Kusaka, however. The pair retired 24 kilometres
into the opening 28-kilometre stage when the fan belt broke on his Ignis."It was going very well and I was happy with car" said Niwa. "I felt optimistic for the rest of the event as we had really found an encouraging set up for the car, but it wasn't to be this time." Reflecting on the Team Suzuki Ignis Super 1600's opening day of competition Nobuhiro Tajima, President of Suzuki Sport, to said: "We are obviously very pleased to have two cars still running after the opening day of such a demanding event. "But also saddened by Kazuhiko's early retirement. Our efforts now lie with Nikolaus and Juha, but meanwhile we will inspect Kazuhiko's car to make sure the fan belt does not cause problems in the future." The Junior World Rally Championship competition is currently being led by Italian Gianluigi Galli (Fiat Punto). Underlining the demanding nature of the rally, Suzuki was the only new manufacturer to the championship to still have cars running at the end of the day. The thrilling battle for Junior World Rally Championship honours begins again tomorrow (Saturday) at 08.15. 70th Monte Carlo Rally Junior World Rally Championship results from 1st Leg Friday 18 January SS1 Selonnet-Turriers (28.74km) Stage winner: Daniel Sola (Citroen Saxo) 19m 35.7s Kangas: 22m 12.7s Schelle: 21m 03.0s Niwa: Retired ¸€ fan belt SS2 Sisteron-Thoard (36.73km) Stage cancelled due to excessive spectator numbers SS3 Selonnet-Turriers (28.74km) Stage winner: Francois Duval (Ford Puma) 18m 46.6s Kangas: 20m 34.1s Schelle: 20m 10.9s SS4 Sisteron-Thoard (36.73km) Stage winner: Gianluigi Galli (Fiat Punto) 26m 17.7s Kangas: 29m 51.9s Schelle: 28m 48.2s SS5 Puget-Theniers-Toudon (26.76km) Stage winner: Gianluigi Galli (Fiat Punto) 19m 52.0s Kangas: 23m 46.6s Schelle: 20m 49.6s Junior World Rally Championship positions after leg one: 1 Gianluigi Galli (Fiat Punto) 1h 24m 44.3s 2 Francois Duval (Ford Puma) 1h 26m 16.2s 3 David Doppelreiter (Peugeot 206) 1h 29m 00.3s 4 Nicola Caldani (Peugeot 206) 1h 30m 02.6s 5 Nikolaus Schelle (Suzuki Ignis) 1h 30m 51.7s 6 Martin Rowe (Ford Puma) 1h 31m 07.7s 12 Juha Kangas (Suzuki Ignis) 1h 36m 25.3s Stage schedule for 2nd Leg ¸€ Saturday 19 January 08.13 Start from Monaco 08.13 Service 10.08 SS6 Pont de Clans-Villars sur Var (12.08km) 10.51 SS7 Puget-Theniers (26.76km) 12.26 Service 13.49 SS8 Coaraze-Loda (23.05km) 14.32 SS9 La Bollene-Turini-Moulinet (23.47km) 15.59 Regroup 16.44 Service 18.09 SS10 Coaraze-Loda (23.05km) 18.56 SS11 La Bollene-Turini-Moulinet (23.47km) 20.23 Service 20.40 End of Leg two in Monaco *Time of first competitor. First Ignis of Schelle will start approximately 40 minutes later. |
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| SCHEDULE & RESULT ››› ROUND1 ROUND4 ROUND7 ROUND10 ROUND11 ROUND14 NEWS WHAT'S JUNIOR WRC TEAMS INFORMATION MACHINE SPEC CONTACT PHOTO GALLERY |
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