`It`s just fantastic - a dream come true`
Today`s shakedown stage, based in the heart of the French Alps, provided Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team drivers Matthew Wilson and Pieter Tsjoen with a taste of what`s to come on this week`s Monte Carlo Rally.

The 9.6km test, starting from the village of Sospel, offered precisely the same conditions both drivers will experience when the competitive action starts tomorrow morning. Freezing overnight temperatures left the roads littered with icy patches.

Never having competed on a World Rally Championship event outside of Britain, Matthew was keen to get as much experience of the conditions as possible before he goes against the clock on stage one tomorrow. The 18-year-old Briton made the perfect start, not putting a wheel wrong as he completed six runs. He used the time to acclimatise to the new car, which he hasn`t competed in before and the specially studded ice tyres – which are also new to him.

Pieter has tackled Monte Carlo on two occasions (1999 and 2000), but never in a car as competitive as the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 05 he will drive this week. The Belgian emerged unscathed from his final pre-event test and both he and Matthew are now counting down the minutes before they drive in anger for the first time this year.



The Monte Carlo Rally actually starts in the world-famous Casino Square this evening. Huge crowds are expected, all clamouring for their first view of the drivers and cars which will play out the 2006 World Rally Championship, as it passes through 16 countries in the next 11 months.

There is no competitive action tonight, however. The first stage comes tomorrow. The cars leave Monte Carlo at 0650, tackling three stages (totalling 59.05km) in the French Alps before returning to Monaco for service at 1209. That loop of three stages is repeated in the afternoon before the day`s final service in Monaco at 1801.

Matthew Wilson
“After all the waiting, it`s great to finally get in the car and drive. Shakedown went really well this morning. I`d never driven this kind of tyre on ice, so it was good for me that there was so much of it around. I was surprised at how much grip the studded tyres gave on the ice, it was incredible – and then even on the stretches of dry asphalt you still get grip; it was a real eye-opener."

"I feel a lot happier about everything now. It`s still amazing to be here. It kind of hits you when you`re driving into Monaco and there`s all the hype around for the rally, that`s when I start to think: “Crikey, I`m actually competing here.” It`s just fantastic – a dream come true. Having said that, I realise this is going to be a massively steep learning curve. Particularly on this rally, where the conditions can be so changeable.”

Pieter Tsjoen
“I hadn`t driven the car before this morning at all – there was no time for a pre-event test for me – so it was quite incredible. The car was so much faster than what I`ve been used to. I have to do some work with my pace notes, my co-driver is not telling me what corners are coming quickly enough. That`s something we can work on in the event."

"The way the pedals are set up in this car means I am using my left foot on the brake. This isn`t my natural style, so it`s something I`m having to learn about. What an opportunity for me, though! It`s fantastic to be here and part of a manufacturer team. I`m going to enjoy every minute of it.”

Malcolm Wilson
“Both cars ran well this morning, there were no problems at all. It`s very good news that both the drivers came through without any trouble – it`s good for their confidence. There was so much black ice around this morning. Marcus Gronholm (BP Ford World Rally Team driver, world champion 2000/2002) told me it was the worst conditions he`d ever seen on that shakedown stage. It was incredibly slippery – but that`s what they needed. That`s what they`re going to get tomorrow."

"I can see Matthew is starting to settle down a bit now. Understandably, he`s been pretty nervous in the run up to the event, but getting some driving done today has helped him no end.”


Tags: stobart, matthew-wilson, monte-carlo, debut, young, driver, ford, m-sport, shakedown,