Monte Carlo : BFGoodrich - Finish
After years chasing after his first ever asphalt win, the two-time World Champion Marcus Grönholm finally succeeded in achieving that feat on probably the most complex sealed surface round of them all, the legend ry Monte Carlo Rally. The two-time World Champion finished clear of the triple Monte winner Sébastien Loeb (Citroën/BFGoodrich) and fellow-Finn Toni Gardemeister (Peugeot/BFGoodrich) who was once again a strong contender in the Alps of southern France.

The 2006 Monte Carlo Rally was marked by extremely taxing conditions which constantly switched from dry to wet and frequent patches of ice, with some snowy portions. Tyre choices, which were made at service in Monaco for groups of three stages at a time, were consequently both difficult to call and decisive. Subaru`s Petter Solberg lost all hope of victory, for example, when he made a poor choice for Friday`s opening group of stages before being sidelined for good by engine trouble at the end of Leg 1.

The same group of stages saw Sébastien Loeb (Citroën/BFGoodrich) make a judicious tyre choice (half-studded g-Force Winters). The Frenchman then went on to build up a gap of 1m 16s over his closest chaser but was then caught out by one of the event`s countless hazards on SS6. He resumed Leg 2 in 8th position and eventually fought back to collect 2nd place at the finish thanks in part to a series of six consecutive fastest times.



Marcus Grönholm
“This has been the toughest Monte Carlo Rally I have done but I don`t think we were ever wide of the mark when it came to tyre choice. Perhaps on the first day I could have opted for half-studded `Winters`, but that`s easy to say afterwards. It was tight all the way to the finish because we had to start the last stage with a flat tyre. Thankfully, the run-flat mousse worked perfectly. I am very happy for the Ford team and for BFGoodrich who gave me a very competitive package for this rally."

Aimé Chatard, BFGoodrich Rallies Programme Manager
"I would put this event in the `very difficult` category. The conditions were delicate from start to finish. Despite Grönholm`s handsome cushion, the leaderboard could have been turned on its head because of the tough tyre choice drivers had to make for the final loop. Manfred Stohl`s time shows that the g-Force Profiler 0 was the right choice."

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