Monte-Carlo Rallye 2006: Finish - Summary
Marcus Gronholm couldn`t have hoped for a better start for his collaboration with Ford. The Finn begins the season by giving a win to the new Focus WRC06.

In second place, Sebastien Loeb achieved a remarkable performance – with the help of the SupeRally regulation – to get a fantastic result despite retiring at the end of Leg 1. The podium is completed by Toni Gardemeister, the Finn driving well to give a great result to the Astra Racing team.

First Monte win for Marcus
After spending seven years at Peugeot, Marcus Gronholm adapted very well to his new team. The Finn was immediately competitive at the wheel of the new Focus and clinched the win in his first race at Ford.

Gronholm`s success at the Monte Carlo Rally is Ford`s first victory at the Principality since 1994.

Mikko Hirvonen made a few mistakes in his tyre choices but still finished the race in seventh place, bringing additional points to Ford.

Loeb`s stunning performance
Thanks to the SupeRally regulation, which enables a driver to restart the next day after retiring during a leg, Sebastien Loeb was able to achieve a stunning performance at the wheel of the Xsara.

Seb clearly showed his talent and his ability to set stage times on another level compared with his rivals. After crashing out at the end of Leg 1, it seemed almost impossible that the Frenchman could catch all the drivers except race winner Marcus Gronholm. But Loeb managed that feat.

The other Kronos drivers were heavily penalised right from the start of the race by receiving notional times in the first two stages of the event. Despite that handicap, Dani Sordo and Xavier Pons were able to set good stage times and finish in eighth and ninth places respectively.

Another podium for Gardemeister
Last year, Toni Gardemeister finish second at the Monte Carlo Rally at the wheel of the Focus. This time, the Finn drove a Peugeot 307 entered by a private team, Astra Racing. Driving the French car, Toni achieved a very good result after a long battle against Manfred Stohl. In the end, Gardemeister beat his Austrian opponent and clinched an excellent third position.

Unlike Gardemeister, Stohl is defending the colours of a team entered in the Constructors` Championship, the OMV Peugeot Norway squad. With his fourth place, Manfred brings six points to his team, enough to put it in third place behind Ford and Kronos Racing.

Solberg out of the race
It was a tough race for the Subaru World Rally Team. Petter Solberg retired early in the event and Stephane Sarrazin had a difficult start on Friday.

Solberg and Sarrazin made wrong tyre choices during the first leg and lost quite a lot of time. At the end of the day, Solberg retired when an oil leak damaged his Impreza`s engine.

With Solberg out of the race, Subaru had to count on Sarrazin and Atkinson`s limited experience to achieve a good result in Monaco. Nominated to score Constructors` Championship points, Sarrazin finished in fifth position while Atkinson followed right behind in sixth place.

Ups and downs for the Fabia drivers
Gilles Panizzi got off to a superb start at the wheel of his Fabia, taking second place overall. However, a few mistakes in his tyre choices cost him a lot of time until a contact with a rock damaged a wheel on his car, which dropped him to tenth position.

First Motorsport driver Francois Duval also did well with the Fabia at the beginning of the race, the Belgian driver even winning the stage victory in SS5. Unfortunately, Francois` race ended prematurely when he went off the road in the ninth timed event.

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