By Naughtynat
August 23 2006

Day 1 : Rain upsets the contenders.The roads are muddy and the weather is
unstable,making tyre choices a problem to deal with.The bad situation of the
road was not a problem for Finn Marcus Gronholm,who set the fastest time in
4 special stages and is the overall leader.His only problem is Sebastian Loeb,
who set the fastest time in 3 SS and is second not far behind.
Behind them is Mikko Hirvonen,who made an ideal start,but he couldn't keep up
with Gronholm and Loeb and is fighting for third with Petter Solberg.Solberg was
unlucky when he caught up with Manfred Stohl in a special stage.As a result,he
lost more than 40 seconds.There is also a battle for the fifth position between
Henning Solberg and Chris Atkinson,who was having problems with his engine.
Dani Sordo is seventh,and he hasn't adjusted well to the circuimstances.Behind
him in 8th is Giggi Galli.

Day 2 : The competition between Gronholm and Loeb was thrilling until SS 12.
5 km before the finish Loeb hit a rock,and as a result he lost a tire,and 30
seconds.That left Gronholm comfortably at the top.Hirvonen is also comfortably
third.Dani Sordo is out of the rally,and that makes it possible for Ford to cut down
the constructors championship gap between them and Kronos.Taking
advantage of Solberg's exit,his brother Henning climbed up to fourth.Subaru's
bad luck continues,as not only Solberg but also Atkinson was left with only 2
gears for 3 special stages and lost more than 10 positions.Giggi Galli also took
advantage of these,and is now up to 5th.The remaining three drivers in the points
are Tuohino,Vallimaki and Kopecky.JWRC Suzuki driver Urmo Aava and 4 other
crews were disqualified because they weren't wearing the fireproof underwear
as they should have.

Day 3 : The remaining 4 special stages changed nothing at the top.Gronholm
cruised to victory,leaving Loeb behind at second.Third was taken by Hirvonen,
who didn't risk a lot but still won all 4 stages of the day.The remaining positions in
the points were taken by Henning Solberg,Giggi Galli,Tuohino,Vallimaki and
Kopecky respectively.The JWRC winner was Guy Wilks.

Debrief : This one was Gronholm's 22nd victory,third consecutive and fifth one in
six years at home soil(Markko Martin won in 2003).He is now aiming for the
23rd victory to catch Juha Kankkunen.Loeb is also aiming for his 27th,to pass
the great Carlos Sainz and become the WRC driver with the most wins.
Ford cut down the gap as they wanted.With a 1-3 finish,they got 8 more points
than Kronos.The gap in the drivers championship is almost the same.

Drivers Championship Standings :
1.Loeb 92
2.Gronholm 61
3.Sordo 41
4.Hirvonen 27
5.Stohl 21
6.Solberg P 20
7.Solberg H 16
-.Gardemeister 16
8.Galli 15
-.Pons 15

Constructors Championship Standings :
1.Kronos Total Citroen 122
2.Ford 107
3.Subaru 65
4.OMV - Peugeot Norway 50
5.Stobart-VK M-Sport Ford Rallye Team 23
6.Red Bull Skoda 22

JWRC Standings :
1.Per Gunnar Andersson 29
2.Patrick Sandell 28
3.Guy Wilks 21
4.Urmo Aava 20