Ford Focus flys high at Monte

The weekend's Rallye Monte Carlo event was the first full competitive outing for the new Focus RS WRC and Ford's first Rallye Monte Carlo success since 1994. It's also Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen's first rally win on asphalt. BP-Ford team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished seventh in another Focus RS enabling Ford into the lead in the manufacturers' standings.

"This is the best feeling. I had a good lead and didn't need to get involved in a massive fight. It is my first win on asphalt, although it wasn't pure asphalt because there was so much ice and snow. It is fantastic to score so well on the first rally and I'm really looking forward to driving on the snow in Sweden on the next round," said Gronholm post-race. "Today was again difficult. The first stage was really hard because there was a lot of ice and sometimes the car was skating. There were many tricky corners and so I drove with great care."

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb finishe Monte in second place, ahead of Toni Gardemeister (Peugeot) and Manfred Stohl (Peugeot). Subaru Impreza drivers Stephane Sarrazin and Aussie Chris Atkinson completed the top six. It was the first time Atkinson had competed at Monte and he and co-driver Glenn Macneall are confident for the next round.

"We're ecstatic really. When you look at it, coming to our first Monte Carlo, to finish in the top six and to have such a good result all weekend is fantastic!" said Atkinson. "Sweden was our first event with the team last year and we showed some good speed. The conditions suit me a bit better than the ones here and I'm looking forward to going back."

The championship moves to Karlstad, Sweden February 2 - 5 for the only pure winter event of the season.

FIA World Rally Championship (after round 1 of 16) 

Rd 1 Placings

1 M Grönholm/T Rautiainen Ford Focus RS 4hr 11min 43.9sec

2 S Loeb/D Elena Citroen Xsara 4hr 12min 45.7sec

3 T Gardemeister/J Honkanen Peugeot 307 4hr 13min 07.0sec

4 M Stohl/I Minor Peugeot 307 4hr 13min 26.2sec

5 S Sarrazin/S Prévot Subaru Impreza 4hr 15min 04.1sec

6 C Atkinson/G MacNeall Subaru Impreza 4hr 16min 46.3sec

7 M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen Ford Focus RS 4hr 18min 03.4sec

8 D Sordo/M Marti Citroen Xsara 4hr 18min 59.1sec

9 X Pons/C Del Barrio Citroen Xsara 4hr 19min 26.8sec

10 G Panizzi/H Panizzi Skoda Fabia 4hr 21min 13.7sec

Drivers Standings                                                               

1 M Grönholm 10pts                         

2 S Loeb 8pts                           

3 T Gardemeister 6pts                           

4 M Stohl 5pts                           

5 S Sarrazin 4pts                           

6 C Atkinson 3pts

7 M Hirvonen 2pts

Manufacturers

1 Ford 14pts  

2 Kronos Citroen 11pts   

3 OMV - Peugeot Norway 6pts

4 Subaru 5pts

5 Red Bull - Skoda 3pts