The 42º Rally RACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada, the fourth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season, took place from March 24 to 26, 2006.
Report The rally was the first all-tarmac event of the season. The event was marred by an accident in the JWRC category which resulted in the death of the co-driver Jörg Bastuck. Eventually the rally saw the second win of the season for the reigning world champion Sébastien Loeb, although the early pacesetter was Ford's Marcus Grönholm. After winning the first three stages, he suffered turbo problems on stage five but fought back from tenth place to eventually take third place. Ahead of Grönholm was the first podium for Spain's Dani Sordo with a fast run that was publicly acknowledged by Loeb. Further down the field, the twice previous Rally Catalunya winner Gilles Panizzi disappointed with a tenth-place finish. Panizzi promptly left the Red Bull Škoda Team and has not competed in a WRC round since.
Results Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points WRC 1. Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën Xsara WRC 3:22:01.7 0.0 10 2. Dani Sordo Marc Martí Citroën Xsara WRC 3:22:49.9 48.2 8 3. Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3:23:47.5 1:45.8 6 4. Alex Bengué Caroline Escudero Peugeot 307 WRC 3:24:03.6 2:01.9 5 5. Jan Kopecký Filip Schovánek Škoda Fabia WRC 3:24:58.9 2:57.2 4 6. François Duval Patrick Pivato Škoda Fabia WRC 3:25:39.5 3:37.8 3 7. Petter Solberg Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2006 3:25:49.9 3:48.2 2 8. Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC2006 3:26:38.1 4:36.4 1 JWRC 1.(17.) Martin Prokop Jan Tománek Citroën C2 S1600 3:46:04.0 0.0 10 2.(18.) Bernd Casier Frédéric Miclotte Renault Clio S1600 3:46:46.3 42.3 8 3.(19.) Kris Meeke Glenn Patterson Citroën C2 S1600 3:47:09.4 1:05.4 6 4.(21.) Jozef Béreš jun. Petr Starý Suzuki Ignis S1600 3:48:02.1 1:58.1 5 5.(24.) Michał Kościuszko Jarek Baran Suzuki Ignis S1600 3:50:34.6 4:30.6 4 6.(25.) Conrad Rautenbach David Senior Renault Clio S1600 3:50:53.1 4:49.1 3 7.(26.) Fatih Kara Cem Bakançocukları Renault Clio S1600 3:52:00.3 5:56.3 2 8.(30.) Brice Tirabassi Jacques-Julien Renucci Citroën C2 S1600 3:54:45.4 8:41.4 1
Retirements
Xavier Pons - accident (SS10) Luca Betti - accident (SS12) Julien Pressac - engine (SS12) Barry Clark - withdrawn (SS2) Aaron Burkart - accident (SS2)
Special stages All dates and times are CET (UTC+1) from 24 to 25 March 2006 and CEST (UTC+2) in 26 March 2006. DayStageTimeNameLengthWinnerTimeAvg. spd.Rally leader1 (24 MAR) SS1 08:05 Querol 1 25.43 km M. Grönholm 13:36.7 112.1 km/h M. Grönholm SS2 08:53 el Montmell 1 24.13 km M. Grönholm 12:35.6 115.0 km/h SS3 12:33 Querol 2 25.43 km M. Grönholm 13:44.4 111.1 km/h SS4 13:21 el Montmell 2 24.13 km S. Loeb 12:31.8 115.6 km/h SS5 16:31 Colldejou 26.51 km S. Loeb 15:42.1 101.3 km/h S. Loeb SS6 17:24 Riudecaynes 11.60 km S. Loeb 7:45.3 89.8 km/h2 (25 MAR) SS7 07:50 Duesaigues 1 11.50 km M. Grönholm 7:47.8 88.5 km/h SS8 08:36 Vilaplana 1 28.32 km M. Grönholm 16:36.4 102.4 km/h SS9 09:59 Margalef - la Palma d'Ebre 1 15.85 km S. Loeb 9:35.2 99.2 km/h SS10 13:09 Duesaigues 2 11.50 km D. Sordo 8:04.7 85.4 km/h SS11 13:55 Vilaplana 2 28.32 km M. Grönholm 16:44.7 101.5 km/h SS12 15:18 Margalef - la Palma d'Ebre 2 15.85 km S. Loeb 9:33.2 99.6 km/h3 (26 MAR) SS13 07:53 el Lloar - la Figuera 1 22.43 km M. Grönholm 12:41.5 106.0 km/h SS14 09:05 Pratdip 1 26.47 km M. Grönholm 15:36.5 101.8 km/h SS15 11:56 el Lloar - la Figuera 2 22.43 km M. Grönholm 12:41.5 106.0 km/h SS16 13:08 Pratdip 2 26.47 km M. Grönholm 15:40.6 101.4 km/h
Championship standings after the event
Drivers' championship Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR Pts 1 Sébastien Loeb 2 2 1 1 36 2 Marcus Grönholm 1 1 8 3 27 3 Dani Sordo 8 16 4 2 14 4 Manfred Stohl 4 18 3 12 11 5 Petter SolbergRetRet 2 7 10 6 Toni Gardemeister 3 6 Daniel Carlsson 3 6 8 Gigi GalliRet 4 5 Alex Bengué 4 5 Stéphane Sarrazin 5 8 5 Henning SolbergRet 8 5 5 Chris Atkinson 6 11 7 11 5 13 Thomas Rådström 5 4 Jan Kopecký 11 13 5 4 15 Kosti Katajamäki 6 3 Gareth MacHale 16 6Ret 3 François DuvalRet 6 3 18 Mikko Hirvonen 7 12 14 9 2 Xavier Pons 9 7RetRet 2 Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR Pts
Manufacturers' championship Rank Manufacturer Event Totalpoints MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR 1 Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team 11 13 10 10 44 2 BP Ford World Rally Team 14 12 4 12 42 3 Subaru World Rally Team 5 3 12 11 31 4 OMV-Peugeot Norway 6 4 11 21 5 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team 0 7 2 1 10 6 Red Bull Škoda Team 3 0 5 8
References
External links
Results at eWRC.com Results from the official site wrc.com Results at Jonkka's World Rally Archive