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RALLY: Ford Martini sets sail for success in NZ

7 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The FIA World Rally Championship season moves into its second half as teams make the long journey to the other side of the world for the Rally New Zealand (13-16 July). Based in Auckland, recent home of the America's Cup yacht race and known as the City of Sails, the rally offers the Ford Martini team the chance to capitalise on the momentum gained from two wins in the last three rallies.

The omens for New Zealand are good. Victory for Colin McRae and Nicky Grist behind the wheel of their Ford Focus World Rally Car in Spain's Catalunya Rally and last month's Acropolis Rally have moved the Britons into second in the drivers' championship. Team-mates Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya were third and second on the same rallies to cement Ford in second in the manufacturers' table.

McRae and Sainz have won the Rally New Zealand seven times during the past 10 years and both profess a liking for the fast, flowing and smooth gravel roads which most drivers regard as the best in the world championship.

The Scot acknowledges how important the rally is for his title hopes and those of the Ford Martini team. "It's a big rally for me in several ways. It's the first world championship event I won (in 1993) and could prove vital in this year's championship. Richard Burns still has a fairly comfortable lead but if we can score a similar result in New Zealand to that of Greece it will show the tide is really turning. The reliability and consistency of the Focus has improved and that bodes well for the second half of the season.

"The weather's not usually very good out there but the stages make up for it. You can really attack them at 100 per cent. They're so good it puts an added emphasis on the performance of the driver to squeeze out the extra few seconds that make the difference between winning and coming second," he added.

Sainz and Moya were winners in 1990, '91, '92 and '98 and the 38-year-old Madrid-based driver would like nothing more than to add a fifth success to his tally. "It's a rally I enjoy greatly and an event which should suit the Focus," said Sainz. "It's a pure driving event and the roads are fantastic. They're very quick and flowing and the camber encourages you to drive quickly. There's few bumps and no rocks so you can concentrate on your lines and car control.

"From the position of fighting for the championship, the second half of the season should be better for us than the first. And if Ford is battling for the manufacturers' title then it follows that either Colin or myself will be fighting for the driver's crown," added Sainz.

Petter Solberg and Phil Mills will drive a third Ford-entered Focus, the junior members of the Ford squad competing in New Zealand for the first time.

"We completed the recce last year and it was clear that it's quite a fast rally and that makes it difficult to ensure the pace notes are perfect," said the 25-year-old Norwegian driver. "The last rally in Greece was much slower, and consequently easier. Setting so many fastest stage times on the Acropolis was a real confidence boost but we must accept it's unlikely we'll do the same in New Zealand. It's a rally where we must look and learn."

Ford Martini team director Malcolm Wilson admitted confidence in the team was high after recent results. "The 1-2 in Greece gave everyone a boost and we have two drivers who know the New Zealand roads well. Seven victories between them is impressive and Colin was also leading the rally last year before his retirement so we're pretty upbeat," he said.

Both Focus World Rally Cars will have revised camshafts in their engines following a four-day test in Finland at the end of last month. "It should improve throttle response at the lower end of the range without losing anything at the top end," explained Wilson. "It's important for the cars to have a very neutral balance. Many of the corners are very long and a neutral set-up ensures the car can react quickly to a change of direction."

Tyre Talk

The priority for Ford Martini's tyre partner, Michelin, is ensuring the best grip in conditions generally made slippery by the southern hemisphere winter. The smooth roads reduce tyre wear to a minimum, even in the dry, yet the rally requires a precise driving style to limit wheelspin and the inevitable drifting through corners that the roads encourage.

Tyre selection is simpler than most rounds, the almost inevitable rain keeping the roads wet. Even when it stops the stages stay damp well after the sun emerges. "Selection is not as critical as on other rallies," said McRae. "The stages are consistent and you can select a tyre pattern in the morning and find you stay with the same pattern for the rest of the day."

However, the weather often plays a big role. "When it's dry, start order into stages can be critical because of the small stones on the road that the first cars have to brush clear," said Sainz. "In the wet the nature of the stages changes because of the slippery film of mud on the surface which the tyres must slice through in order to bite into the compact ground underneath. The importance of re-cutting the patterns can become critical here."

Rally Route

The second leg of this year's event contains the longest special stage in world rallying since rallies were drastically shortened in 1986. At 59km, it is a combination of two existing tests called Parahi and Ararua, joined together by a 2km stretch of asphalt. Although the event is still run over four days, the opening evening is purely a ceremonial start in Auckland, the traditional opening super special at Manukau having been moved to the end of the following day when drivers will tackle the test twice. The opening leg takes competitors south of Auckland for stages around Raglan, famous for the black sand on its beaches. It heads north in leg two for the longest day, drivers facing more than 176km of stages around Maungaturoto. The final day is the shortest, based primarily in Maramarua Forest, south-east of Auckland. Drivers tackle 24 stages in all, covering 373.37km in a route of 1619km.

Text provided by Mark Wilford

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