WRC round 8 - the Acropolis Rally

Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, 4th: "There was nothing we could do today; the only thing that could happen is that we made a mistake and went off. So I thought it was best just to bring the car home and make sure of the points. The roads were very rough and extremely dusty. It's been a disappointing rally as we were leading for most of the first day and we would have had a chance to challenge for the win. Looking on the positive side, the performance of the car is better and this is what we have to concentrate on for the future."

Markko Martin, Peugeot eighth: "This has been a strange rally for us: we have had no real problems but we have struggled a bit to find the proper feeling in the car. On the whole our tyre choices have been fine and we have had no mechanical problems at all. We have been able to continue our record of finishing every rally so far this year, and with more time I hope to find a better feeling in the car."

Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Peugeot team manager: "The result does not quite tell the whole story, as this was our best rally since the start of the year in terms of pure performance. Marcus and the 307 WRC were fighting with Sebastien Loeb until a problem on leg two with a jubilee clip worth about two Euros. Now we have lost the lead of the constructors championship just as we pass the half-way point of the season. But there is still everything to play for. The difficult rallies are behind us, and we expect some strong performances at the next round of the championship, in Argentina."

David Lapworth, Subaru WRT Chief: "This has been a character building event for the whole team. It's been frustrating for Petter not to have a clean run against his rivals. After problems early on, it was difficult for him to fight back from his position. He's not really been able to show what he can do on these stages. It would be very easy to under-estimate Stéphane's performance here, as he doesn't have a great deal to show for all of his efforts. But his times on the latter stages were impressive, considering his position on the road, and if he continues to make progress like this he'll be a serious contender on gravel as well as asphalt."

Petter Solberg, Subaru WRT, ninth: "As you'd expect I'm disappointed with my result, it's not the one I was hoping for. In fact, I have been disappointed about my results on the last few rallies, that's for sure. But we have to put this aside and look forward to Argentina now. There are plenty of reasons to feel confident about the next rally; I know I can win it. We've reached the mid-point in the Championship and yes, I would have liked to have closed in on Seb, but it's certainly not over yet."

Final classification of the Acropolis Rally of Greece 2005

1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 4 h 12 min 53,7 s 2. T. Gardemeister/J. Honkanen (Ford Focus) + 1 min 36,2 s 3. C. Sainz/Marc Marti (Citroën Xsara) + 2 min 11,1 s 4. M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 307) + 2 min 56,4 s 5. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 3 min 13,2 s 6. H. Rovanperä/R. Pietiläinen (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 3 min 44,4 s 7. G. Galli/G. D'Amore (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 5 min 19,6 s 8. M. Märtin/M. Park (Peugeot 307) + 5 min 37,5 s 9. P. Solberg/Ph. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 6 min 03 s 10. X. Pons/C. del Barrio (Citroën Xsara) + 9 min 03,4 s FIA World Rally Championship after round 8 - Manufacturers

1. Citroën, 84 pts - 2. Peugeot, 79 points - 3. Ford, 57 pts - 4. Subaru, 47 pts - 5. Mitsubishi, 37 pts - 6. Skoda, 8 pts.

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