2006 World Rally Championship season

The 2006 World Rally Championship season began on January 20 with the 74th Monte Carlo Rally. Finland's Marcus Grönholm, in a Ford Focus WRC, took the win ahead of France's Sébastien Loeb. After the Swedish Rally ended with the same top-two, Loeb and Kronos Citroën went on to win five rallies in a row. Despite an injury in a mountain-biking accident before the Rally of Turkey, Loeb secured his third drivers' title, whereas Ford won their first manufacturers' title since 1979.

Rule changes banned active differentials and water injection, as well as mandating that teams must re-use cars and engines on selected ‘pairs’ of events.^[1]

Calendar

Round	Dates	Race
1	19–22 January	Monte Carlo Rally
2	3–5 February	Swedish Rally
3	3–5 March	Rally Mexico
4	24–26 March	Rally Catalunya
5	7–9 April	Tour de Corse
6	28–30 April	Rally Argentina
7	19–21 May	Rally d'Italia Sardegna
8	2–4 June	Acropolis Rally
9	11–13 August	Rallye Deutschland
10	17–20 August	Rally Finland
11	1–3 September	Rally Japan
12	22–24 September	Cyprus Rally
13	13–15 October	Rally of Turkey
14	26–29 October	Rally Australia
15	17–19 November	Rally New Zealand
16	1–3 December	Wales Rally GB

Teams and drivers

Manufacturer teams
Team	Constructor	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Rounds
Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team	Citroën	Xsara WRC	BF	1	Sébastien Loeb	1–12†
					Colin McRae	13
					Xavier Pons	14–16
				2		1–8
					Daniel Sordo	9–16
				14		1–8
					Xavier Pons	9–13
BP Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 06	BF	3	Marcus Grönholm	All
				4	Mikko Hirvonen	All
Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2006	P	5	Petter Solberg	All
				6	Stéphane Sarrazin	1, 4–5, 9
					Chris Atkinson	2–3, 6–8, 10–16
				14	Toshihiro Arai	11
OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team	Peugeot	307 WRC	BF P	7	Manfred Stohl	All
				8	Henning Solberg	1–3, 6–8, 10, 12–16
					Nicolas Bernardi	5
				25	Gianluigi Galli	5–7,10
		206 WRC		21	Philippe Roux	1, 5
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 04/06	BF	9	Matthew Wilson	All
				10	Pieter Tsjoen	1
					Kosti Katajamäki	2, 7–8, 10, 13
					Luís Pérez Companc	3, 6, 11–12, 14–15
					Jari-Matti Latvala	4–5, 9, 16
				17	Juan Pablo Raies	10
				19	Andreas Mikkelsen	16
				23	Luís Pérez Companc	2, 7
Red Bull Škoda Team	Škoda	Fabia WRC	BF	11	Gilles Panizzi	1, 4
					Andreas Aigner	2
					Harri Rovanperä	5, 7–8, 12–13, 16
					Mattias Ekström	9
				12	Andreas Aigner	1, 4–5, 7–9, 12–13, 16
					Mattias Ekström	2
Major entries not registered as manufacturers
Astra Racing	Peugeot	307 WRC	BF	14	Toni Gardemeister	1, 4–5
	Citroën	Xsara WRC				8–9, 12
MMSP LTD	Mitsubishi	Lancer WRC 05	P BF	14	Gianluigi Galli	1–2
				15	Daniel Carlsson	2, 10
				18	Jussi Välimäki	7–8, 10
				22	Juho Hanninen	10
First Motorsport Škoda	Škoda	Fabia WRC	BF	15	François Duval	1, 4–5, 7–9, 13, 16
Czech RT Škoda Kopecký				18	Jan Kopecký	1–2, 4–5, 7–10, 13, 16
PH-Sport	Citroën	Xsara WRC	BF	15	Janne Tuohino	2, 10
Subaru Rally Team Australia	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2004/5	P BF	16	Chris Atkinson	1, 4–5, 9
Rally Team Olsbergs					Thomas Radstrom	2
Red Devil Atolye Kazaz				19	Kristian Sohlberg	2, 7, 10
Adapta AS				20	Mads Østberg	2, 10, 16
				62	Anders Grøndal	2
Gareth MacHale	Ford	Focus RS WRC	BF	17	Gareth MacHale	1, 3–4, 6–7, 9, 16
BSA	Peugeot	307 WRC	BF	19	Alexandre Bengué	4–5
Equipe de France FFSA				20	Nicolas Vouilloz	5

Notes

^† Sebastien Loeb broke his arm before Rally Turkey and missed the remainder of the season.^[2]

Results and standings

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 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 Inj Inj Inj Inj 112 2 Marcus Grönholm 1 1 8 3 2 10 Ret 1 3 1 2 2 1 5 1 1 111 3 Mikko Hirvonen 7 12 14 9 4 Ret 2 3 9 3 3 3 2 1 2 Ret 65 4 Manfred Stohl 4 18 3 12 7 4 7 Ret 5 9 5 4 8 3 3 2 54 5 Daniel Sordo 8 16 4 2 3 5 3 6 2 Ret DSQ Ret 7 23 5 7 49 6 Petter Solberg Ret Ret 2 7 11 2 9 7 Ret Ret 7 8 13 2 6 3 40 7 Xavier Pons 9 7 Ret Ret 6 17 4 8 14 Ret DNS 7 4 4 4 5 32 8 Henning Solberg Ret 8 5 7 Ret 5 4 6 3 Ret 12 11 25 9 Toni Gardemeister 3 DNS DNS 4 4 5 20 10 Chris Atkinson 6 11 7 11 13 6 10 11 8 13 4 9 6 9 Ret 6 20 11 Gianluigi Galli Ret 4 9 3 Ret 5 15 12 Alexandre Bengué 4 5 9 13 Jari-Matti Latvala 41 25 16 Ret 22 34 17 69 6 8 4 9 14 Kosti Katajamäki 6 Ret 26 14 5 7 15 Jan Kopecký 11 13 5 10 17 16 7 8 Ret 10 7 16 Daniel Carlsson 3 Ret 6 17 Jussi Välimäki 5 9 7 6 18 Stéphane Sarrazin 5 8 8 Ret 6 19 François Duval Ret 6 Ret 8 13 Ret 9 8 5 20 Thomas Rådström 5 4 21 Gareth MacHale 16 6 Ret 11 11 10 Ret Ret 3 22 Kristian Sohlberg Ret 6 Ret 3 23 Andreas Aigner 13 Ret 13 15 13 14 6 Ret 10 Ret 3 24 Janne Tuohino 10 6 3 25 Toshihiro Arai 9 30 21 6 22 Ret 30 3 26 Mirco Baldacci 11 21 20 46 7 18 Ret 2 27 Luís Pérez Companc 23 12 9 12 11 14 22 7 2 28 Matthew Wilson 15 14 16 15 16 8 34 10 12 10 40 10 12 27 13 12 1 29 Fumio Nutahara 17 Ret 8 11 26 21 1 30 Dean Herridge 14 8 1 Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR  Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Injured or ill (Inj) Excluded (EX) Suspended (SUS) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

Pos	Team	Event																Total points
		MON	SWE	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA	GRC	GER	FIN	JPN	CYP	TUR	AUS	NZL	GBR
1	Ford	14	12	4	12	14	1	8	16	10	16	14	14	18	14	18	10	195
2	Kronos Citroën	11	13	10	10	15	10	16	11	18	8	10	10	3	6	9	6	166
3	Subaru	5	3	12	11	7	13	7	5	0	2	9	5	4	11	3	9	106
4	Peugeot Norway	6	4	11	0	0	10	5	5	0	9	0	9	8	6	7	8	88
5	Stobart Ford	0	7	2	1	0	5	0	2	3	4	5	1	5	2	2	5	44
6	Red Bull Škoda	3	0	0	5	3	0	3	0	8	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	24

Events

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
		Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	/ 74ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo (January 20–22) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	4:11:43.9	18	366.39 km	51	43
		2	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	4:12:45.7
		3	Toni Gardemeister	Peugeot 307 WRC	4:13:07.0
2	55th Uddeholm Swedish Rally (February 3–5) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:09:01.9	19	349.02 km	63	51
		2	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:09:32.8
		3	Daniel Carlsson	Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 05	3:11:58.7
3	20º Corona Rally México (March 03– 05) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:47:08.8	17	359.54 km	39	33
		2	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza WRC 06	3:47:57.7
		3	Manfred Stohl	Peugeot 307 WRC	3:51:47.9
4	42º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada (March 24–26) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:22:01.7	16	346.43 km	66	56
		2	Dani Sordo	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:22:49.9
		3	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:23:47.5
5	50ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France (April 07–09) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:43:05.4	12	354.18 km	75	60
		2	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:43:34.4
		3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:44:54.1
6	26º Rally Argentina (April 28–30) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	4:06:51.3	22	351.44 km	68	57
		2	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza WRC 06	4:07:35.9
		3	Gianluigi Galli	Peugeot 307 WRC	4:10:15.6
7	3º Supermag Rally Italia Sardinia (May 19–21) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:54:18.9	18	344.94 km	79	60
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:57:00.3
		3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:57:46.6
8	53rd Acropolis Rally (June 2–4) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:56:26.8	18	355.62 km	84	69
		2	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:58:53.2
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	4:00:10.2
9	25. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland (August 11–13) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:28:34.1	19	351.55 km	73	56
		2	Dani Sordo	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:29:07.9
		3	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:30:53.3
10	56th Neste Oil Rally Finland (August 18–20) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	2:52:50.3	21	351.61 km	101	68
		2	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	2:53:57.0
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	2:54:24.8
11	3rd Rally Japan (September 1–3) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:22:20.4	27	345.72 km	87	78
		2	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:22:26.0
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:25:06.9
12	34th Cyprus Rally (September 22–24) — Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	4:40:50.4	22	322.51 km	39	27
		2	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	4:41:01.6
		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	4:46:06.19
13	7th Rally of Turkey (October 13–15) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:28:16.3	19	337.79 km	67	51
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:30:39.7
		3	Henning Solberg	Peugeot 307 WRC	3:31:22.3
14	19th Telstra Rally Australia (October 27–29) — Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:15:11.8	26	348.51 km	56	45
		2	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza WRC 06	3:15:48.9
		3	Manfred Stohl	Peugeot 307 WRC	3:19:10.4
15	36th Propecia Rally New Zealand (November 17–19) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	4:02:30.7	17	354.21 km	44	37
		2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	4:03:26.7
		3	Manfred Stohl	Peugeot 307 WRC	4:05:10.0
16	62rd Wales Rally of Great Britain (December 1–3) — Results and report	1	Marcus Grönholm	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	3:20:24.8	17	355.92 km	111	82
		2	Manfred Stohl	Peugeot 307 WRC	3:22:0.3
		3	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza WRC 06	3:22:20.0

References

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