Munchi’s, just arrived, already ahead of Suzuki in the championship

The Munchi’s Ford WRT team only began their 2008 season this weekend at the Mexico rally. The team thus missed two out of 16 rallies but is already ahead of Suzuki in the constructors’ standings after their first meeting, thanks notably to Hening Solberg.

The Norwegian driver was integrated into the Munchi’s team for the first time. He had a great weekend and was on course to finish fourth until a puncture in the penultimate stage on Sunday cost him his chance. He ended the weekend in 5th position and scored three points.

I did my best to finish fourth but, unfortunately, I had a flat tire four kilometers from the end of SS19. I had to contest the last stage like that, so I lost a lot of time. Fifth is a good result and it’s better that fourth place goes to Mikko [Hirvonen] because he needs the points more than I do. We hit a stone in the second stage of the rally. We broke a part of the suspension but we were able to temporarily fix it with two keys. We were able to attack in the next stage to clock the third fastest time. I also achieved the fastest time in SS14. I am looking forward to being in Argentina to see if I can make it to the podium.

Solberg had traveled with the Stobart team for the first two rallies of 2008. He continues his season with Munchi’s, leaving Gigi Galli and Matthew Wilson to Stobart.

The teammate of Solberg senior, Federico Villagra, also achieved his best result in WRC by finishing seventh. The Argentine rally champion faced difficult moments on Saturday with power steering problems that cost him five minutes and dropped him to ninth place. He also received a two-minute penalty before the rally started for doing too many laps in the super-special during reconnaissance.

« We took a lot of pleasure in matching my best result in WRC. It’s a fantastic way to start the season, » explains Villagra.

« The Munchi’s team is now ahead of Suzuki in the constructors’ championship after our first event. Yesterday, I had a tough day without power steering during two stages. It’s quite a workout for the arms and shoulders. The mechanics did a great job replacing the power steering at service without incurring any penalty. Apart from that, we didn’t experience any issues with the car, and the new Pirelli tires were good. We will focus on the Rally Argentina, my home event, with full confidence to do even better. »