Ford scored a double points haul on the Swedish Rally today to maintain its
strong start to the FIA World Rally Championship. The Ford Focus RS World
Rally Car of Janne Tuohino and Jukka Aho finished fourth after three days
of tough competition in the snowy pine forests of central Sweden while Ford
BP Rallye Sport drivers Markko Märtin and Michael Park were seventh in a
similar car. Ford lies second in the manufacturers' standings and is the
only team to have scored points with both cars on the opening two rounds of
the 2004 campaign.

After unusually warm temperatures before the start, winter returned to the
Varmland area of Sweden with several centimetres of snow falling overnight
and heavy flurries today. Two loops of three speed tests, covering 96.60km,
comprised the final day and organisers sent snow ploughs through the
special stages before the action began to help clear the fresh snow.

Tuohino and Aho, driving an M-Sport run Focus RS but nominated for points
by Ford due to their experience of this rally, began the day in fourth but
only 0.8sec ahead of Carlos Sainz. A thrilling battle ensued between the
duo. Sainz edged ahead on the opening stage before Tuohino fought back with
a stage victory to arrive at the midday service park with a lead of 0.2sec.
He was fastest on another test and the pressure paid off as Sainz lost time
on the final two stages with an overheating engine, allowing the
28-year-old Finn to claim a career-best result and sixth in the drivers'
championship.

"A happy ending to the weekend would have been for Carlos to finish behind
me and that's what happened," said Tuohino. "This morning I made my tyre
choice based on the middle stage, which was the longest and most important
of the three. Snow tyres were the right choice and we were fastest. I'm
really happy with the result and delighted with two fastest times, but
still a little unhappy to have dropped time at the end of the second day
otherwise I may have finished third. I came here to enjoy myself on my
first rally for Ford and I've done that."

Märtin and Park, who led the rally comfortably for much of the opening
two days before hitting a rock buried in a snow bank yesterday afternoon
and losing six minutes, re-started this morning in eighth in their
Castrol-backed Focus RS. They climbed to seventh and consolidated that
position over the final three stages to boost Ford's points tally.
Märtin now lies third in the championship.


"One mistake yesterday cost us a lot," said the 28-year-old
Estonian. "It
has been a strange rally as everyone seems to have made mistakes but we
paid a high price for ours. On Friday we did everything we could to take
the lead, but in the end it just didn't happen for us. I'm disappointed for
myself and for the team. It will take a while to get over this. It hurts a
lot and I still can't believe it happened. Let's see how many days it takes
before I sleep properly again. Sweden has a lot of surprises for me. I can
drive fast here but I can't put it altogether. People say drivers shouldn't
lean on the snow banks but you have to here, it's part of the job. We were
just unlucky that there was a rock there."

Ford BP team-mates François Duval and Stéphane Prévot, lying 46th
overnight after going off the road yesterday, were first to tackle today's
stages, unwittingly acting as a snow plough to sweep away the fresh snow
and leave a clearer path for those behind. It gave Duval the opportunity to
try Michelin's snow tyres for the first time and the 23-year-old Belgian
was delighted with the traction and braking.
However, he slid off the road again on the first corner of the penultimate
stage and dropped more than three minutes before he could regain the road.
"Shortly after the start I just slid into a ditch," said Duval.
"Fortunately there were about 70 people there who helped push us back onto
the road."

He completed the final test, satisfied to have gained crucial experience of
the most specialised rally in the championship and to have improved his
pace notes for future years. With that job completed he was withdrawn by
the team at the final service park. "We have done all the stages, which has
given me more experience, and made improvements to our notes and that's
good for next year," he added. "I wasn't nominated for points so that took
the pressure off me. My result wasn't really important but I would have
preferred to have spent less time pushing and digging my way out of the
snow!"


Ford BP team director Malcolm Wilson reflected on a mixed weekend. "Janne
drove superbly to support the decision to nominate him. To come out on top
in a final day fight with a double world champion is impressive. Markko was
in control of this rally until he went off the road. That was disappointing
but he brought the car home in the points so there was some consolation.
François has again learned a lot and will return here next season all
the better for his experience this year. It has been a good rally for the
reliability of the Focus. Eight Focus cars started and all eight finished
all the stages," he said.

News from our Rivals

Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) broke the Nordic domination of this event by
becoming the first driver from outside Sweden or Finland to win the rally
in its 54-year history. He claimed his second consecutive WRC victory,
finishing 46.4sec ahead of Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot). His task was made
easier when Grönholm spun on the opening stage and dropped more than 30
seconds. Petter Solberg (Subaru) completed the podium with private entrant
and brother Henning completing the top six behind Tuohino and the limping
Carlos Sainz (Citroen), whose engine troubles on the last two stages cost
30 seconds. Another private entrant, Daniel Carlsson, scored the final
drivers' point in eighth. Forty-nine of the 69 starters crossed the finish
line in Karlstad.

-ford-


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