It was more of a condemnation of only turning left than anything How about this: run the highlights instead of nascar

Nothing to do with pushing the Lancer name, it's all about homologation. Now the WRC cars can be modified extensively it's picking the car that's right for the job. It's a shame really because the days of street legal rally cars such as the Ford RS Cosworths, Celica GT-4s, et al are gone . Of course, the Evo is still needed for Group N homologation but you never get to see coverage of the Group N cars.

I realise Mitsubishi's commitment to Panizzi but they really need to get rid of him. He's a good driver but he's a little out of his league when pitted against Gronholm, Solberg, Martin, and Loeb. Panizzi used to have 'it' but he's never been the same since his shoulder surgery. Amazing how changing a light bulb can change your career . I would have loved to see McRae back in the WRC this year. Even though he's Scottish he's been one of my idols for many years.

mcrae isnt running again? thats crazy, i was impressed with all of his efforts outside of the WRC last year. he ran Dakkar, and he ran at 24 hours LE MANS, but i think he is best behind the wheel of the focus. i am a pretty big fan of his. but i am a bigger gronholm fan.

Gilles Panizzi won a stage (SS8), and is now in 5th overall, 27.6 seconds behind 4th place Petter Solberg. Seems the new Lancer WRC is quite quick

what makes you think Panizzi isnt good anymore? I can agree he is not an all around driver snow/gravel....but he is the man. He was just in a ****ty car last year and I was amazed at his placings in some of the races while his car was so far behind the competition. Panizzi owns all on tarmac just give him the right car

Yippie, we're back

Yep the Lancer is looking fairly competitive again. Someone care to explain what the Gardemeister is going on? Very impressive Ford.

3rd overall 30secs behind 2nd the Focus

Awsome! Go Gilles!! This is a good sign. I bet Mitsu is exstatic about this result. Rovanpera who is a gravel specialist got 7th! That means mitsu is 3rd in the manufacturers points.
However Gilles did well last year on the Monty as well, then the car crapped out.... Hope they can keep it up!!

Panizzi did it!!!
I knew he could do it!

panizzi is running a dynoflash?

hell yeh man im so glad wrc is going on again!

The right car? When Gronholm was winning with the Peugeot, Panizzi was nowhere to be seen. Ever since the shoulder surgery he's not been the same. Let's face it, he only came third today because Solberg and Gronholm crashed. He's a great driver, he's just outclassed by the other big names in the sport. Panizzi's been helping develop the WRC car and he couldn't catch Gardemeister in his first ever drive in the Focus. Don't get me wrong here, I want Mitsubishi to win the title this year but, with the current driver lineup, the only way they'll do that is if the other drivers carry on crashing. Maybe when they fix the gearbox problems and introduce the new diffs things will improve, but I just don't think Panizzi has what it takes to be world champ even if every event was a tarmac event. Besides, Loeb easilly outclasses Panizzi on tarmac .

Er, Panizzi did outclass all of his Peugeot teammates whenever the surface was tarmac. That includes his champion teammate M.Gronholm... When the Peugeot 206 WRC was the car to beat, on tarmac at least, G.Panizzi was always the favorite. The weird rule change that was to prohibit teams from having more than one driver with some # points in the previous season, was more than likely the reason why Peugeot dropped Panizzi for Freddy Loix...not any decrease in Gilles performance. Naturally, Rovanpera should be quicker on loose surfaces, if history is a guide.