Last updated 19:47, Thursday, 14 August 2008

FRANÇOIS Duval returns to the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team for this weekend’s Rallye Deutschland.

Italy2: Ford star Francois Duval kept Ford in the points.

With co-driver Patrick Pivato, Duval scored a solid fourth place for the team in Monte Carlo in January.

Joining Duval as the other nominated point scoring crew in Germany are regular Stobart members Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini.

Both Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin and Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud will also be entered under the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford banner.

Duval comes into the rally as a Tarmac specialist and is one of only a handful of WRC competitors to have contested the event every year since its inception to the WRC in 2002.

His results speak for themselves with three second place finishes in 2004, 2005 and more recently 2007 when he finished just 20 seconds behind the leader.

The second most experienced of the Stobart crews to embark on Germany is Galli who has had mixed fortunes during his trips to Trier with his best result coming in 2005 when he finished fifth overall.

The Italian was last here in 2005 but his form already shown on Tarmac this year in Monte Carlo suggests he could put in a strong performance for the team next week.

Twenty-one-year-old Wilson has shown steady improvements during his last two trips to Rally Germany as he will be looking to go one better than last season and finish in the points.

The young Brit has been preparing for this Tarmac attack with some driver coaching from world renowned expert Rob Wilson.

Duval said: “In the past I have had some very good results here in Germany and this year I am in the championship winning car so hopefully this can continue.”

Galli said: “Okay, my experience in Germany is not as great as some of the other rallies but I know this car is very good on Tarmac so I am looking forward to seeing what it can do.

“Last time we were on Tarmac was way back in January in Monte Carlo so I think it will take some stages to get used to the feeling again.”

Wilson added: “We have just come from a difficult rally in Finland and now we are going to another one in Germany.

“The event is like three different rallies in three days over different types of stages and each with their own unique challenges.

“We will have a test before the rally which will be a huge benefit especially after not having driven on Tarmac since January and for sure that will help to give us a good feeling for the start of the event.”