wrc1002

2002 FIA World Rally Championship

2002 ADAC Rallye Deutschland - http://www.rallye-deutschland.de
Round 10 of the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship, 22-25 August 2002

Extract from Official FIA Press Release - http://www.fia.com/

[WRC] 2002 ADAC Rallye Deutschland: Final
FINAL POSITIONS IN TRIER (AFTER SS23)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 47m 17.3
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot +14.3
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot +1m 19.1
4 C McRae (GB) Ford +3m 45.3
5 Thiry (B) Peugeot +5m 18.8
6 Martin (EE) Ford +5m 33.0
7 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +5m 39.2
8 Sainz (E) Ford +6m 17.0
9 Delecour (F) Mitsubishi +6m 35.9
10 Eriksson (S) Skoda +13m 34.2

S1600 FINAL POSITIONS IN TRIER (AFTER SS23)
1 Sola (E) Citroen 4h 10m 39.6
2 Dallavilla (I) Citroen +2m 47.4
3 Schelle (D) Suzuki +3m 33.2
4 Baldacci (RSM)Citroen +5m 21.4
5 Rowe (GB) Ford +6m 47.8
6 Katajamaki (FIN) Volkswagen +8m 20.0

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb has claimed his first victory in the FIA World Rally Championship on the 10th round of this year's series, the Rallye Deutschland, which finished in Trier this afternoon. The young Frenchman and navigator Daniel Elena resisted intense pressure from the reigning world champion, Richard Burns, to hang on to their overnight lead and emerge victorious by less than 20 seconds. Current series leader Marcus Grönholm extended his points advantage by finishing third.
Today's final leg was held on more traditional roads, less abrasive but narrower and more twisty than the Baumholder military ranges that caused such havoc among the leading crews yesterday. But some of the top stars still hit trouble; Harri Rovanperä retired his Peugeot with accident damage, while Carlos Sainz missed out on a potential points finish when he stalled on the start line of one stage and struggled to restart his Ford's engine.

CITROEN
Technical: The Xsara WRC of Sebastien Loeb has been reliable today.
Sporting: Sebastien Loeb secured the first world championship rally win of his career today. The Frenchman and his navigator Daniel Elena faced stiff opposition all day from the pursuing Richard Burns, but they matched the Englishman's pace on many stages and pinched back seconds where possible to keep their advantage. At one point, their cushion was axed to well under 10 seconds but by the finish, Loeb had bolstered his winning margin to around 14 seconds. The success was all the sweeter for Loeb because he was denied victory in Monte Carlo by a tyre rule infringement earlier this season.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãI'm delighted to get my first victory, of course. Monte Carlo earlier this year was not really a victory for me so this is like the first real win. This is really like my home rally and there were a lot of fans around here for me, all wanting me to win. I'm pleased for them as well. Yesterday was a very difficult day - we made a few small mistakes - but we knew this morning that Richard would push so we just tried our best and it was enough.
Citroen Sport team chief Guy Frequelin said: ãI'm very pleased with the performance of Sebastien and Daniel here. They were under a lot of pressure this morning but I didn't have to talk to them about their 4approach at all.

PEUGEOT
Technical: The 206 WRCs of both Marcus Grönholm and Richard Burns have been reliable today. Harri Rovanperä's car ran without problems before he damaged it terminally in an accident in SS19.
Sporting: Try as he might, Richard Burns was unable to catch Sebastien Loeb today, and the reigning world champion was forced to settle for second overall. Burns felt that today's stages were more enjoyable to drive than the Baumholder ranges but the nature of the roads and the dry surfaces seemed to offer him less scope to eat into Loeb's advantage. The Englishman closed to within eight seconds at one point, but his attacked met stern resistance in the later stages and by the finish, he was over 14 seconds off the top spot. His team-mate Marcus Grönholm tried to charge on the opening stage this morning in an attempt to close in on the leading duo, but he slid off the road briefly and lost a few seconds instead. He decided thereafter to settle for third overall, a result which extended his lead in the drivers' championship and guaranteed Peugeot a maximum points score in the manufacturers' series. The third Peugeot 206 WRC driver, Harri Rovanperä, was forced to retire from a potential top 10 placing this morning. His car lost its rear wing on the day's second stage and the resulting poor handling caught out the Finn on the following test, when he crashed out.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: ãI tried absolutely everything but Sebastien held on well today - congratulations to him. It's been a difficult event for everyone and I think I lost a little bit too much time in a few stages yesterday. In the end, I'd say that made the difference. At least I feel on top of the 206 WRC on asphalt and I can go to Sanremo next month with even more confidence.
Marcus Gronholm said: ãIf we hadn't had our hydraulic problems on the opening day then we could have been closer to the lead battle and yes, I think I might have had a chance to win if we'd fought very hard. This morning I tried to push but we slid wide and ended up in a field at one point on the opening stage, so I realised then there was no point to take any more risks.

FORD
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02 of Colin McRae has been reliable today. Carlos Sainz's car, however, refused to restart after the Spaniard stalled on the start line of SS17. He lost well over a minute before the engine could be coaxed back into life. Markko Martin complained of a misfire in SS19 but that aside, his car ran without major problems today.
Sporting: Colin McRae started today with little to gain from taking risks - he was too far behind the leading three to really threaten them, and that continued to the finish as the Scot concentrated on making no mistakes in the closing stages. He eventually bagged fourth, albeit more than two and a half minutes behind third-placed Grönholm. His team-mate Carlos Sainz lost time on this morning's opening stage, when he stalled on the start line. His car crept forward on its starter motor and broke the timing beam, but it refused to fire back into life for around a minute and a half. The Spaniard dropped to the bottom of the top 10 as a result, although he fought back to eighth by the finish. The third Focus WRC driver, Markko Martin, finished sixth overall after fending off a determined late charge from Tommi Mäkinen in this afternoon's tests.
Quotes: Colin McRae said: ãThere was nothing we could do today but then, it's been like that for most of the event. The championship's looking pretty far off now - I think Sanremo will be a hard event for us next month as well and if Peugeot is as quick in New Zealand and Australia as it was in Finland, then I think we'll have a job to match their pace there as well. It's frustrating, because we've improved, but if anything we seem further behind the French cars on asphalt.

MITSUBISHI
Technical: The Lancer Evo WRC2 of Francois Delecour has been reliable today.
Sporting: Francois Delecour felt that his Lancer was less suited to the dry conditions and narrower roads that it faced today, and he was unable to repeat the sort of form that had taken him up the leaderboard yesterday. The Frenchman eventually finished in ninth, although that was good enough to score a single manufacturers' point for Mitsubishi. He lost time in the day's opening stage after he was stopped by marshals at the scene of Armin Kremer's accident, but event officials later allocated Delecour a 'notional' time that better reflected his likely performance.
Quotes: Francois Delecour said: ãWe can see very clearly that the car is good on the wider roads when we can really attack, but when it's narrow and dry it's still difficult. We need to do a lot of work before Sanremo but the engineers have taken some ideas away from here and hopefully some of them can be introduced before that event.

SUBARU
Technical: The last remaining Impreza WRC2002 of Tommi Mäkinen has run without major problems today.
Sporting: Tommi Mäkinen had been in much improved form since he reverted to an older car set-up yesterday and that trend continued until the last stage this afternoon. The Finn's charge wasn't quite enough to earn him a drivers championship point - he finished just over six seconds behind sixth-placed Markko Martin - but his efforts did earn two manufacturers' points for Subaru.
Quotes: Tommi Mäkinen said: ãIt's been a very difficult event for us. We didn't have a good feeling with the car on Friday and the handbrake problem was a bad start. Yesterday we definitely improved the set-up of the car and since then, I've concentrated on getting my confidence back and feeling comfortable with the Impreza on asphalt again. I think we've achieved that now so we can at least go to Sanremo ready to fight.

SKODA
Technical: The sole remaining Octavia WRC of Kenneth Eriksson has been reliable today.
Sporting: Kenneth Eriksson started today's stages outside of the top 10 and with little reason to charge, although the problems that hit Carlos Sainz and Harri Rovanperä did briefly raise the possibility of him scoring a manufacturers' point for Skoda. In the end, though, the veteran Swede finished 10th overall for the Czech manufacturer.
Quotes: Kenneth Eriksson said: ãWe didn't really have much to gain today apart from more experience of these stages, but I'm glad that we've managed to reach the finish. We had quite a few problems and I know we could have been higher up, but this has been a tricky event for everyone.

OTHER ENTRIES
Belgian driver Bruno Thiry was easily the top privately-entered World Rally Car as he took his customer-specification Peugeot 206 WRC to fifth overall. But there was late heartbreak for German driver Armin Kremer, who crashed his Ford Focus WRC heavily into some crash barriers on this morning's opening stage and retired from a potential top-10 finish.

FIA WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS
Spanish driver Daniel Sola has won the latest round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, the Rallye Deutschland. After three varied days of competition on a mixture of narrow vineyard roads and concrete tracks normally used to train tank drivers, Sola and his navigator Alex Romani brought their Citroen Saxo to this afternoon's finish in Trier almost 40 seconds clear of the next 1600cc car and almost three minutes ahead of the next Junior WRC-registered contender, Andrea Dallavilla. Dallavilla set the initial pace on Friday's stages, which were held on narrow vineyard roads in the Mosel region. The Italian's Citroen Saxo moved into the lead during the first two stages but in the third, he hit problems. He had to stop and change a wheel, and the resulting time loss all but destroyed his chances of victory, leaving him to charge up the leaderboard in search of valuable Junior WRC points.
Dallavilla's problems handed the advantage to Ulsterman Niall McShea and the Opel Corsa driver maintained that advantage until the end of the day. He arrived back in Trier on Friday evening with a narrow 10-second lead over local Citroen Saxo driver Sven Haaf, with Ford Puma driver Francois Duval in third after he'd been slowed by a misfire. McShea's lead was short-lived, however, for he received a 20-second road penalty after he'd had to fix an alternator problem on a road section.
Saturday took crews to the daunting, bumpy and dirty concrete roads of the Baumholder military ranges and in changeable conditions, the leaderboard was turned on its head. Haaf was first to falter when the engine on his Saxo expired in the day's second stage. By then, Duval was already in front. He'd picked the right tyre choice and vaulted past both Haaf and McShea in the opening test. McShea's challenge lasted only two stages further than Haaf's, for the Briton rolled the Corsa heavily and retired in SS14.
Further fastest times from Duval on Saturday afternoon were enough for him to build a useful lead - more than 40 seconds - with just the final day's action remaining. Sola, who'd lost time with a spin and poor tyre choices, held second, while the fast-recovering Dallavilla was now in third, albeit more than three minutes adrift.
Sunday started well for Duval as he set fastest time on the day's opening stage but in the second test, he was caught out by mud on the road and slid into an earth bank, flattening his Puma's exhaust. More than five minutes were lost before he could continue, and he subsequently retired two stages from the finish with electrical problems.
Duval's retirement handed the lead to Sola and he consolidated his advantage over the closing stages to score his second Junior WRC victory of the season. ãI'm very happy, he said. ãMy aim on all of the rounds is to finish and get some experience, but here we've had a win as well, which is like a bonus. The next round in Sanremo will be difficult because there are a lot of fast Italian drivers in the series and I'm sure they'll be quick at their home event.
Dallavilla claimed second in Germany and his now Sola's closest rival in the series standings, four points behind. Local driver Niki Schelle gave Suzuki's Ignis its first podium Junior WRC finish in third, with Mirco Baldacci, Martin Rowe and Kosti Katajamaki completing the points-scoring places.
The FIA World Junior Rally Championship moves back to more traditional asphalt terrain for its next round, the Rallye Sanremo on September 20-22.

RALLY STATISTICS (25 AUGUST 2002)
Starters: 50 crews (31 Group A and 19 Group N) restarted this morning.

Retirements: Rovanpera (FIN) and 7 other drivers

Today:
Sunday 25 August
Leg 3 started from Trier at 06h30 and covered 362.89km, including 102.93km on seven special stages.

RESULTS STAGE-BY-STAGE
SS17 PETERBURG 1 (15.03km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 07.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 09.5
3 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 8m 14.0
LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 02m 35.2
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 02m 47.2
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 03m 12.1

SS18 ST WENDELER LAND (17.71km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 46.4
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 50.3
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m 01.0
LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 11m 25.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 11m 33.6
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 12m 13.1

SS19 BOSENBURG 1 (15.82km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 7m 39.0
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 7m 44.2
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 7m 54.9
LEADERS AFTER SS19
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 19m 04.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 19m 17.8
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 20m 08.0

SS20 PETERBERG 2 (15.03km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 09.1
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 10.2
3= Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 15.8
3= Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 8m 15.8
LEADERS AFTER SS20
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 27m 14.7
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 27m 26.9
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 28m 23.8

SS21 ST WENDELER LAND 2 (17.71km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 46.3
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 46.4
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 50.6
LEADERS AFTER SS21
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 36m 01.1
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 36m 13.2
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 37m 14.4

SS22 BOSENBERG 2 (15.82km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 7m 38.9
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 7m 41.5
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 7m 44.3
LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 43m 40.0
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 43m 54.7
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 44m 58.7

SS23 SUPERSPECIAL ST WENDEL 2 (5.81km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3m 36.9
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 3m 37.3
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3m 37.7

FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
Event: The rally covered 1445.84km, including 415.55km on 23 special stages (including 10 run twice). All stages were on asphalt and concrete roads, closed to other traffic.

Starters: 86 crews (60 Group A and 26 Group N) started the rally

Finishers: 42 crews (25 Group A and 17 Group N) finished the rally

Stage Winners:
Grönholm (SS1-9-10-11-14-16)
Burns (SS1-12-18-20-21-23)
Loeb (SS2-3-4-5-6-7-8-13-15-17-19-22)

Rally Leaders:
SS1 Grönholm & Burns
SS2 Grönholm
SS3-SS23, Loeb

FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 10 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers:
Grönholm (FIN) 51, C. McRae (GB) 33, Burns (GB) 31, Sainz (E) 26, Panizzi (F) 21, Solberg (N) 19, Loeb (F) 18, Rovanperä (FIN) 18, Mäkinen (FIN) 15, Martin (EE) 10, Bugalski (F) 7, Radstrom (S) 4, A. McRae (GB) 2, Gardemeister (FIN) 2, Thiry (B) 2, Eriksson (S) 1.

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Peugeot 115, Ford 81, Subaru 42, Skoda 8, Mitsubishi 8, Hyundai 6

FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 4 of 6 rounds):
Sola (E) 23, Dallavilla (I) 18, Tuohino (FIN 12, Duval (B) 11, Caldani (I) 10, Schelle (D) 5, Basso (I) 4, Feghali (RL) 4, Rowe (GB) 4, Galli (I) 3, Carlsson (S) 3, Baldacci (I) 3, Doppelreiter (A) 2, Foss (N) 1, Katajamaki (FIN) 1.
FIA Production Car World Championship (after 6 of 8 rounds, this event not counting):
Singh (MAL) 28, Ferreyros (PE) 20, Sohlberg (FIN) 16, Fiorio (I) 13, Arai (J) 12, Trelles (ROU) 12, Iliev (BG) 9, Rowe (GB) 5, Baldini (I) 4 De Dominicis (I) 3, Kollevold (N) 3, Harrach (A) 2, Ligato (RA) 2, Marrini (2).

[WRC] 2002 ADAC Rallye Deutschland: End of Leg Two
LEADERS AFTER SS16 - Leg 2 End
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 54m 27.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot +10.1
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +25.4
4 C.McRae (GB) Ford +2m 14.8
5 Sainz (E) Ford +2m 44.9
6 Thiry (B) Peugeot +3m 21.1
7 Martin (EE) Ford +4m 01.2
8 Delecour (F) Mitsubishi +4m 02.6
9 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +4m 27.0
10 Kremer (D) Ford +5m 46.7

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb has consolidated his lead on the 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rallye Deutschland, which continued today. The young Frenchman lost time with damaged steering and a high-speed spin, but he recovered to arrive at the evening superspecial that closed the day's action nearly 19 seconds ahead of reigning world champion Richard Burns. Current series leader Marcus Grönholm has set several fastest times today as he recovered from the hydraulic problems that slowed him yesterday, and he holds third overall.
Today's stages were based in the notoriously rough and bumpy Baumholder military ranges, and they caught out several crews. Subaru's Petter Solberg and Achim Mortl both retired after accidents, as did Skoda's Toni Gardemeister and Hyundai driver Armin Schwarz.

Citroen
Technical: Philippe Bugalski was forced to retire his Xsara WRC after this morning's first stage. The Frenchman damaged his exhaust in the test, but then on the road section to the next stage it broke an oil pipe and the engine would no longer run. Sebastien Loeb's car has been generally reliable, although he did knock his steering out of line in SS12.
Sporting: Sebastien Loeb has consolidated his overnight lead during today's stages, but it hasn't been a straightforward day's action for the young Frenchman. He swapped seconds with second-placed Richard Burns in the opening stages, but then lost time to his rivals when he clipped a rock and knocked his car's steering out of line in SS12. He also spun in sixth gear in the same stage and his lead was cut to around six seconds as a result, but he retaliated in SS13 to ease his advantage back up to 19 seconds again. Loeb entered this evening's closing superspecial ahead by the same margin, still on course for his first world championship rally victory. His team-mate Philippe Bugalski won't be around to lend support, though - he retired after SS9 with a broken oil pipe.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãI have to be quite pleased with today - it hasn't been perfect but it could have been much worse. I had a very big spin in SS12, at around 160kph, and we also damaged the steering in that stage as well. I had to do SS13 with the same problem so I was surprised when we set fastest time. I'm trying to keep the same speed as the guys behind, because that way we won't have to take many risks and we can keep our lead at this level. I can still win - I'm quite confident.
Philippe Bugalski said: ãThere was no way we could continue, because the pipe broke and we lost all of the oil. It's very frustrating, because once the pipe was fixed and more oil was put in, the car worked fine. But that's life.

Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRCs of both Marcus Grönholm and Richard Burns have been reliable today, but the third car of Harri Rovanperä encountered hydraulic pressure problems on today's third stage.
Sporting: Richard Burns has maintained his second position today, closing in briefly on Sebastien Loeb when the leader knocked his car's steering out of line in SS12. But Burns dropped a few seconds in turn on the following test, and he entered today's closing superspecial near Trier 19 seconds behind the top spot. His team-mate Marcus Grönholm charged this morning, though, setting two fastest times as he passed both Colin McRae and Philippe Bugalski to move into third overall. The Finn consolidated that place this afternoon. Harri Rovanperä missed out on the chance of a top-10 placing when he lost time with hydraulic pressure problems in stages 11, 12 and 13.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: ãWe've tried hard to make up time today but we could obviously do with making up some more. I'm not sure what will happen tomorrow - maybe it's still possible to try to catch Richard but Sebastien looks very far ahead of us now.
Richard Burns said: ãIt's been a reasonable day, although the conditions have obviously been tricky and tyre choice has been difficult. Sebastien's still got a bit of an advantage but the stages tomorrow are different again so we'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow morning.

Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Markko Martin have been reliable today. Sainz, however, had to cope with two punctures in SS14 and SS15, although Pirelli's anti-deflation mousse system prevented any serious time loss. Martin also complained of too stiff a suspension set-up for the closing pair of stages over the Baumholder ranges.
Sporting: Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz have both maintained their positions today, although neither looks likely to challenge the Peugeots or the leading Citroen. McRae has consolidated his fourth place, while Sainz lost time to Solberg in the early stages, then moved up to fifth once the Norwegian and second Citroen driver Philippe Bugalski retired. The third Focus driver, Markko Martin, entered this evening's closing stage in eighth overall, but less than three seconds behind Francois Delecour.
Quotes: Colin McRae said: ãIt's been going okay today and our tyre choices haven't been too bad in the mixed conditions, but we can't really challenge the Peugeots or the Citroen on speed alone. All we can do is maintain a good pace, try to keep what pressure we can on them and see what happens.
Carlos Sainz said: ãIt has been a difficult day, mainly because of tyre choice. We've been having to guess what the weather will do in service, but this morning we got it wrong and it was hard to read the amount of grip that was at each corner.

Mitsubishi
Technical: The remaining Lancer Evo WRC2 of Francois Delecour has been reliable today.
Sporting: Mitsubishi's Lancer Evo WRC2 has been better suited to today's stages in the Baumholder military ranges, and this morning's rain conditions seemed to help its cause even further. Francois Delecour capitalised, moving up the leaderboard and even setting second fastest time on one stage. He started this evening's superspecial near Trier in seventh overall.
Quotes: Francois Delecour said: ãWe've gone back to some much earlier settings - to the ones that we found a few weeks ago instead of the ones that we settled on at the pre-event test here - and it's worked. I've been struggling under braking all rally and now it's much more progressive and predictable, so I've got much more confidence. That's made a big difference. I also think the wider roads today have helped, because they suit this car more than the narrow vineyard lanes.

Subaru
Technical: Tommi Mäkinen's Impreza WRC2002 has been reliable today, and Petter Solberg's example also ran without problems until he damaged it terminally in an accident in SS11.
Sporting: Subaru lost two more of its four entries today. Achim Mortl put his Impreza off the road on this morning's opening stage, and then Petter Solberg - who'd moved ahead of Carlos Sainz and towards the top six on the first two tests - slid off and hit a rock in SS11. The impact ripped the right-rear wheel and much of the suspension off the car, and although he reached the end of the stage he was unable to go any further. Tommi Mäkinen, meanwhile, has rediscovered confidence in his car's handling after reverting to an older set-up this morning. The Finn has pushed his way into the top 10 as a result.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ãThere was a small bump in quite a fast corner and it was enough to unbalance the car and we went off. There was a rock and I knew as soon as we hit it that the damage was bad. There was absolutely no way we could get to the following stage, let alone the one after. I was pushing, of course, but it's the first real 'moment' that I've had all event so it's disappointing for it to result in a retirement.
Tommi Mäkinen said: ãWe changed back to a set-up that we had a few months ago and it's given me a much better feeling with the car. Changing the suspension and differential settings means that the car's much easier and more comfortable for me to drive, so I can commit more. I'm glad to have at least found this, even if we're already a long way behind.

Skoda
Technical: Kenneth Eriksson, meanwhile, hit major problems this morning. His car broke a section of its propshaft on the start line of SS9, and the veteran Swede couldn't go above 30kph before the resulting vibration became so bad that he was unable to see. He also lost boost on the same test. Toni Gardemeister's Octavia was reliable this morning, although it developed an idling fault in the middle loop of three stages. The Finn then damaged the car with an accident in SS14 and although he struggled to the end of the stage, he was unable to continue.
Sporting: Toni Gardemeister spent much of this morning battling with Markko Martin and Francois Delecour on the fringes of the top ten, but although the young Finn fought his way into ninth after the middle loop of three stages, he slid off the road in SS14. He struggled to the end of the test but was unable to continue. Kenneth Eriksson's hopes of inching into the top 10 were dealt a major blow on today's opening stage, when the Swede's Octavia broke its prop shaft on the start line. He arrived at this evening's superspecial in 12th overall.
Quotes: Kenneth Eriksson said: ãWe've had all sorts of problems today - in fact, after this morning I'm actually pleased that we're still going. The propshaft problem this morning was so bad, because it basically straight off the line and we couldn't see anything when we went above 30kph.

Hyundai
Technical: Freddy Loix's Accent retired before it could even reach first service this morning. The engine in the Belgian's car lacked oil pressure, and the Hyundai team believes the problem is related to the misfire that it suffered yesterday evening. Armin Schwarz's car ran reliably in the opening test, but he retired when he rolled off the road in SS10.
Sporting: Hyundai's fortunes nosedived in the space of a few hours this morning. First, Freddy Loix was unable to reach the day's first service after his Accent lacked oil pressure when he tried to fire it up in parc ferme. Then Armin Schwarz rolled heavily in the day's second test and retired on the spot. The German and his navigator Manfred Hiemer were both taken to hospital suffering from shock, and Schwarz was diagnosed with a fractured and dislocated rib.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: ãThat was one of the biggest accidents of my career and quite frightening. We had to start SS10 with a right-rear puncture and then I'm not sure what happened. Under braking at about 120kph, we just went off the road to the left. The left-front of the car hit a tree and then we bounced across and got lodged in a tree to the right.

Other entries
Belgian Ford driver Francois Duval has stamped his authority on the Junior World Championship section of the event. Overnight leader Sven Haaf succumbed to engine problems early this morning, and his nearest rival Niall McShea crashed heavily this afternoon, leaving the Ulsterman and navigator Michael Orr in hospital for checks. Duval's chief pursuers are Daniel Sola and Andrea Dallavilla - the latter has been among the quickest in the class today, as he recovers from his problems yesterday.

Saturday RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 86 crews (60 Group A and 26 Group N) restarted this morning.

RETIREMENTS: Mortl (A), Loix (B), Schwarz (D), Bugalski (F), Solberg (N), Gardemeister (FIN) and 13 other drivers

TODAY: Saturday 24 August
Leg 2 started from Trier, Messepark, at 07h30 and covered 586.28km, including 164.50km on eight special stages.

TOMORROW: Sunday 25 August
Leg 3 starts from Trier, Messepark, at 06h30 and covers 362.89km, including 102.93km on seven special stages. The first car is expected to arrive at the finish control in Trier, Porta Nigra, at 16h00.

WEATHER FORECAST: Fine and warm, with a chance of showers

LEG 2 STAGE RESULTS
SS9 MAIWALD 1 (18.76km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 10m 58.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 11m 11.7
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 16.9
LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 26m 48.7
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 27m 08.8
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 27m 55.5

SS10 PANZERPLATTE 1 (35.56km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 21m 27.0
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 21m 34.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 21m 44.7
LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 48m 23.3
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 48m 53.5
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 49m 22.5

SS11 MAIWALD 2 (18.76km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 10m 52.0
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 10m 55.1
3 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 10m 56.0
LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 59m 24.7
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 59m 48.6
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 00m 14.5

SS12 HAHLKREUZ (8.31km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 4m 53.3
2 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 4m 54.5
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 4m 55.2
LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 04m 35.7
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 04m 41.9
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 05m 09.7

SS13 ERZWEILER 1 (20.87km)
1 Loeb (F) Peugeot 12m 56.6
2 Delecour (F) Mitsubishi 12m 57.9
3 Sainz (E) Ford 13m 02.8
LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 17m 32.3
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 17m 51.1
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 18m 15.5

SS14 PANZERPLATTE 2 (35.56km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 20m 39.7
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 20m 44.5
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 20m 47.8
LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 38m 20.1
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 38m 35.6
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 38m 55.2

SS15 ERZWEILER (20.87km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 12m 21.1
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 12m 21.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 12m 24.2
LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 50m 41.2
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 50m 59.8
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 51m 16.5

SS16 SUPERSPECIAL ST WENDEL (5.81km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3m 36.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3m 37.9
3 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 3m 40.1

[WRC] 2002 ADAC Rallye Deutschland: End of Leg One
LEADERS AFTER SS8 (END OF LEG ONE)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 06m 58.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot +27.0
3 Bugalski (F) Citroen +49.0
4 C McRae (GB) Ford +1m 10.4
5 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot +1m 26.8
6 Schwarz (D) Hyundai +1m 29.6
7 Thiry (B) Peugeot +1m 34.2
8 Loix (B) Hyundai +1m 40.2
9 Sainz (E) Ford +1m 42.1
10 Solberg (N) Subaru +1m 42.3

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb has taken command of the 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rallye Deutschland, which started in earnest from Trier this morning. The young Frenchman set fastest times on all but one of today's special stages to hold a half-minute lead over reigning world champion Richard Burns, with Loeb's team-mate Philippe Bugalski in third overnight.
Germany's first ever round of the world championship attracted huge crowds from all over central Europe, and the organisers had to delay some stages to keep fans under control. The day's seventh stage was cancelled when it became clear that spectator safety could not be guaranteed.

CITROEN
Technical: Sebastien Loeb's Xsara WRC has been reliable today, but his team-mates have not been so fortunate. Philippe Bugalski's car has suffered from brake fade, while Jesus Puras retired his example with electrical problems this morning. Sporting: Sebastien Loeb has been the fastest man on today's opening leg. The young Frenchman was third fastest on the first test but he then embarked on a run of scratch times through stages two to eight to grab the lead and build up an overnight advantage of nearly half a minute. His team-mate Philippe Bugalski lost time with occasional brake problems but he has been regularly in the top six times and that consistency moved him into third overnight, albeit nearly 50 seconds behind the leader. The third Xsara driver, late entry Jesus Puras, retired this morning with electrical problems.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãIt's been going very well today. Yes, we've been attacking quite hard but there's no option to do anything else on a world championship rally these days. I've got a good feeling with the car - it's behaving well and the times have obviously been good. But there's a long way still to go and tomorrow's stages are different from today.
Philippe Bugalski said: ãSebastien is driving very well, of course, but it's hard for me to have total confidence because of these little brake problems. You have to be able to commit to corners on stages like today, especially with all of the junctions, but that's been difficult for me. I hope things improve tomorrow and then we can attack more.

PEUGEOT
Technical: Marcus Grönholm lost time on this morning's third stage, when his 206 WRC lost hydraulic pressure. He had to switch both the gearshift and the throttle system to manual control but even then, he was left without differential pressure and it cost him around 40 seconds. He picked up a further 30-second penalty when his service team needed extra time to cure the problem and he was late leaving service. Richard Burns has enjoyed a cleaner run, although he has complained of fading brakes and a softening middle pedal on some stages. Harri Rovanperä's 206, meanwhile, has been reliable today.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm and Richard Burns tied for the fastest time on today's opening stage and the Finn led on his own after SS2, but he dropped back after the following test when he suffered hydraulic problems that left him with no differential pressure. He incurred road penalties in service as his team worked to cure the problem, and dropped to 10th as a result. He recovered in the later stages to end the day in sixth. Burns, meanwhile, lost time with intermittent brake fade but he kept his car in the top three placings. He ended the day in second overall, around half a minute behind leader Loeb. The third 206 WRC driver, Harri Rovanperä, holds 11th overnight as he continues to gain more experience of asphalt competition.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: ãIt's disappointing to lose the time so early in the rally, really. Already I would say it's impossible to catch Sebastien, but there are still two days left and maybe we can make up enough positions to aim for the podium.
Richard Burns said: ãThe brake problem has been more annoying than anything because it just affects your confidence. That aside, it's been going okay for us today. The conditions have been quite tricky, because you still find five percent of corners where the road is still damp, and maybe 30 percent where it's quite dirty and slippery.

FORD
Technical: Colin McRae's Focus RS WRC02 was reliable until today's final stage, when it suffered power steering failure and lost its brakes. Both Carlos Sainz's and Markko Martin's cars suffered gear change glitches during this morning's opening batch of stages (Sainz lost no time because his problem occurred on a road section). Ford's engineers modified the mechanism at this morning's first service, and none of the crews reported any repetition of the problem thereafter. Martin then suffered a mousse insert break-up on today's closing stage.
Sporting: Colin McRae has kept his Focus in a points-scoring position throughout today's stages, although the Scot admits that he will need unpredictable weather or heavy showers to stand a chance of fighting with the top three crews. He holds fourth overnight. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, holds ninth after he lost time by sliding wide at one corner in SS5, and then getting a junction wrong in SS6 and turning the wrong way. He had to reverse before he could take the correct route, and he lost at least 10 seconds as a result. Markko Martin is 13th after he lost time this morning with gear selection problems.
Quotes: Colin McRae said: ãIt's not been a perfect day because we're losing time to the Peugeots and Citroens but we're not too far behind, at least. I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Tomorrow's quite a different place but we'll have to see if that makes any difference. A bit of rain might level things out a bit and give us more of a chance but it's hard to tell.
Carlos Sainz said: ãThe problem at the junction was my mistake. It wasn't very well marked and I just tried to turn hard left when I should have gone nearly straight on. Suddenly the road was totally blocked in front of me! It's the sort of place where a small mistake can cost you a lot of time.

SUBARU
Technical: Petter Solberg suffered power steering failure on his Impreza WRC2002 on today's fifth stage, and he was unable to fix the problem in time for the following test. In addition to grappling with steering in SS6, he also had to contend with a broken driveshaft. He has complained of differential problems for much of today's tests, too. Tommi Mäkinen suffered a problem from virtually his first tug on the handbrake lever in SS1, because it came off in his hand. The lack of a handbrake forced the Finn to make three-point turns at many of the tighter hairpins and although he effected temporary repairs, the solution was far from ideal and he lost more time in SS2 and SS3. He also became suspicious of his gearbox when he started to jump out of gear at low speeds on road sections in the day's second group of stages. Toshihiro Arai's Impreza was forced out of the event after SS4 with gearbox problems, while Achim Mortl did his example no good at all when he ripped off a wheel in the first stage.
Sporting: Petter Solberg has been Subaru's most consistent challenger today, despite overshooting a hairpin in SS4 and suffering power steering problems and a broken driveshaft in SS5 and SS6. The young Norwegian has kept his Impreza in the points positions for much of the day but his late differential problems cost him stage time and 20" penalty and he'll start tomorrow's stages in 10th. Tommi Mäkinen lost time this morning when his handbrake lever broke, forcing him to make three-point turns at the numerous hairpins in the vineyard-based stages. The Finn dropped outside the top 10 as a result. Toshihiro Arai spun five times in the opening three stages today, and any hopes of a recovery were dashed by gearbox failure and retirement after SS4. The fourth Subaru driver, Achim Mortl, dropped right out of contention on today's first stage when he ripped a wheel off his Impreza.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ãIt's been quite frustrating to have so many problems because we're clearly able to fight with the Fords on these stages and I've got quite a good feeling with the car. But tomorrow could be very different again

HYUNDAI
Technical: Freddy Loix's Accent was reliable for much of today but on the last stage, it lapsed onto three cylinders. Armin Schwarz, meanwhile, reported a misfire through the rev range on this morning's stages. The problem was cured at the day's first proper service halt, but then the German lost his anti-lag system in the second batch of stages.
Sporting: Both of Hyundai's drivers have been consistent top-10 performers today, with Freddy Loix delighting the team by posting third fastest time on one stage. His late misfire dropped him to eighth overnight, though, just over 10 seconds behind his team-mate, who occupies sixth.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: ãThe misfire was really strange - it was through the revs and it came in when you were really asking the engine to pull from low down. You had to take your foot off the throttle before it would clear, so I'm sure it cost me some time, of course. But apart from that it's going quite well and the times of both our cars have been quite encouraging.
Freddy Loix said: ãI really just want a full, clean day's action because we've shown today that we're competitive but we've missed out on a points placing overnight.

SKODA
Technical: Toni Gardemeister hit several problems this morning. He complained of a lack of rear grip in his Octavia, and the car's anti-lag system also cut in on the faster sections and refused to work when it was really needed - in slower junctions. Kenneth Eriksson suffered brake fade this morning and then lost more time with a broken driveshaft in SS5. Matthias Kahle was forced to abandon his first works drive in an Octavia when his car suffered engine failure this morning.
Sporting: The factory Octavia WRCs of Kenneth Eriksson and Toni Gardemeister have both fought hard to stay in touch with the top 10 places today, but both will start tomorrow's action outside of that leading group. Gardemeister is not satisfied with his car's handling in the narrow vineyard roads and he also lost time with anti-lag problems. He holds 12th overnight. Eriksson, meanwhile, lost a chunk of time with a broken driveshaft and dropped to the bottom of the top 20 as a result. The third works car of Matthias Kahle retired with engine problems this morning.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: ãI'm not quite 100 percent with the car yet. It does feel big in the tighter junctions but we've had a few problems that have stopped me getting used to the car. Hopefully Baumholder tomorrow will suit the Octavia better.

MITSUBISHI
Technical: Francois Delecour's Lancer Evo WRC has been reliable today. But Alister McRae was forced to retire his example just after SS6 when it suffered turbo failure. The engine cut out on the road section and refused to restart.
Sporting: Mitsubishi's Lancer Evo WRC2 has struggled on its first full day of asphalt competition today. The cars of both Alister McRae and Francois Delecour have stayed outside of the top 10 placings throughout, and McRae was forced to retire his Lancer after SS6 when it suffered turbo failure. The car's engine cut out on the road section and refused to restart. Delecour, meanwhile, holds 14th overnight.
Quotes: Francois Delecour said: ãWe're trying some new things with differentials and suspension, because it's still hard to keep the car in a straight line and that's a real problem on these narrow roads. I'm hoping that the Baumholder stages tomorrow will be more suited to the Lancer. We've clearly made an improvement, but there's a lot still to do.

OTHER ENTRIES
British driver Niall McShea leads the Junior World Rally Championship category in his Opel Corsa. The Ulsterman took the lead of the category after early leader Andrea Dallavilla had to stop and change a flat tyre in SS3, and he holds an overnight advantage of less than 10 seconds from local driver Sven Haaf's Citroen Saxo. The next Junior WRC contender, Francois Duval, is a further 15 seconds behind.

EVENT STATISTICS (23 August 2002)
STARTERS: 86 crews (61 Group A and 25 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS: A. McRae (GB), Kahle (D), Puras (E), Arai (J), and 12 other

TODAY: Friday 23 August
Leg 1 started from Trier, Messepark, at 06h45 and covered 496.67km, including 148.12km on eight special stages.

TOMORROW: Saturday 24 August
Leg 2 starts from Trier, Messepark, at 07h30 and covers 586.28km, including 164.50km on eight special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Trier, Messepark, at 21h44.

WEATHER FORECAST
Staying fine, but still a chance of showers

RESULTS - STAGE BY STAGE
SS1 DHRONTAL 1 (14.80km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 27.9
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 27.9
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 32.5

SS2 SCHONES MOSELLAND 1 (23.82km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 14m 10.8
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 14m 11.0
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 14m 12.1
LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 22m 38.9
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 22m 40.0
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 22m 43.3

SS3 MOSELWEIN 1 (22.28km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 13m 24.2
2 Bugalski (F) Citroen 13m 38.2
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 13m 38.5
LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 36m 07.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 36m 18.5
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 36m 38.5

SS4 DHRONTAL 2 (12.16km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 23.8
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 28.4
3 C. McRae (GB) Ford 8m 28.9
LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 44m 31.3
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 44m 47.5
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 45m 08.7

SS5 SCHONES MOSELLAND 2 (23.82km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 13m 53.8
2 Bugalski (F) Citroen 13m 55.8
3 Loix (B) Hyundai 13m 59.6
LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 58m 25.1
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 58m 50.8
3 Bugalski (F) Citroen 59m 06.5

SS6 STEIN UND WEIN 1 (15.80km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 33.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 34.4
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 36.2
LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 06m 58.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 07m 25.2
3 Bugalski (F) Citroen 1h 07m 42.9

SS7 MOSELWEIN 2 (22.28km)
Stage cancelled due to spectator congestion

SS8 STEIN UND WEIN 2 (15.80km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 31.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 31.9
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 33.4

[WRC] 2002 ADAC Rallye Deutschland: Welcome
The world's top rally stars will enter largely unknown territory when the FIA World Rally Championship makes its first ever visit to Germany for this weekend's Rallye Deutschland. The asphalt event, which is based in Trier and blends vineyard stages with concrete roads on the Baumholder military ranges, is expected to be held in mixed weather conditions, making set-up and tyre choice even trickier for even the best drivers.
Some of the WRC regulars do have prior experience of the German stages, however. Citroen's Philippe Bugalski, Mitsubishi driver Francois Delecour, Hyundai's Armin Schwarz and current series leader Marcus Grönholm all competed here on the non-championship event last year, while reigning title-holder Richard Burns was one of several stars to complete the pre-event reconnaissance on the same rally.
Grönholm arrives with a 17-point cushion in the driver's standings, although he will not be able to rely on the usual asphalt strengths of his Peugeot team-mate Gilles Panizzi to deny rivals points. The Frenchman is still recovering from a collarbone injury and his absence has made an already unpredictable event even more wide open.

PEUGEOT (1st - 99 points)
Technical: Peugeot has introduced no major technical changes on the 206 WRC for this event. All three of the works cars, driven by Marcus Grönholm, Richard Burns and Harri Rovanperä, will use hydraulically-controlled anti-roll bars.
Sporting: Peugeot has been forced to make a change to its driver line-up for this event. Marcus Grönholm and Richard Burns will compete as scheduled, but the team's asphalt expert Gilles Panizzi will be absent. The Frenchman's ligament damage, incurred in the fall which also prevented him from tackling Rally Finland earlier this month, needs more time to heal and he will not return until Sanremo in September. Peugeot has 'promoted' Harri Rovanperä, therefore, giving the Finn a full-specification works car instead of the Bozian customer 206 that he was scheduled to drive. He will be nominated for manufacturer points alongside Burns and Grönholm.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: ãI've been here before, of course, but this will still be a difficult rally. The three days are quite different and there are lots of places where a small mistake can lose you a lot of time. I think the top guys here will be the ones who are quite fast but also quite safe in the twistier, narrower sections. I don't know what the best tactic here is for me - maybe I should think of the championship and try to just get some points
Richard Burns said: ãI think this will be quite a difficult rally, really, especially if the weather stays like this and is damp. If it rains then the road surface gets muddy and if it stays dry, we have to cope with slippery gravel anyway. There's a lot of scope for mistakes as people get used to the levels of grip that are available on the different surfaces that we have to cope with here - we've even gone off slightly in the shakedown this morning because we arrived at one corner and discovered that there was quite a lot of gravel. It's going to be unpredictable.

FORD (2nd - 74 points)
Technical: Ford's Focus RS WRC02s are largely unchanged for this event. The team has, however, introduced a paddle-shift gear mechanism on all three of its cars. The move has been made principally to lower some weight inside the cockpit. The Focuses will also feature a slightly-revised roof air scoop, designed to be more aerodynamically efficient.
Sporting: Ford sends its three regular drivers - Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Markko Martin - to this event, and all are nominated for manufacturers' points.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: ãThis is a very different sort of asphalt rally for everyone. If you can imagine the Rally GB and some of the old 'mickey mouse' stages that there used to be there on the first day, and then make them longer, then that's what we're facing. It's something new to have such different types of asphalt, and driving on the concrete stages on the second day
Markko Martin said: ãI think there's going to be quite a lot of damage to cars on this event, because it's so easy to make a mistake on any of the days. On the third leg, for example, it's quite narrow and under trees, so the surface is slippery, but the layout is very fast in places. You only have to get slightly off line and you can have a puncture or damage a wheel or suspension.

SUBARU (3rd - 40 points)
Technical: Subaru has not introduced any major technical changes for this event. The team has entered four cars, two of which - driven by Tommi Mäkinen and Petter Solberg - are brand new.
Sporting: Subaru has entered four works cars for this rally. Regulars Tommi Mäkinen and Petter Solberg will be joined by Austrian Achim Mortl and Japanese driver Toshihiro Arai. Mortl will be nominated for manufacturer points alongside Mäkinen and Solberg, allowing Arai to concentrate on aiming for drivers points only.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ãI've got quite a good feeling for this event. Obviously I had a good run last time out in Finland and we'veworked very hard on the set-up for asphalt, finding some improvements.Conditions don't look like they're going to be easy but that'll be thesame for everybody. With the lack of knowledge of the stages for almosteveryone, I think it will be quite an open rally so I'm optimistic that wecan challenge.

SKODA (4th - 8 points)
Technical: Skoda's three Octavia WRCs are in regular specification forthis rally, although this is the first event where the revised engine -first used on Rally Finland - will be seen in action on asphalt.
Sporting: Skoda sends three Octavia WRCs to the Rally Deutschland, to bedriven by young Finn Toni Gardemeister, Swedish veteran Kenneth Erikssonand German Matthias Kahle, who has used an Octavia in the country'snational championship this year. All three will be nominated formanufacturer points.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: ãI quite like the look of this rally, butit's going to be difficult for everyone. I actually think the final daymight be the hardest of them all - it's quite narrow but there are a lotof places where you can cut the corners and if it rains, we're going toend up with a lot of mud on the road and a very slippery surface. It'll beeasy to make a mistake and damage the car. As for the Octavia, I know wefound quite a few tenths of seconds per kilometre in our pre-event testjust by playing with the differentials. But then, I'm sure everyone hasfound speed as they've set the cars up for these roads

MITSUBISHI (5th - 7 points)
Technical: Mitsubishi sends two brand new Lancer WRC2s to this rally. Theteam conducted much of its early set-up work with the car on asphalt roadsin the south of France.
Sporting: Mitsubishi sends its two regular drivers, Alister McRae andFrancois Delecour, to drive its Lancer Evo WRC2s in Germany.
Quotes: Alister McRae said: ãWe saw in the reconnaissance how much theseroads can change when they get wet, because we had a little bit of dampnear the end of the recce and suddenly it was very different. Baumholder,in particular, gets very slippery - you can 'lean' on the concrete roadsin the dry because they're quite grippy and abrasive, but once they getwet there are stones in the surface that just get really slippery and youend up gliding across the top of the road. It'll be really tricky and I'msure there will be a few incidents. I'm quite happy with the car, though -this morning's shakedown was the first time I've driven the WRC2 in thewet, so it took time to settle in, but it was quite encouraging.

HYUNDAI (6th - 6 points)
Technical: Hyundai sends two regular Accent WRC3s, with few technicalchanges. German driver Armin Schwarz gets a brand new car for his homeround of the championship.
Sporting: Hyundai sends two Accent WRC3s to Germany, to be driven by localhero Armin Schwarz and his Belgian team-mate Freddy Loix.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: ãI'm obviously glad that my home country nowhas a chance to hold a round of the world championship. As for the stages,I've got experience of all three days, although some have been kinder tome in the past than others. But I think the real test here will be one ofpatience - so much time can be lost on these stages by one silly mistake,so to have a chance of winning you'll have to play a clever game.
Freddy Loix said: ãI think we can aim for a points finish here, althoughit won't be easy, of course. We've done a lot of work on the Accent andit's true that my driving style probably suits asphalt more than gravel.The final day's stages are like my local roads in Belgium because they'requite fast and flowing, so I'm hoping that we can be in a position readyto charge by then.

CITROEN
Technical: Citroen's three Xsara WRCs are in essentially the samespecification as the cars which tackled the Catalunya Rally earlier thisyear, but the French team's engineers have worked hard to discover thecause of the mysterious set-up problem that held the cars back on thatevent. They believe that some faulty parts in the suspension were toblame, and the drivers reported much-improved handling once the proposedsolution had been applied.
Sporting: Citroen enters three Xsara WRCs for this event, its finalscheduled works outing of the season. Frenchmen Philippe Bugalski (who wonthe non-championship Rally Deutschland last year) and Sebastien Loeb willline up alongside Spaniard Jesus Puras. He has been drafted into the squadas a last-minute replacement for Thomas Radstrom, who broke two ribs inhis final-day accident on the Rally Finland.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãWe had a good reconnaissance and the stagesseem fine, but the biggest thing could be the wet and damp conditions. Ourrecce was basically dry throughout, so we're going to have to find out howthe roads are in the wet when we're competing. I think there are a lot ofplaces where people might try to cut a corner and damage suspension or awheel. Of course, we've got anti-deflation mousse in the tyres but if youhit a stone at high speed you can damage the wheel itself, the balance ofthe car or the steering. We'll have to concentrate hard to make sure wedon't make any mistakes. This will not be an easy rally, but I'moptimistic.

OTHER ENTRIES
The Rallye Deutschland is the fourth round of the FIA Junior World RallyChampionship and all of the leading protagonists in the 1600cc-basedcategory will be present. Spaniard Daniel Sola leads the series by asingle point and after his victory on home soil earlier this year, he willstart as one of the favourites for victory on the German asphalt. Hischief opposition is likely to come from Belgian Francois Duval, althoughthe Junior WRC winner could well be the driver with the least punctures -the series rules prohibit expensive anti-deflation mousse inserts in tyresand that could leave the front-wheel drive machines vulnerable in thebumpy, kerb- and rock-lined stages.

RALLY STATISTICS (22 August 2002)
EVENT: The 21st Rallye Deutschland is the 10th of 14 events in the 2002FIA World Rally Championship.

ENTRIES: 92 (67 Group A and 25 Group N)

DRIVERS: Austria 3, Belgium 7, Czech Republic 1, Estonia 1, France 5,Finland 10,Germany 30, Great Britain 7, Holland 4, Italy 6, Japan 3,Lebanon 1, Monaco 1, Norway 3, Paraguay 1, Poland 1, San Marino 1,Slovakia 1, Spain 4, Sweden 2.

MANUFACTURERS TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Skoda,Subaru.

CARS (including the manufacturers cars): Citroen 12, Fiat 5, Ford 12,Honda 3, Hyundai 2, MG 1, Mitsubishi 15, Opel 5, Peugeot 8, Renault 3,Skoda 5, Subaru 6, Suzuki 3, Toyota 4, VW 8.

EVENT TIMETABLE
Thursday 22 August:
Ceremonial Start in Trier, Porta Nigra at 19h00.

Friday 23 August:
Leg 1 starts from Trier, Messerpark, at 06h45 and covers 496.67km,including 148.12km on eight special stages. The first car is expected toarrive in Trier, Messerpark at 19h30.

Saturday 24 August:
Leg 2 starts from Trier, Messerpark at 07h30 and covers 586.28km,including 164.50km on eight special stages. The first car is expected toarrive in Trier, Messerpark at 21h44.

Sunday 25 August:
Leg 3 starts from Trier, Messerpark at 06h30 and covers 362.89km,including 102.93km on seven special stages. The first car is expected toarrive at the finish control in Trier, Porta Nigra at 16h00.

Total:
The rally covers 1445.84km, including 415.55km on 23 special stages(including 10 run twice). All stages are on asphalt and concrete roads,closed to other traffic.

TOMORROW:
Friday 23 August
Leg 1 starts from Trier, Messerpark at 06h45 and covers 496.67km,including 148.12km on eight special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Trier, Messerpark at 19h30.

WEATHER FORECAST
Cloudy and overcast, with a chance of heavy showers

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