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TELSTRA RALLY
AUSTRALIA
5th-7th September 2003
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FIA RALLY NEWS
[Rally Australia] Leg 3 News
Sunday, 7 September 2003
The final day of this year's Telstra Rally Australia, round ten of the FIA World Rally Championship, provided a fascinating battle between overnight leader Sebastien Loeb and second-placed man Petter Solberg. Loeb's 5.1-second advantage was turned over on the first stage by the Subaru driver, as Solberg eclipsed his rival on the first run through the Sotico forest complex south-east of the rally's Perth base. The Frenchman returned thanks to a combination of picking a tyre which was better suited to SS22 and Solberg going off into a field, dropping six seconds, on the second test. The third stage of the day brought the third change at the front of the field as Solberg went back in front &endash; this time, however, he held the position to the end of the event. The Norwegian admitted that, despite heavy rain for the entirety of the test, he was able to control his eight-second advantage through the split times which were being fed to him by the team. Loeb took the wrong tyres for the final loop of the event and ended this year's Telstra Rally Australia 26.6s back. Second remains a very impressive result for only his second visit to the rally, though. Peugeot's Richard Burns completed the podium positions and extended his lead in the drivers' championship, while Colin McRae won the race to be second Citroen home, edging his fellow Xsara driver Carlos Sainz out of fourth place. Peugeot and Citroen are level at the head of the manufacturers' standings.
British driver Martin Rowe won the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, the first time the Subaru driver has taken maximum points.
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: The Subaru Impreza WRC
2003s of Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen ran without problems
today.
Sporting: Solberg's victory is his second of the year. The Norwegian and Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb have been fighting for the lead of the rally since Marcus Gronholm retired late on the opening leg. Solberg didn't lead the rally on his own until the first stage this morning, an off on the next test dropped him back behind Loeb &endash; but he went into the lead again on the penultimate stage, this time making it stick to the finish. Solberg's team-mate Makinen took the wrong tyres for the first loop of stages this morning &endash; running on an older compound of Pirelli which would have worked better in wet conditions. The four-times word champion elected not to chase Sainz and McRae through the final loop, settling for sixth place and three points on his final visit to Australia.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "This has been a fantastic battle and a really interesting weekend. I honestly do prefer to go into the final stage in second place; I prefer to be the hunter. I was caught out by some mud earlier in the day when I went into the field, but apart from that everything has gone well. I have to say Sebastien has driven really well, given that he doesn't have so much experience of this event or driving on gravel &endash; but it's a fantastic feeling to win."
Tommi Makinen said: "Without me hitting the bank yesterday and taking the wrong tyres this morning, maybe the result could have been different. As it is, I'm pleased to have scored some points and with the way the car ran. Now we're looking forward to seeing what we can do on the asphalt."
Citroen Total
Technical: All the Xsara WRCs ran
without mechanical problems for the final leg of the event.
Sporting: In the end the wrong tyre choice for three of the day's four stages cost the Frenchman valuable time in his battle to win his first ever gravel round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Loeb finished the event second, without any major problems through the three days. His performance on only his second ever Telstra Rally Australia drew credit from all quarters. Colin McRae's event ended better than it had started. The Scot and his Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz were fighting for fourth position and fastest time on the final stage of the rally secured the place for McRae.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "Right now I am a little bit disappointed with the second place, but really this result is fantastic for me. I came here looking to finish somewhere in the points, maybe sixth or seventh &endash; so this is good, but it would have been nice to win &endash; after our tyre choices, that was very difficult."
Colin McRae said: "It hasn't really been a brilliant weekend, but we have made it to the finish. The car was working well today, we didn't have the brake problems which we'd experienced at the start of the rally. Today's stages were more representative of the pace we could achieve &endash; and it was a good fight with Carlos."
Carlos Sainz said: "I was pushing really hard against Colin, but at the same time I knew that getting four points for fifth place was better than none at all if I had gone off the road."
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: Both Richard Burns and
Harri Rovanpera's 206 WRCs ran reliably through the final leg. Marcus
Gronholm retired from the lead of the event when he slid into a ditch
on SS8.
Sporting: The final leg was a quite one for the Peugeot team, as Burns steered a safe course through the final day, deciding that it wasn't worth trying to catch the two cars ahead, at the same time managing the gap between himself and fourth-placed Colin McRae. It was a similar story for Rovanpera, who was happy to get to the end of a disappointing event for him. The Finn finished the rally in seventh place.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "Today has been quite quiet for us, no problems. Finishing in third is good for the championship, it means we have opened up more of a gap at the front."
Harri Rovanpera said: "This has been the kind of rally where anything which could go wrong for us has gone wrong. It hasn't been my best event. But having said that, it is better than the result we had on the last round in Finland (where he crashed).
Ford Motor Company
Technical: Mikko Hirvonen's 2002
specification Focus RS WRC suffered throttle problems on the last two
stages this afternoon. Francois Duval's 2003 Ford ran reliably for
the final leg, while the sister car of Markko Martin was excluded for
being in breach of Appendix J Article 252 2.2 last night.
Sporting: Hirvonen caught team-mate Duval on the penultimate stage of the event to beat the Belgian to ninth place and the final manufacturers' championship point. Duval dropped time with an overshoot on the final test and ended the event tenth. Both drivers were happy that they had gained valuable experience on the Australian stages. Martin's car was excluded when scrutineers found a rock inside the Focus, used as ballast, which had contravened FIA regulations.
Quotes: Mikko Hirvonen said: "This is a great result for me. The throttle problem is one that we have had before; the throttle sticks open when you are braking for the corners, which pushes the car on and makes it difficult to get through the corner. Then on the straights it wasn't responding properly, so we couldn't get the full power straight away."
Francois Duval said: "Mikko has driven very well on this rally. For me it was really important to get to the finish, especially after I crashed on the final leg in Finland. The overshoot in the last stage cost me a lot of time, we were going flat out when I missed the junction &endash; so we had to handbrake it and come all the way back up the road. I would say we dropped 20 seconds."
Malcolm Wilson said: "We broke a rule and were excluded, that's that, but it's very disappointing."
Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol's Fabia WRC
suffered loss of hydraulic pressure on the first loop of stages this
morning, while Toni Gardemeister's car ran without problems.
Sporting: Auriol's hydraulic problem dropped him back behind his team-mate Gardemeister and into 12th place. Gardemeister's one-armed drive continued, and while 11th overall might not have seemed like much reward, he was awarded the Inmarsat Star of the Rally for his gutsy drive.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "The hydraulic trouble meant we had no differentials, clutch or anything. The problem started just a few kilometres into the first stage this morning. The car was really difficult to drive, very hard work. It's a disappointing end to the event for us."
Toni Gardemeister said: "I have been pushing harder today and my arm hasn't been causing me any pain. The car was good, but in some of the fast sections on the first loop of stages it felt a little bit down on power &endash; a bit lazy. Maybe this could have been the deep gravel sapping some of the power."
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical: Armin Schwarz's car ran
reliably, while Freddy Loix's Accent WRC suffered a repeat of the
shock absorber problems which have troubled him all rally.
Sporting: Loix admitted he was pushing as hard as he could in order to try and keep the Fords of Mikko Hirvonen and Francois Duval behind him.ir He hung on to finish the event in eighth place, just a shade under ten seconds ahead of Hirvonen, scoring two manufacturers' points and a drivers' championship point in the end. The set-up of Schwarz's car was lowered and the German felt happier at the wheel of the Accent. He brought the car home in 13th place.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: "The stages today
were really fast with quite a lot of deep gravel in places, so they
weren't going to suit our car so well, but we went flat out and made
it here in the right place. It's good for me and for the team that we
have some points."
Armin Schwarz said: "Okay I made the finish, but this was a very
difficult rally. Today the car did feel better, the stages went well,
but with the time lost on the first two legs, there wasn't much we
could do about the position."
Other entries
British driver Martin Rowe took his
maiden win in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship. The
Subaru Impreza driver's only problem was bending the steering on the
first loop of stages. He now holds a seven-point lead over Toshi Arai
going into the final round of the series. Karamjit Singh placed his
Proton second, while Niall McShea was third in a Mitsubishi Lancer,
dropping down a place after a puncture on SS22.
07/09/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 34 crews (15 Group A and 19 Group N) started this morning.
TOP RETIREMENTS: Martin (EE)
TODAY:
Sunday 7 September
Leg 3 started from Perth at 07h00 and covered 474.61km, including
117.11km on four stages.
SS21 BANNISTER NORTH (24.81km)
1 Solberg
(N)
Subaru
13m 11.9
2 Loeb
(F)
Citroen
13m 17.6
3
Sainz
(E)
Citroen
13m 18.5
LEADERS AFTER SS21
1 Solberg
(N)
Subaru
2h 45m 21.6
2 Loeb
(F)
Citroen
2h 45m 22.2
3 Burns
(GB)
Peugeot
2h 46m 51.7
SS22 BANNISTER SOUTH (34.16km)
1 Loeb
(F)
Citroen
16m 00.1
2 Solberg
(N)
Subaru
16m 02.0
3 Burns
(GB)
Peugeot
16m 09.1
LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Loeb
(F)
Citroen
3h 01m 22.3
2 Solberg
(N)
Subaru
3h 01m 23.6
3 Burns
(GB)
Peugeot
3h 03m 00.8
SS23 BANNISTER WEST (24.69km)
1
Solberg
(N)
Subaru
12m 22.6
2
McRae
(GB)
Citroen
12m 28.1
3 Sainz
(E)
Citroen
12m 28.6
LEADERS AFTER SS23
1
Solberg
(N)
Subaru
3h 13m 46.2
2
Loeb
(F)
Citroen
3h 13m 54.2
3
Burns
(GB)
Peugeot
3h 15m 33.5
SS24 BANNISTER CENTRAL (33.45km)
1
McRae
(GB)
Citroen
18m 10.0
2 Sainz
(E)
Citroen
18m 14.0
3
Solberg
(N)
Subaru
18m 20.9
LEADERS in PERTH AFTER SS24
1 Solberg
(N)
Subaru
3h 32m 07.1
2
Loeb
(F)
Citroen
+26.6
3
Burns
(GB)
Peugeot
+1m 53.0
4
McRae
(GB)
Citroen
+2m 30.7
5 Sainz
(E)
Citroen
+2m 37.2
6
Makinen
(FIN)
Subaru
+3m 01.5
7 Rovanpera
(FIN)
Peugeot
+4m 03.9
8
Loix
(B)
Hyundai
+7m 00.7
9
Hirvonen
(FIN)
Ford
+7m 10.6
10
Duval
(B)
Ford
+7m 46.2
FIA PCWRC LEADERS AFTER SS24
1
Rowe
(GB)
Subaru
3h 22m 24.9
2
Singh
(MAL)
Proton
+1m 57.0
3
McShea
(GB)
Mitsubishi
+2m 39.0
4 Blomqvist
(S)
Subaru
+9m 38.4
5 Sola
(E)
Mitsubishi
+10m 20.5
6
Roman
(S)
Mitsubishi
+27m 42.8
FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: The rally covered 1795.16km, including 386.31km on 24 special stages (including five run twice and one superspecial run 4 times). All stages were on gravel roads closed to other traffic.
STARTERS: 49 crews (19 Group A and 30 Group N) started the rally
FINISHERS: 32 crews (13 Group A and 19 Group N) finished the rally
STAGE
WINNERS:
Solberg (SS1-7-8-11-12-14-15-21-23)
Loeb (SS5-6-8-9-13-16-17-18-22)
Martin (SS4-19-20)
Gronholm (SS2-3)
Duval (SS10)
McRae (SS24)
RALLY LEADERS:
SS1 Solberg
SS2-7 Gronholm
SS8-11 Loeb
SS12 Loeb/Solberg
SS13-20 Loeb
SS21 Solberg
SS22 Loeb
SS23-24 Solberg
FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 10 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers: Burns (GB) 55, Solberg (N) 48, Sainz (E) 48, Loeb (F) 45, Gronholm (FIN) 38, Martin (EE) 37, C. McRae (GB) 33, Makinen (FIN) 21, Rovanpera (FIN) 18, Duval (B) 11, Gardemeister (FIN) 9, Panizzi (F) 6, Auriol (F) 4, Robert (F) 3, A.McRae (GB) 3 Hirvonen (FIN) 3, Schwarz (D) 3, Tuohino (FIN) 2, Loix (B) 1, Ginley (GB) 1, Lindholm (FIN) 1.
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers: Peugeot 110, Citroen 110, Subaru 74, Ford 61, Skoda 20, Hyundai 12.
FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 4 of 7 rounds, this event not counting): Tirabassi (F) 28, Carlsson (S) 18, Canellas (E) 17, Aava (EE) 16, Wilks (GB) 15, Katajamaki (FIN) 10, Ligato (RA) 10, Broccoli (RSM) 9, others
FIA Production Car World Championship (after 6 of 7 rounds/how many rounds entered): Rowe (GB) 37/5, Arai (J) 30/5, Singh (MAL) 30/6, Blomqvist (S) 26/5, Sola (E) 22/5, Ligato (RA) 13/5, McShea (GB) 8, others.
NEXT EVENT: October
2-5: Rallye Sanremo-Rallye d'Italia
Website:
www.sanremorally.it
[Rally Australia] Leg 2 News
Saturday, 6 September 2003
Sebastien Loeb leads the Telstra Rally Australia, round
ten of the FIA World Rally Championship, after another fascinating
day in the stages south of the rally's base in Perth. The crews faced
two loops of four stages, and the Frenchman held the lead for all but
one of those. On SS12 the Xsara WRC driver and Norway's Petter
Solberg (Subaru) were inseparable at the top of the leaderboard.
Loeb's pace through the second leg has been doubly impressive given
that he is only competing on the rally for the second time. Solberg
admitted to a couple of overshoots today, but promised an all-out
attack as the rally heads for a final-day showdown in the Sotico
forest complex. Richard Burns remains in third place for Peugeot,
while Ford's Markko Martin moved into fourth place. Colin McRae also
improved his opening-day position to end leg two in fifth place.
Citroen Total
Technical: The brake problems on Colin McRae's car
continued for the first two stages of the day, thereafter his car ran
without mechanical problems. The other two Citroens ran without
trouble.
Sporting: Loeb never put a wheel wrong throughout today &endash; and his Xsara never missed a beat. Despite his lack of experience on these roads, he still managed to set four fastest times of the eight forest stages run &endash; the other four went to his main rival Petter Solberg, who headed back to Perth 5.4s behind him. Sainz and McRae spent the day battling for sixth position with the Scot closing the gap through the morning's four stages. Sainz admitted he wasn't 100 per cent confident in the car's handling, but added that this had nothing to do with his roll last night. McRae's brakes improved when he wound some of the balance to the rear, he felt the car was better than ever on this rally in stages 13 and 14. In the afternoon McRae passed Sainz and then moved ahead of Makinen as well to head back to Perth in fifth position, despite being concerned about a possible differential problem which was affecting the car's handling and braking. Sainz went off on SS17 after he thought his co-driver called a fourth-gear corner as a sixth-gear bend.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "Today has been perfect, no problems. The car has been great, now it's all about tomorrow &endash; it's going to be a big day!"
Carlos Sainz said: "The car doesn't feel right at the front, when I'm turning in it's not perfect. On roads like these you really need the confidence in the car. This battle with Colin is nothing new, it's like the thousands that we have had already in our careers. I was lucky when I had the problem with Marc, it could have been a big accident."
Colin McRae said: "We were still overheating the front brakes on the first two this morning, but after the adjustment to the balance it was okay. As for results, if we're going to get anywhere near the podium, then we have to rely on us having a really good clean run and other people having trouble."
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: The gearbox was changed on Tommi Makinen's
Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 at the lunchtime service after it started to
go into neutral between gear changes. The sister car of Petter
Solberg ran without any mechanical problems through the second leg.
Sporting: Solberg dropped a handful of seconds with two overshoots, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, to end the day just behind Loeb. The Norwegian said his attack had been measured through leg two, but he was ready for maximum attack tomorrow.
Makinen started the leg in fourth place, but came under attack from Martin who was just over five seconds adrift prior to the day's opening stage. Makinen held the place through the four morning stages, but dropped back to fifth on SS15. The Finn admitted to a couple of mistakes early in the first stage after he had forgotten to heat up the new brakes which had been fitted to his Impreza. He ended the day sixth.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I feel I am in the right place. Sebastien has the pressure of being out front, he has to stay there &endash; I have to take the place away. The car has been good today, no problems &endash; we do have something in reserve for tomorrow."
Tommi Makinen said: "I was doing some experiments this morning, trying out different styles of driving. In the first stage I tried to be a bit more wild and go hard, after that I was a bit calmer. These stages are quite narrow, so I think the calmer style is faster. The car has been handling better today, we haven't had any problems like we had yesterday."
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: Both Richard Burns and Harri Rovanpera's
Peugeot 206 WRCs ran reliably through today's ten stages, while
Marcus Gronholm retired prior to the Perth City Super stage last
night.
Sporting: Richard Burns pushed hard on the first stage of the day, posting third quickest time, but when he didn't pull time out of the two drivers ahead he elected to continue at the pace he was happy with. The day ran smoothly for the 2001 world champion, who was much happier running 13 places further back on the road than he had been on the previous day. Harri Rovanpera was eighth at the start of the day, but lost time to those cars ahead as he struggled to find the maximum motivation after dropping time on leg one when he suffered brake problems and a bad tyre choice for the final two stages last night.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "I have been happy with the pace today. We tried on the first one this morning and the time wasn't so fantastic. I haven't felt I've really clicked today, I'm not sure what it was. The two guys ahead are really going hard, but I'm running at a good level &endash; the road condition for me is certainly better than it was yesterday.
Harri Rovanpera said: "We've found that there has still been some loose gravel around in the stages, which has been quite tricky. On the final stage of the first loop I felt that the engine had just lost its edge. The team looked on the computer but couldn't find anything wrong."
Ford Motor Company
Technical: All three Ford Focus RS WRCs have run without
mechanical problems through the second day's ten stages.
Sporting: Markko Martin admitted he was struggling to find his rhythm on some of the earlier stages, but he moved past Makinen and into fourth place on SS15. The Estonian said his pace notes were still not right, but the problems weren't quite as pronounced on today's stages, which were predominantly faster than those on leg one. By contrast, his team-mate Francois Duval was feeling more and more at home on the Australian stages. The Belgian started the day 12th, but soon dispatched Skoda driver Didier Auriol and fellow Ford youngster Mikko Hirvonen to move into the top ten. Hirvonen's 2002-specification car sported a damaged front bumper following a twelfth-stage excursion.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I don't know what it was, but in the third stage this morning I just couldn't get the rhythm at all. It was terrible. This rally really shows that to get the right result you need both the car and the driver to be working well together. Here the car has been great, but the driver hasn't been quite so good."
Francois Duval said: "I have more confidence today than yesterday. There aren't so many blind corners, so I can listen to the notes and see what's ahead through the bends, this is better. The car has been good, no problems."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "My notes weren't really right for the first two stages this morning. We went off sideways on SS12, but okay we survived. We finished that first loop of stages with more punctures than spare wheels, so the car was shaking from the mousse vibration."
Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol was concerned by a problem with
the shock absorbers on his Fabia WRC, while Toni Gardemeister's car
ran without mechanical problems.
Sporting: Auriol dropped back two places on the opening loop of stages through the morning, not happy with the handling of his Fabia. While there is little the Frenchman can do about the Ford's of Duval and Hirvonen ahead, he has a comfortable cushion over his team-mate Gardemeister. The Finn was equally bemused by certain aspects of his car's approach to the slippery Australian stages. Gardemeister says he is not feeling any pain from the broken bone in his right hand, although the muscles in his left arm were a little sore last night &endash; as it's that arm which is doing most of the work to steer the car.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "The car didn't feel right on the first four stages this morning, I was making some adjustments to the car as the morning progressed, but it was not so good."
Toni Gardemeister said: "The car is sliding from side to side quite a lot, it feels especially nervous at the back end. Partly this is the set-up of the car, but also there is a part of the problem which is down to my arm. When the car is starting to break away and slide, because I'm not using my right arm as much as I would normally, I am not getting the steering input in as quickly as I could be to stop the slide. "
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical: Both Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz's Accent WRC
suffered handling problems.
Sporting: Loix started the day in ninth place and as he headed north to complete the final two stages of the day (Perth City Super 3 and 4) he was in precisely the same position. The Belgian admitted that he would be relying on those ahead to hit trouble if he was going to venture any further into the top ten. Schwarz was still struggling to find a comfortable set-up with his Accent. The team had raised the suspension of the car and disconnected the front anti-roll bars, but Schwarz said it remained just as bad. He agreed with the team that he would drive at a safe pace to get to the finish.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: "The dampers are overheating and losing their efficiency after a few stages. It's not good, but this is what happens when we don't have any testing before the rallies to try and get these things right."
Armin Schwarz said: "The car is all over the road, very hard to control. It is quite dangerous when we are trying to go quickly, the trees are right at the side of the road. The team want me to get to the finish, which I can understand, because if there is a lot of trouble ahead then I could end up getting a point."
Other entries
Martin Rowe led the FIA Production Car World Rally
Championship standings throughout the second day. The British Subaru
driver's only problem today was almost going off the road trying to
avoid a rock in the middle of the road on SS14. Rowe is being chased
by countryman Niall McShea, who dropped 20 seconds when a rock
smashed the rear differential, leaving McShea's Mitsubishi Lancer
with only three-wheel drive for the last seven kilometres of SS14.
Proton Pert driver Karamjit Singh holds third place overnight. PCWRC
leader, Toshi Arai, retired in stage 14, while holding 5th place.
06/09/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 38 crews (15 Group A and 23 Group N) started this morning.
TOP RETIREMENTS: Arai (J)
TODAY: Saturday 6 September
Leg 2 started from Perth at 07h30 and covered 515.13km, including
124.00km on ten stages.
TOMORROW: Sunday 7 September
Leg 3 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 474.61km, including
117.11km on four stages. The first car is expected to arrive at the
finish in Perth at 16h30.
WEATHER FORECAST: Sunny with occasional cloud..
SS11 BERAKING EAST (8.88km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 5m 09.6
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 5m 10.8
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 5m 13.5
LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 29m 03.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 29m 05.9
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 29m 45.0
SS12 HELENA EAST 1 (20.49km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 38.2
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 11m 40.9
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 11m 45.5
LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 40m 44.1
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 40m 44.1
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 41m 30.5
SS13 HELENA WEST 1 (12.60km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 7m 18.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 7m 21.0
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 7m 24.1
LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 48m 02.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 48m 05.1
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 48m 55.4
SS14 HELENA SOUTH 1 (17.31km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 8m 55.2
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 55.7
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 00.0
LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 56m 58.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 57m 00.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 57m 55.4
SS15 BERAKING WEST (9.42km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 4m 38.7
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 4m 39.9
3 Martin (EE) Ford 4m 42.3
LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 01m 38.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 01m 39.2
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 02m 37.9
SS16 HELENA EAST 2 (20.49km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 11m 23.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 25.4
3 Martin (EE) Ford 11m 30.7
LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 13m 01.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 13m 04.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 14m 10.6
SS17 HELENA WEST 2 (12.60km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 7m 10.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 7m 10.9
3 Martin (EE) Ford 7m 16.9
LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 20m 12.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 20m 15.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 21m 30.9
SS18 HELENA SOUTH 2 (17.31km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 46.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 8m 49.0
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 8m 49.3
LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 28m 59.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 29m 04.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 30m 23.7
SS19 PERTH CITY SUPER 3 (2.45km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1m 31.7
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 1m 32.4
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m 32.5
LEADERS AFTER SS19
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 30m 31.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 30m 37.0
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 31m 57.1
SS20 PERTH CITY SUPER 4 (2.45km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1m 31.7
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 1m 32.3
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m 32.6
LEADERS AFTER SS20
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 32m 04.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru +5.0
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot +1m 25.8
4 Martin (EE) Ford +1m 53.1
5 McRae (GB) Citroen +2m 19.5
6 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +2m 20.9
7 Sainz (E) Citroen +2m 26.8
8 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +2m 54.2
9 Loix (B) Hyundai +5m 17.8
10 Duval (B) Ford +5m 51.1
FIA RALLY NEWS
[Rally Australia] Leg 1 News
Friday, 5 September 2003
Marcus Gronholm had retired from the competition as the Telstra Rally Australia headed back to Perth for the Superspecial stage in Gloucester Park. On the rally's eighth stage the reigning FIA World Rally Champion had slid his Peugeot 206 WRC off the road for 17 minutes, promoting Citroen's Sebastien Loeb to the lead. Loeb astonished onlookers with his pace through the tricky stages, particularly the 35-kilometre Stirling Long test, where the Xsara WRC driver stopped the clocks eight seconds faster than anybody. Loeb was embroiled in a battle with Petter Solberg (Subaru). That fight for second became the scrap for the lead when Gronholm went off. With less than a second between them, the pair sensationally set precisely the same time on SS8, but Loeb eased ahead on the penultimate stage of the day.
Citroen Total
Technical: Colin McRae's Xsara WRC
suffered continued brake problems throughout the day. The Citroens of
Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz ran without any mechanical
problems.
Sporting: Loeb's pace has been one of the talking points of the opening leg. The Frenchman belied his lack of Rally Australia experience to post fastest time on the day's longest stage, placing himself second overall behind Gronholm after SS7. Loeb admitted he was quite surprised at his performance, especially when he moved into the lead of the event following Gronholm's problem on SS8. Loeb's only trouble was a spin on third stage of the day. Sainz felt there was something wrong with the set-up of his Xsara WRC for the opening loop of stages. The team made some changes to the handling, but the Spaniard wanted to revert to the original set-up after the middle loop. Sainz's day took a turn for the worse when he rolled his Xsara against a tree on SS8, costing him approximately 15 seconds. McRae's efforts to make a good start to this event, went wrong on the road out of service first thing this morning. The Scot lost the front brakes on his Citroen and then suffered more trouble on the second loop of stages. He ended the day towards the bottom end of the top ten following an overshoot on SS7.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "I am pushing hard, but I was a surprised when I saw the times for SS6. Last year I struggled on this rally, I wasn't very happy with it, but now things seem to be going well and I am really happy to be leading. I am a little bit sad for Marcus, but not too much! I think I can win this rally, but there is a very long way to go yet. It's going to be a big fight."
Carlos Sainz said: "This morning the car was understeering its way into corners and then oversteering its way out. We made some changes, but then went back to the original set-up. When I rolled, I came out of the trees and the sun hit me, I missed the braking point, hit the bank and rolled."
Colin McRae said: "What could I do this morning? There was air in the system, which meant we lost the front brakes and then cooked the rears. You can't push hard when the car's like that. Things aren't looking brilliant now."
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: Tommi Makinen's car
suffered damper problems on the opening leg, while Petter Solberg's
car ran without any mechanical problems.
Sporting: Solberg led the event after last night's single run at the Perth City Super stage, but the Norwegian dropped back behind Gronholm on today's opener. Solberg held second place for the morning, despite a puncture. He dropped to third place following Loeb's run in SS6, where the Impreza driver dropped 15 seconds with an overshoot and then drove the last seven kilometres with a flat left-rear tyre. Despite those problems, Solberg remained in the thick of the fight for a podium place as the crews headed north back to Perth for another run at the City Super stage. Tommi Makinen's day started badly with a leaking damper and a spin on the third stage. His suspension trouble got worse when he felt the front dampers weren't working right through the second loop.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I'm happy that I've set a fastest time today, which shows we've got the pace and our position is good. This is only Friday, this is really only the warm-up for the big fight that is going to come over the next two days. The overshoot came after I misjudged the braking distance on a fast corner, we went quite a long way before we turned and came back."
Tommi Makinen said: "When we had the damper trouble on the second loop of stages, I thought maybe there was something wrong with the transmission, the front of the car wasn't behaving at all like it should be. The spin this morning was my fault, I turned into a corner too early."
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: Harri Rovanpera's 206 WRC
suffered brake problems on the first loop of stages this morning, the
other two official Peugeots ran without fault.
Sporting: Marcus Gronholm made a fine start to today's stages, moving to the front of the field with fastest time on the first run through the Murray North stage. The reigning world champion ran into trouble on the eighth stage when he slid off the road trying to make it around a tight left-hand hairpin. Gronholm was pushed back onto the road, but dropped 17 minutes in the process. The reigning world champion retired before the last superspecial stage. Richard Burns admitted he was finding it hard to get into a rhythm in the early stages, but accepted that the recent rain had eased the pain of running first on the road. The second loop of stages dried more, however, offering more typical Australian conditions. Rovanpera's rally didn't start well with the brake problems which dropped him to tenth place after the day's opener. He climbed back up the leaderboard after a clean run through the afternoon.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "It was a very slow speed corner where we went off, an uphill left-hander. The car slid into a ditch and then wouldn't come out of the other side. We had to get more and more people, in the end there was enough and we could go. It is really disappointing and now the championship doesn't look very good."
Richard Burns said: "This morning was quite difficult. We were one some new roads and I wasn't fully confident to commit to the notes, the afternoon &endash; although it was dry &endash; the conditions were much more consistent. The consistency was better for us, it meant I could see where I was going to get grip to slow the car down. I'm reasonably happy, the three drivers ahead of me are drivers who desperately want to win the rally and close the gap on my championship lead."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I'm not sure what the brake problem was, but the pedal was going soft after just a few kilometres of the first stages this morning. Then we had a really bad tyre choice in the last two stages, not a great day."
Ford Motor Company
Technical: All three Ford Focus RS
WRCs have run without mechanical problems through leg one.
Sporting: Markko Martin's fortunes were mixed today: the Estonian set a fastest time, but then also suffered some time-consuming spins and overshoots. He was also concerned that his pace notes weren't quite right in some of the stages, he'd made them too slow for the pace he was driving at. Francois Duval is just outside the top ten, gaining more experience of the roads. The suspension and tyres on his Focus were too hard for the second loop of stages, but that aside he hadn't suffered any problems. It was the same story for Mikko Hirvonen, who is driving these roads for the first time in his 2002 Focus.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I made more mistakes today than I have made for the rest of the year combined. I also made my first bad tyre choice, so it hasn't been a great day. I don't know how much time we've lost in total, but it must be quite a bit &endash; we dropped 25 seconds trying to get out of a picnic area this morning."
Francois Duval said: "It has been very slippery in places today, very difficult conditions. The notes weren't perfect in stage six. Our recce car broke down in there and we had to use a right-hand-drive road car, which wasn't perfect &endash; but I'm not saying this as an excuse."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "It was quite tricky this morning for the first two stages, but then on the third I went flat out and got a good time, I was really happy with that."
Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol and Toni
Gardemeister were happy with the way their Fabia WRCs ran through leg
one.
Sporting: Auriol was the leading Skoda drivers throughout today, happy to report that he wasn't feeling any pain from his shoulder. The Frenchman admitted he had found the conditions quite difficult in places through the opening leg. His team-mate Gardemeister &endash; who is driving with a broken bone in his right wrist &endash; also reported slippery roads, but the Finn was taking no chances and made a cautious start to the event. He speeded up through the second loop, but felt the car was nervous on the high-speed sections of the stages.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "It's quite hard to judge the roads, some of the time you think the grip is going to be there and you find it really slippery, quite dangerous, but then other times it's okay and the car can be quite safe. We had some oversteer on the second loop of stages, so we're going to have a look at the changes to the diff we made earlier today."
Toni Gardemeister said: "I'm going slowly, slowly. No chances. On the dry roads everything is okay, but when it is getting wet, it's a little bit harder to drive with my arm. I'm not getting any pain from my arm, but obviously I can't drive the same way. A lot of the time I am just using one arm with the car and not putting any pressure on with the other arm."
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical: Armin Schwarz's Accent
WRC suffered handling problems on the opening leg, while Freddy
Loix's car ran without mechanical fault.
Sporting: Loix battled for position in the lower reaches of the top ten. Schwarz didn't enjoy the day's stages, lacking confidence in what his car would do. The German ended the leg on the fringes of the top ten.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "The car is very difficult to drive, very hard work. The transmission is not right, the rear differential is taking a lot of pressure, but it's still not locking. The car is floating, it almost feels like we have the rear wheels steering the car. The team lowered the car for the second loop of stages, which helped the problem."
Freddy Loix said: "Our car was working better in the damper conditions this morning. But we haven't had any big problems today."
Other entries
Marcos Ligato leads the FIA
Production Car World Rally Championship standings after a fine
opening leg at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Lancer. The Argentine
suffered a broken driveshaft in SS6, but still managed to maintain
his advantage in the category. British drivers Martin Rowe (Subaru
Impreza) and Niall McShea (Mitsubishi Lancer) were second and third
respectively.
05/09/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 49 crews (19 Group A and 30 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: Gronholm (FIN), Benik (H), Ferreyros (PE), Aur (RO),and 6 other drivers
TODAY: Friday 5 September
Leg 1 restarted from Perth at 06h00 and covered 805.42km, including
145.20km on nine stages. The first car arrived back in Perth at
20h40.
TOMORROW: Saturday 6 September
Leg 2 starts from Perth at 07h30 and covers 515.13km, including
124.00km on ten stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Perth at 19h58.
WEATHER FORECAST: Expected to remain dry, but cloudy with occasional sunshine.
SS1 Perth city super 1
(2.45km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m
31.9
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 1m
32.2
3 Martin (EE) Ford 1m
32.6
Run yesterday
SS2 murray north 1 (18.49km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 10m
29.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 10m
31.5
3 Martin (EE) Ford 10m 35.5
LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 12m
02.3
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 12m
03.4
3 Martin (EE) Ford 12m 08.1
SS3 murray south 1 (20.12km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 11m
51.8
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 12m
00.9
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 12m 01.5
LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 23m
54.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 24m
04.9
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 24m 17.2
SS4 gobbys (5.20km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2m
29.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2m
31.2
3 Hirvonen (FIN) Ford 2m 31.4
LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 26m
25.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 26m
36.1
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 26m 50.7
SS5 stirling west (15.89km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 9m
15.3
2 Solberg (N) Peugeot 9m
15.8
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m
17.5
LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 35m
43.3
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 35m
51.9
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 36m 06.0
SS6 STIRLING LONG (34.99km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 20m
02.1
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 20m
10.1
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 20m 19.7
LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 55m
53.4
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 56m
08.1
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 56m 13.9
SS7 TURNER HILL (7.00km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 4m
22.2
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 4m
24.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 4m 25.4
LEADERS AFTER SS7
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 00m
17.9
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 00m
34.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 00m
36.1
SS8 MURRAY NORTH 2 (18.49km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 10m
14.4
= Loeb (F) Citroen 10m
14.4
3 Martin (EE) Ford 10m 15.3
LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 10m
48.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 10m
49.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 11m
16.6
SS9 MURRAY SOUTH 2 (20.12km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 11m
30.0
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m
33.1
3 Martin (EE) Ford 11m 35.7
LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 22m
18.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 22m
22.4
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 22m
57.0
SS10 Perth city super 2
(2.45km)
1 Duval (B) Ford 1m
33.5
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1m
33.7
= Makinen (FIN) Subaru 1m
33.7
4 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m 33.9
LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 23m
52.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru
+4.1
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot
+39.1
4 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +1m
00.2
5 Martin (EE) Ford +1m
05.0
6 Sainz (E) Citroen +1m 11.6
7 McRae (GB) Citroen +1m 25.0
8 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +1m 52.9
9 Loix (B) Hyundai +2m 41.6
10 Auriol (F) Skoda +2m 52.7
[Rally Australia] Event preview
Thursday, 4 September 2003
The FIA World Rally Championship returns to the southern
hemisphere for the penultimate gravel round of this year's series.
Telstra Rally Australia is one of the fastest loose-surface events in
the calendar, and can be on of the most difficult. Based in Perth
,Western Australia , the roads used for the competitive sections are
coated with ball-bearing-type rocks which make running first on the
road a bigger disadvantage than on most rallies. British driver
Richard Burns continues to lead the drivers' championship, so it will
be the Peugeot man who has to sweep the leg one stages clean for his
following competitors. Burns has yet to win a round of the FIA World
Rally Championship, but increased his lead in the series with a
third-place finish on the last round in Finland . Citroen driver
Carlos Sainz is second in the race for this year's title, while
Burns' fellow 206 WRC driver Marcus Gronholm, is joint third with
Petter Solberg (Subaru). Peugeot remains at the head of the
manufacturers' standings, closely followed by Citroen.
Numerous changes have been made to this year's Telstra Rally Australia , including the use of one central service area, rather than each leg having its own service park. This year all of the mechanical work on the car will be done at Jarrahdale , in the middle of the forest. The most significant change, however, is the switch from Langley Park to Gloucester Park for the event's super special stage.
Marlboro Peugeot Total (1 st - 101
points)
Technical : The wheel bearing problems experienced by the
team on the last round in Finland have been put down to a bad batch
of parts. The three 206 WRCs used in Australia will be run in largely
the same specification as they were on round nine.
Sporting : Richard Burns and Marcus Gronholm have both won this event before, but it is the Finn who had the more enviable recent results, having won the event for the last three years in succession. Burns knows that running first on the road is going to make his job difficult through the first leg and is hoping the early spring weather turns wet for the opening leg of this event. Gronholm has put the disappointment of his home rally retirement behind him now and is focused on closing the gap to his team-mate. Harri Rovanpera finished second on Telstra Rally Australia , making it hard to discount any of the three 206 WRC drivers for this rally.
Quotes : Richard Burns said: "Rain would help to bind the surface of the stages together, making it less slippery. Although as we saw last year, too much rain can cause other problems."
Marcus Gronholm said: I have always gone well on this rally and hopefully I can win it again. The fact that I was forced to retire in Finland was a huge disappointment and was very costly in championship terms, but I have no intention of giving up the fight. I will be giving it everything in Australia ."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I will approach this rally in the way I wanted to approach Finland : doing the best I can without thinking too much about any particular strategy. I would be delighted to have a good run here and come away with a result to help the team."
Citroen Total (2 nd - 97 points)
Technical : The team will be running the three Xsara WRCs
in the same specification that they were used on the last round in
Finland .
Sporting : Colin McRae arrives in Perth with the strongest record of the three Citroen drivers on Telstra Rally Australia . The Scot has won the rally twice previously, while Carlos Sainz has not managed better than second. Sebastien Loeb placed his Xsara seventh overall on his first attempt at the rally in a World Rally Car last season. While McRae knows what is required to get the best out of this event, he arrives on the back of a big accident in Finland . Sainz took fourth last time out, one place ahead of Loeb.
Quotes : Carlos Sainz said: "I have no tactics in mind for this rally, except to go as fast as I can on the first day to try and minimise the amount that I am penalised for the rest of the rally. The stages here are quite good fun to drive, but at the same time, given how slippery they are, they can give you a bit of a scare."
Colin McRae said: "I don't know too many drivers who really enjoy these stages, they are very difficult and demand a big effort and lots of concentration. These stages have their own character, they may not be as fast as Finland , but they are still very quick."
Sebastien Loeb said: "I came away from last year's rally with mixed feelings. I had gained valuable experience, but at the same time I didn't feel like I was on the pace. Even on the second run at the stages I didn't feel I was getting the best out of myself. I will do what I can to keep close to my team-mates this time around."
Ford Motor Company (3 rd - 60 points)
Technical : The Focus RS WRC03 of Markko Martin and
Francois Duval will run in the same specification as they did in
Finland . The team's third driver, Mikko Hirvonen, remains at the
wheel of a 2002-specification Focus.
Sporting : Martin arrives in Perth on a high, having achieved one of his main rallying ambitions: winning Finland 's round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Estonian ended the ninth round of the series with a comfortable lead over the rest of the pack, but knows that ending this weekend in a similar place will be tough, given that he has only tackled Telstra Rally Australia twice previously. His team-mate Duval has only competed in Australia once before - crashing out of last year's event while vying with Martin for fifth place.
Quotes : Markko Martin said: "It's important to have a good position on the first leg of this rally, and running sixth on the road, we are in quite good shape. The only thing which could spoil that would be rain, hopefully it will stay dry and we can get our event off to a good start."
Francois Duval said: "These roads are so specialised, it's going to be better for me to spend the time this year perfecting my pace notes rather than chasing a top position. It's important to stay cool and keep the driving neat and tidy here."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "Once again, I'm starting a rally which I haven't done before. So again my plan is the same - to gain experience of the event. I've spoken to my team-mates, so I know what a difficult rally this one can be."
555 Subaru World Rally Team (3 rd - 60
points)
Technical : The Subaru Impreza WRC 2003s of Petter Solberg
and Tommi Makinen will be running in similar specification to the
last round in Finland . For the tenth round of the championship,
however, Subaru will have a wider selection of Pirelli tyres to cope
with the various conditions which are expected this week.
Sporting : Solberg came out on top of a titanic battle with Peugeot's Richard Burns to clinch the runners-up spot in Finland , elevating the Norwegian to joint third in the drivers' standings. Between the rallies, Solberg's mind has been elsewhere, however, as he married his long-time girlfriend Pernilla - with former world champions Tommi Makinen and Colin McRae among the 250-strong guest list. This will be Makinen's final appearance in Australia (where he has won twice previously) after he announced his retirement from the sport soon after Neste Rally Finland .
Quotes : Petter Solberg said: "We will have to wait and see whether we can win this rally, I'm sure Marcus (Gronholm) and Markko (Martin) are going to be quick. I am really looking for good points from Australia . The battle with Richard (Burns) in Finland was great, but that's history now. I just can't wait to get back behind the wheel again."
Tommi Makinen said: "I'm feeling very positive about this event. My recent decision hasn't affected my determination to score points for the rest of the year. Australia is always an excellent rally - one of my favourites - so I'm looking forward to it. There's always little room for error with the trees so close to the side of the road on those stages, but that in itself is a good challenge."
Skoda Motorsport (5 th - 20 points)
Technical : Both Fabia WRCs will be running the paddle
gear shift for the first time and Skoda has also reworked its
transmission system aboard the new car.
Sporting : The last round of the championship was a mixed bag for Skoda, with Didier Auriol failing to get past the first super special stage after an old shoulder injury flared up, while Toni Gardemeister demonstrated the new car's potential on fast gravel rallies. The team is keen to see more of that pace from both drivers in Australia this weekend, although Gardemeister will be driving with protection on his left wrist after breaking a bone in his arm during a charity ice hockey match just after Rally Finland .
Quotes : Didier Auriol said: "I had an operation on my shoulder after Finland and I don't have any problems driving now. I'm looking forward to getting the Fabia onto the gravel stages."
Toni Gardemeister said: "My wrist is not causing me any pain at the moment, we will just have to wait and see whether this carries on during the rally. It's quite a big help having the paddle gear shift as this will be easier for me to use with the wrist like it is."
Hyundai World Rally Team (6 th - 6
points)
Technical : The team has further revised the suspension
changes it made to the Accent WRC for the last round of the
championship in Finland .
Sporting : Freddy Loix has tackled this rally six times before, taking three top ten finishes and a good deal of experience of the unique terrain which makes up this event. Team-mate Armin Schwarz was back in Australia after a long gap last year, but he too has seen this rally in various conditions - including heavy rain - which could well make an appearance this time around.
Quotes : Armin Schwarz said: "There are a few new stages this year and a few stages which have new parts; we've seen in the past that the Accent is more competitive on new stages, so we are looking forward to this event. This is a well organised rally and I've got a good feeling about it."
Freddy Loix said: "If the weather turns wet then this could be a very slippery rally, there will be a lot of mud. It could be like a gravel version of Monte Carlo , with tyre choices being far from easy."
Other entries
FIA Production Car World Rally Championship leader Toshi
Arai returns to the series after missing the last round in Germany .
The Japanese Subaru man leads fellow Impreza driver Martin Rowe ahead
of the start of Telstra Rally Australia .
04/09/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT : Telstra Rally Australia is the 10th of 14 events
in the FIA World Rally Championship.
ENTRIES :56 (22 Group A, 34 Group N)
DRIVERS : Austria 1, Australia 14, Argentina 1, Belgium 2, Estonia 1, Finland 6, France 3, Germany 3, Great Britain 5, Hungary 1, Italy 3, Japan 6, Malaysia 1, New Zealand 1, Norway 1, Peru 1, Poland 1, Romania 1, Spain 2, Sweden 2.
MANUFACTURER TEAMS : Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru
CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 3, Ford 5, Honda 1, Hyundai 5, Mitsubishi 19, Peugeot 3, Proton 1, Skoda 2, Subaru 17.
TIMETABLE:
Thursday 4 September
Leg 1 starts from Gloucester Park ,Perth at 18h30 and includes one
run at the 2.45km Perth City Super Special stage.
Friday 5 September
Leg 1 restarts from Perth at 06h00 and covers 805.42km, including
145.20km on nine stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Perth at 20h40.
Saturday 6 September
Leg 2 starts from Perth at 07h30 and covers 515.13km, including
124.00km on ten stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Perth at 19h58.
Sunday 7 September
Leg 3 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 474.61km, including
117.11km on four stages. The first car is expected to arrive at the
finish in Perth at 16h30.
Total The rally covers 1795.16km, including 386.31km on 24 special stages (including six run more than once). All stages are on gravel roads closed to other traffic.
TOMORROW: Friday 25 July
Leg 1 restarts from Perth at 06h00 and covers 805.42km, including
145.20km on nine stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Perth at 20h40.
WEATHER FORECAST : Sunny start with showers possible later in the
day.
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