wrc1302

2002 FIA World Rally Championship

Telstra Rally Australia 31 October- 3 November 2002 http://www.rallyaustralia.com.au/
Thirteenth round out of 14 in the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship

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

[WRC] Rally Australia: Final
FINAL LEADERBOARD IN PERTH AFTER SS24
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 35m 56.5
2 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot +57.3
3 Solberg (N) Subaru +1m 28.7
4 Sainz (E) Ford +3m 09.0
5 Martin (EE) Ford +6m 21.5
6 Gardemeister (FIN) Skoda +7m 11.6
7 Loeb (F) Citroen +9m 06.1
8 Eriksson (S) Skoda +12m 46.4
9 Paasonen (FIN) Mitsubishi +13m 25.5
10 Stohl (A) Mitsubishi +19m 20.7

FINAL PRODUCTION CAR WRC LEADERS AFTER SS24
1 Arai (J) Subaru 3h 58m 09.5
2 Fiorio (I) Mitsubishi +1m 43.2
3 Singh (MAL) Proton +1m 56.9
4 Ferreyros (PE) Mitsubishi +2m 14.4
5 Rowe (GB) Mitsubishi +3m 35.6
6 Kollevold (N) Mitsubishi +13m 00.5

TELSTRA RALLY AUSTRALIA - Sunday, 03 November 2002
Finnish driver Marcus Grönholm has won the 13th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally Australia, which finished in Perth this afternoon. Grönholm and his navigator Timo Rautiainen started today's four stages comfortably clear of their nearest rivals and they maintained their advantage through the remaining kilometres in the Sotico forest complex to secure their fifth victory of the season. Team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Voitto Silander fought past Petter Solberg today to ensure a one-two for Peugeot, the 8th of the season.
The Sotico stages, well known for the spectacular jumps and watersplash, were viewed by thousands of spectators. They had plenty of incidents to watch; Carlos Sainz rolled his Ford Focus but continued, his team-mate François Duval crashed out and the sole remaining Hyundai of Juha Kankkunen succumbed to engine failure in the final stage.

Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRCs of Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä have been reliable today. Grönholm's only slight concern occurred when his information screen reported a slipping clutch, even though the unit itself was working perfectly. Sporting: Marcus Grönholm cruised through today's four stages to secure his third Rally Australia win in succession, and claim his fifth victory of this season. The Finn and navigator Timo Rautiainen had been rarely troubled during the event, which they had led since the third stage on Friday. Their team-mate Harri Rovanperä was today's charger, setting fastest times on both of this morning's opening pair of stages to ease past Petter Solberg and into second overall. The former Swedish Rally winner then increased his advantage over the Norwegian to secure a one-two for the Peugeot team.
Marcus Grönholm said: ãThis has been one of the easiest wins for me this year but at the same time, I had to keep concentration for two days when I had a very strong lead. Today was just about watching the speed of the guys behind and making sure they didn't take too much time out of me. I'm very happy, of course, and now I'm sure I can take this motivation and confidence into the last round in Britain.
Harri Rovanperä said: ãI did a full, full, full attack this morning. We took some risks and it paid off, because we got ahead of Petter. Then we had to be more careful because some of the stages today had big rocks. It was enough, though, because we pulled some more time on him before the end. I'm quite happy - the first day didn't go so well for me but things improved and we have set some very good times yesterday and today.

Subaru
Technical: The Impreza WRC2002 of Petter Solberg was reliable today, although the Norwegian felt that he'd gone for too hard a tyre compound on this morning's opening pair of stages. Tommi Mäkinen's car suffered a puncture in the first stage, and then the Finn reported a noise from the front brake caliper in the following test.
Sporting: Petter Solberg reckoned his tyre choice was too hard for this morning's opening pair of stages and that their high-speed nature suited the Peugeot of his chief rival, Harri Rovanperä. Sure enough, the Norwegian lost enough time to cede his overnight second position to the Finn, and once the 206 driver pulled further clear in the penultimate stage, Solberg elected to preserve his car and settle for third. His team-mate Tommi Mäkinen claimed fourth overall despite suffering a puncture and a noise in the front brake calipers this morning. The four-times world champion's was then excluded at the finish because his car had been judged underweight at the scrutineers' checks after SS23. The Subaru team has elected not to appeal.
Petter Solberg said: ãI'm reasonably happy with third because I knew last night that the gap to Harri was going to be very hard to defend on today's stages. It's like I've said all along on this rally - once we get into fifth- and sixth-gear stuff, I haven't been able to stay with the Peugeots. Today's stages were very high-speed in places and Harri just had too much for me. But it's good again to be the best non-Peugeot and I think we have been closer to them here.
Subaru World Rally Team Principal David Lapworth said: ãThe judgement has come as a big disappointment to Tommi and the team. However, in the interests of the sport, we have decided to accept the judgement and will not appeal the Stewards' decision.

Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Markko Martin, Carlos Sainz and François Duval have been reliable today, although Sainz damaged a turbo pipe on his car when he rolled in the day's second stage.
Sporting: Carlos Sainz's hopes of getting back on terms with Harri Rovanperä disappeared this morning as the Finn set two fastest times on the opening pair of stages. On the second of those tests, Sainz rolled at a slow corner, damaging his car's turbo pipe and losing power for much of the stage. The resulting time loss dropped him to fifth by the finish, but he gained fourth when Tommi Mäkinen was excluded. Markko Martin and François Duval had been told to finish at all costs, but they started today separated by just tenths of seconds and they swapped positions on both of the first two stages. On the third, however, Duval slid off and hit a tree. The Belgian was removed from the vehicle and taken to a hospital in Perth, suffering from bruising to his left arm and leg. Despite a heavy landing on the same test, Martin completed the remaining stage to secure fifth overall.
Carlos Sainz said: ãThe roll was about 600 metres after the start of the stage, at a very slow first corner. It was only in first gear but the car went into the ruts and then it rolled right over. The actual roll only cost a few seconds because the car ended up back on its wheels but we'd damaged the turbo pipe so we had no power for the rest of the stage. That's what cost us the bulk of the time. In the end, I don't think we could have had a much better result here. I drove hard all event.

Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister's Octavia WRC was reliable today. His team-mate Kenneth Eriksson enjoyed a relatively clean run, although he did lose his car's intercom on today's second stage when he drank some water on a long straight and accidentally dropped some of it onto the headphone socket.
Sporting: Skoda badly wanted Toni Gardemeister to score a point today, which will promote the team to equal fourth in the Manufacturers' standings and Tommi Mäkinen's exclusion allowed the young Finn to achieve that goal. He remained consistent as he brought his Octavia home in sixth. His team-mate Kenneth Eriksson again had to run first on the road on stages widely regarded as the worst in the entire world championship for loose gravel cleaning. The veteran Swede overshot a junction on the slippery surface, but he still finished in eighth. Both Skoda drivers reported near-misses with kangaroos during today's action, meanwhile.
Toni Gardemeister said: ãI've quite pleased by how the event has gone - we've found a set-up for the car that's quite easy to drive and on the high-speed sections, I was very comfortable. Our only problem all rally has been a small thing with the tracking on the opening day but the team fixed it quickly. I didn't mind slowing down for the kangaroos on the last stage. I'm a fan of nature and they could have damaged the car as well!
Kenneth Eriksson said: ãIt's been a hard rally after we had so many small problems on the opening day and then had to run first on the road yesterday and today. It's actually quite hard to motivate yourself in those situations because you know that no matter how hard you push, the road is going to be better and quicker for all the guys behind you.

Mitsubishi
Technical: Jani Paasonen's Lancer Evo WRC was reliable today.
Sporting: Mitsubishi's Finnish driver Jani Paasonen admitted that he'd found this event surprisingly difficult, but he maintained his steady approach to today's stages. He was rewarded with ninth overall at the finish.
Jani Paasonen said: ãThis rally has definitely been a hard one, because the roads are really slippery and we've been running near the front of the starting order yesterday and today. Of course I was angry at rolling but we've still managed to finish and I've learnt a lot about how the roads change here. Yesterday I followed Juha Kankkunen's lines but today he recommended that I didn't use Kenneth Eriksson's because he cuts corners quite a lot and there are many rocks here in some places.

Hyundai
Technical: Juha Kankkunen's hopes of finishing the event in the sole remaining Accent WRC3 looked set to be realised, but in the very last stage the car's engine (which had been off-song since a misfire on the opening day) lost oil pressure and he had to retire.
Sporting: Juha Kankkunen started today's four stages with only an outside chance of a top-10 finish in the only remaining Accent. Thanks to the retirement of François Duval, the veteran Finn looked odds-on to achieve this but on the last stage, his car's engine lost oil pressure and he was unable to continue.
Juha Kankkunen said: ãThe engine hadn't been running right all morning. If you think about it, when we had the misfire it ran for some time with no fuel - and thus no lubrication - going into two of the cylinders, so the pistons were rattling round in there. I felt it this morning on the faster sections, because the car just wasn't pulling at the high revs any more. It's disappointing but we certainly tried our best, even when the road conditions worked against us.

Other entries
Citroen Sport driver Sebastien Loeb declared himself happier with his Xsara WRC's set-up today and he inched into seventh overall by the finish.
Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh, meanwhile, secured the FIA Production Car World Championship by claiming third in the category this afternoon. His closest rival Kristian Sohlberg had retired yesterday but Proton driver Singh wasn't able to relax until the finish, since Peruvian Ramon Ferreyros stood an outside chance of denying him the crown. He finished 17 seconds behind Singh, however. Japanese driver Toshihiro Arai took maximum points in the category, ahead of Alex Fiorio. The overall Group N class was won by Manfred Stohl, who brought his Mitsubishi home over a minute and a half clear of Ed Ordyinski.

LEG 3 03/11/2002 STATISTICS
STARTERS:
46 crews (18 Group A and 28 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS:
Duval (B), Kankkunen (FIN), and 5 other drivers

TODAY:
Sunday 3 November - Leg 3 started from Perth at 07h00 and covered 353.79km, including 105.69km on four special stages.

LEG 3 STAGE RESULTS
SS20 LANGLEY PARK 3 (2.20km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m 27.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1m 28.8
= Duval (B) Ford 1m 28.8
3 Martin (EE) Ford 1m 28.9
This stage was run yesterday night

SS21 BANNISTER CENTRAL (5.63km)
1 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 3m 22.4
2 Sainz (E) Ford 3m 25.4
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3m 26.2
LEADERS AFTER SS21
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 43m 08.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 43m 58.0
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 2h 44m 17.3

SS22 BANNISTER SOUTH (28.65km)
1 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 16m 07.3
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 16m 18.6
3 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 16m 28.5
LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 59m 27.0
2 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 3h 00m 24.6
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 00m 30.3

SS23 BANNISTER WEST (34.57km)
1 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 17m 09.2
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 17m 13.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 17m 25.5
LEADERS AFTER SS23
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 16m 40.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 17m 33.8
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 3h 17m 55.8

SS24 BANNISTER NORTH (36.84km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 19m 15.7
2 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 19m 20.0
3 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 19m 24.7

FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT:
The rally covered 1571.98km, including 388.64km on 24 special stages (including three run twice and one used three times). All stages were on gravel roads closed to other traffic.

STARTERS:
69 crews (42 Group A and 39 Group N) started the rally

FINISHERS:
38 crews (14 Group A and 24 Group N) finished the rally

STAGE WINNERS:
Grönholm (SS3-4-5-6-7-8-16-17-18-19-24)
Rovanperä (SS9-11-12-13-15-21-22-23)
Solberg (SS1-10-20)
Loix (SS2)
C. McRae (SS13)
Mäkinen (SS14)
Sainz (SS15)

RALLY LEADERS
SS1-SS2 Solberg SS3-24 Gronholm

FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 13 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers:
Grönholm (FIN) 77, Burns (GB) 34, C. McRae (GB) 33, Sainz (E) 32, Panizzi (F) 31, Rovanperä (FIN) 30, Solberg (N) 27, Mäkinen (FIN) 19, Loeb (F) 18, Martin (EE) 14, Bugalski (F) 7, Radstrom (S) 4, Gardemeister (FIN) 3, A. McRae (GB) 2, Thiry (B) 2, Kankkunen (FIN) 2, Eriksson (S) 1, Puras (E) 1, Loix (B) 1.

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Peugeot 163, Ford 94, Subaru 54, Skoda 9, Mitsubishi 9, Hyundai 9.

FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 5 of 6 rounds, this event not counting):
Dallavilla (I) 28, Sola (E) 27, Caldani (I) 13, Tuohino (FIN) 12, Duval (B) 12, Basso (I) 10, Galli (I) 5, Schelle (D) 5, Feghali (RL) 4, Rowe (GB) 4, Carlsson (S) 3, Baldacci (I) 3, Doppelreiter (A) 2, Foss (N) 1, Katajamaki (FIN) 1.

FIA Production Car World Championship (after 8 of 8 rounds):
Singh (MAL) 32, Sohlberg (FIN) 26, Ferreyros (PE) 23, Fiorio (I) 16, Arai (J) 22, Rowe (GB) 13, Trelles (ROU) 12, Iliev (BG) 9, Baldini (I) 4, Manfrinato (I) 4, Kollevold (N) 4, Ligato (RA) 2, De Dominicis (I) 3, Harrach (A) 2, Marrini (2).

NEXT EVENT:
14 - 17 November 2002: Network Q Rally Great Britain, Cardiff, Great Britain.

[WRC] Rally Australia: Leg 2
LEADERS AFTER LEG 2
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 39m 42.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru +48.3
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot +1m 12.7
4 Sainz (E) Ford +1m 32.4
5 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +2m 08.2
6 Duval (B) Ford +4m 21.1
7 Martin (EE) Ford +4m 21.9
8 Gardemeister (FIN) Skoda +5m 14.9
9 Loeb (F) Citroen +6m 25.6
10 Kankkunen (FIN) Hyundai +7m 05.8

TELSTRA RALLY AUSTRALIA - Saturday, 02 November 2002
Finnish driver Marcus Grönholm has strengthened his grip on the 13th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally Australia, which continued today. He and his navigator Timo Rautiainen fended off any early challenge from Petter Solberg this morning, and then posted three fastest stage times in quick succession this afternoon to build their leg one lead of half a minute up to nearly 50 seconds as the cars arrived at Perth's Langley Park superspecial this evening.
Solberg fighting off Carlos Sainz and the improving 206 WRC of Grönholm's team-mate, Harri Rovanperä. But there was disappointment for 1995 world champion Colin McRae; he also increased his speed this morning, but he was forced to retire after he terminally damaged his Ford's radiator after a heavy landing on the car's nose.

Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRCs of Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä have been reliable today.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm consolidated his overnight lead on this morning's first few stages, then attacked in the final three forest tests this afternoon to increase the margin between himself and second-placed Petter Solberg to almost 50 seconds entering the Langley Park superspecial. His team-mate Harri Rovanperä found greater speed today after changing the pedal set-up on his 206 to an older specification; the Finn quickly moved past Carlos Sainz this morning and a string of fastest times was enough to keep him within 25 seconds of Solberg at their arrival in Perth this evening.
Marcus Grönholm said: ãI'm actually quite bored now, to be honest! Today we've just been concentrating on not making mistakes and keeping the other guys at a good distance, and that's been quite easy. I have the feeling that I could even go a little quicker, but there's no point in taking risks. I'm looking forward to getting the final few stages out of the way tomorrow.
Harri Rovanperä said: ãWe changed something with the pedals at the pre-event testing and I didn't have total confidence in the car yesterday, but we've gone back to the original settings now and it's been much better. I'm pushing hard but at the same time, it only takes a small mistake here for you to end your rally, so I'm still braking quite carefully.

Subaru
Technical: The Impreza WRC2002s of Petter Solberg and Tommi Mäkinen have hit a few niggles today. Both have suffered from EMI mousse insert break-ups (Mäkinen encountered two problems on separate stages), and Solberg also lost time with a softening damper in SS16 and a front differential problem in the same test.
Sporting: Petter Solberg expected a strong challenge from Carlos Sainz this morning so he charged; it proved good enough, as he eased further clear of the Spaniard and into a relatively comfortable second overall. In the later stages, however, he still faced pressure from the fast-recovering Harri Rovanperä. A damper problem and a broken mousse insert cost the Norwegian more time and, although he still arrived at this evening's Langley Park superspecial in second, he only had just over 20 seconds in hand over the pursuing Peugeot driver. Solberg's team-mate Tommi Mäkinen had to worry about Colin McRae in this morning's first few stages and he lost time with a mousse insert break-up this morning and then two more tyre vibrations this afternoon, but the Finn still holds fifth. He's over half a minute adrift of Carlos Sainz, however.
Petter Solberg said: ãI'm trying as hard as possible but it hasn't been easy today. Things were fine this morning but when the stages get really quick, I don't seem able to stay with the Peugeots. All I can do now is try to make sure that Harri stays behind me and see what happens. Maybe Marcus has to have a problem sometime!
Tommi Mäkinen said: ãThe mousse problems are really frustrating. It's impossible to catch anyone when you can't even see where you're going and because they've been at the front, we've had a massive vibration and lost quite a lot of time. I've made the odd mistake myself, too - I stalled the engine on the start line of the first stage today.

Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Carlos Sainz and Francois Duval have been reliable today, but Markko Martin reported his car's engine cutting out in SS17. Colin McRae was forced to retire his Focus, meanwhile, when it suffered terminal radiator damage after a heavy landing in SS14.
Sporting: Carlos Sainz was unable to match Petter Solberg's pace this morning after he opted for too hard a compound of tyre for the opening three stages. The Spaniard also lost third overall to Harri Rovanperä and although he matched the Finn's speed on many of this afternoon's tests, he still arrived back in Perth this evening almost 20 seconds behind his Peugeot-mounted rival. Sainz is comfortable in fourth, however, since Tommi Mäkinen is more than 40 seconds further back. Colin McRae's challenge appeared to have been brought back to life by the switch of stages this morning and the Scot began to inch closer to Mäkinen, but on the day's fifth stage his car landed heavily on its nose after a fast jump. Although he finished the test, the landing had inflicted terminal damage on the Focus's radiator and it could proceed no further. Markko Martin lost time with a poor tyre choice this morning and the Estonian was overhauled by his team-mate Francois Duval when his engine cut out intermittently in SS17 this afternoon. Martin recovered in the day's last forest stage to arrive at the Langley Park superspecial less than a second clear of Duval.
Colin McRae said: ãI knew the moment that we landed that we'd done something to the sumpguard, but we still made it to the end of the stage. It was only then that we realised the radiator was losing a lot of water and was quite badly damaged. It's disappointing, because today was actually going better and I think we could have gained one or two positions.

Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister has enjoyed a basically troublefree day in his Octavia WRC. Kenneth Eriksson's car, meanwhile, lost its rear differential pressure in SS15 and the Swede had to complete the following test before he could reach service. He also bent the car's right-front wishbone when he clipped a tree stump on this morning's second stage.
Sporting: Toni Gardemeister felt that today's stages were even more slippery than yesterday's, but the young Finn enjoyed solid reliability from his Skoda and he took advantage to ease further into the top 10. He arrived at this evening's superspecial in Perth in eighth, albeit almost a minute adrift of seventh-placed Markko Martin. Kenneth Eriksson, meanwhile, bent a wishbone when he clipped a tree stump in SS11. But the Swede effected running repairs and made it back to service in time for his Skoda mechanics to fix the damage completely. He also lost time with a rear differential problem which appeared at the end of SS15 and hampered his progress in SS16. Eriksson still reached Perth this evening in 12th, however.
Toni Gardemeister said: ãIt's been going okay today - we've at least had a clean run, which has allowed us to see where we are in terms of speed. The only thing has been that I'm still braking a little early for some corners, just because there's a bit more grip than I'd expected. But it's better to brake too early than too late, I guess.

Mitsubishi
Technical: Jani Paasonen's Lancer Evo WRC was reliable today, although the Finn damaged the car's turbo when he rolled.
Sporting: Jani Paasonen was aiming gain further experience of the roads in Australia today and he achieved that, but not without drama. The Finn tipped his Lancer over at a junction and although it came to rest on its wheels, the damage to the car's bonnet had been sufficient to hamper its turbo piping. Paasonen lost well over a minute in the incident, and then dropped a further 60 seconds in road penalties as the Ralliart mechanics repaired the damage at the following service. He arrived back in Perth this evening in 11th. Mitsubishi has also issued an update on the condition of navigator Daniel Grataloup, who was injured when he and his driver Francois Delecour crashed heavily yesterday afternoon. After further examination, Grataloup has been transferred from intensive care to a general ward and there are no plans for any surgery to be carried out at the moment. Daniel is in good spirit and has even released a short interview on the accident.
Jani Paasonen said: ãThe roll was quite unlucky. I came to a junction and the car touched the inside of the corner. It wasn't very quick but there was enough speed to take it over and right back onto its wheels again. I just had to restart the engine and then we could continue, but I think when the bonnet had touched the ground it had damaged a turbo pipe because we lost quite a lot of power. It's a shame because it was going well up to that point. But at least we can continue and get even more experience.
Daniel Grataloup said: ãLast year when we had the accident here I was unconscious so I didn't know what was happening, but this time I saw everything. We were going so fast, about 160kph, and we hit a very big tree and I knew the car was going to be bad. When I stopped I couldn't speak and Francois was slumped in the seat next to me; I thought my injuries would be worse than they are.

Hyundai
Technical: The sole remaining Accent of Juha Kankkunen has been generally reliable today, although the four-times world champion did complain of a lack of low-end torque; possibly the result of the misfire caused by spark plug problems yesterday. A change of turbo at service this morning restored the car's engine to full health, however.
Sporting: Juha Kankkunen started today ready to shoulder the Hyundai team's hopes after its disappointment yesterday afternoon. The Finn's Accent suffered from a misfire yesterday and he still believed that its engine wasn't quite on full song this morning, but a change of turbo improved matters this afternoon. Four-times world champion Kankkunen arrived back in Perth this evening in 12th overall, less than 20 seconds behind Jani Paasonen's Mitsubishi.
Juha Kankkunen said: ãI'm still trying to push as hard as possible but today's stages have been drier and thus more slippery, especially when we're running as second car on the road. The engine seemed to lack some low-end torque first thing this morning but the guys have fixed it.

Other entries
Citroen Sport driver Sebastien Loeb has continued to experiment with suspension and differential settings on his Piedrafita-run Xsara WRC today; the Rallye Deutschland winner started tonight's Langley Park superspecial in a lonely ninth overall, over a minute behind Toni Gardemeister and more than 40 seconds clear of Juha Kankkunen.
Despite a spin this morning, Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh remains on course to claim the FIA Production Car World Championship after today's stages. His main rival, Finn Kristian Sohlberg, retired in SS14 with a broken suspension arm, and although Peruvian Ramon Ferreyros can still lift the title as well, he would need to claim maximum points with Singh retiring to achieve that. The category is actually being led by Japanese driver Toshihiro Arai, who completed his recovery from brake problems by overhauling Alex Fiorio in SS15. The Group N class overall leader is Austrian Manfred Stohl.

TODAY STATISTICS - Leg 2 (02/11/2002)

STARTERS: 55 crews (21 Group A and 34 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS: C. McRae (GB), and 5 other drivers

TODAY: Saturday 2 November - Leg 2 started from Perth at 07h00 and covered 539.15km, including 147.27km on 11 special stages.

TOMORROW: Sunday 3 November - Leg 3 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 353.79km, including 105.69km on four special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in at the finish control in Perth at 16h00.

WEATHER FORECAST: Fine but still with a small chance of the occasional shower.

RESULTS FROM LEG 2
SS10 KEV'S (9.56km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 5m 51.8
2 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 5m 52.3
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 5m 52.8
LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 24m 38.3
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 25m 06.8
3 Sainz (E) Ford 1h 25m 14.2

SS11 BERAKING (26.46km)
1 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 14m 23.3
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 14m 25.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 14m 27.6
LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 39m 03.3
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 39m 34.4
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 1h 39m 55.3

SS12 HELENA SOUTH 1 (18.43km)
1 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 9m 28.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 29.3
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m 30.4
LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 48m 33.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 49m 03.7
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 1h 49m 24.2

SS13 YORK RAILWAY (5.30km)
1= C. McRae (GB) Ford 3m 32.3
= Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 3m 32.3
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3m 33.5
LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 51m 07.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 51m 38.6
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 1h 52m 06.0

SS14 MURESK 1 (6.81km)
1 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 3m 24.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 3m 25.3
3 Sainz (E) Ford 3m 26.8
LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 54m 35.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 55m 03.9
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 1h 55m 33.8

SS15 MURESK 2 (6.81km)
1= Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 3m 24.0
= Sainz (E) Ford 3m 24.0
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 3m 24.1
LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 58m 00.0
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 58m 32.2
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 1h 58m 57.8

SS16 FLYNNS SHORT (19.98km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 11m 33.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 39.8
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 11m 40.0
LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 09m 33.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 10m 12.0
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 2h 10m 28.3

SS17 HELENA NORTH EXTENDED (28.87km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 16m 20.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 30.1
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 16m 33.9
LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 25m 54.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 26m 42.1
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 2h 27m 02.2

SS18 HELENA SOUTH 2 (18.43km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m 20.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 21.5
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 9m 23.2
LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2h 35m 15.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 36m 03.4
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 2h 36m 25.4

SS19 ATKINS 2 (4.42km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 2m 58.2
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 2m 59.3
= Solberg (N) Subaru 2m 59.3
4 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 2m 59.6

SS20 LANGLEY PARK SUPER 3 (2.20km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m 27.6
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1m 28.8
= Duval (E) Ford 1m 28.8

[WRC] Rally Australia: Leg 1
LEADERS AFTER SS9 - LEG 1
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 18m 45.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru +29.5
3 Sainz (E) Ford +33.4
4 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot +54.2
5 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +1m 03.8
6 C.McRae (GB) Ford +1m 47.4
7 Martin (EE) Ford +1m 16.8
8 Duval (B) Ford +1m 58.8
9 Gardemeister (FIN) Skoda +2m 34.2
10 Loeb (F) Citroen +2m 44.5

TELSTRA RALLY AUSTRALIA - Friday, 01 November 2002
Peugeot driver Marcus Grönholm has taken an early advantage on the 13th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Telstra Rally Australia, which started in earnest today. The Finn and his navigator Timo Rautiainen set fastest times on all but one of today's forest stages to arrive back at this evening's superspecial in host city Perth with a lead of around half a minute.
Australia's stages traditionally punish the first few crews in the running order, since they are forced to sweep clear loose gravel and reveal a grippier surface underneath. But heavy overnight rain left many of the roads coated in standing water instead. That allowed the frontrunners to maintain their advantage: Carlos Sainz, Harri Rovanperä and Petter Solberg all featured strongly, although Grönholm's team-mate Richard Burns was forced to retire his 206 WRC with clutch problems.

Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRCs of Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä have been reliable today. But Richard Burns was forced to retire his example when it hit clutch problems on the penultimate forest stage of the day.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm realised when heavy rain hit Perth last night that he stood a better chance than normal running first on the road today. With the usually-troublesome loose gravel packed down by the overnight showers, the Finn was able to inch into the lead on this morning's second stage. He didn't look back after that, setting a string of fastest times as he built up an advantage of almost half a minute. His team-mate Richard Burns looked set to be his closest and most consistent challenger, and the Englishman recovered from a cautious start to move into second overall by lunchtime. But his car succumbed to clutch and gearbox problems in the penultimate forest stage of the day and he was forced to retire. Peugeot's third driver, Harri Rovanperä, arrived at Langley Park in fourth overall after a consistent performance today.
Marcus Grönholm said: ãThe rain last night helped me for sure today, because there wasn't so much loose gravel in the morning. It started to dry a bit in the day's longest stage and I was surprised that the rest of the guys didn't take time from me in there but after that, we were using most of the roads for the second time so they were clean anyway. There's a long way to go yet but I'm feeling quite confident.

Subaru
Technical: The Impreza WRC2002s of Petter Solberg and Tommi Mäkinen have run without any significant problems today.
Sporting: After Petter Solberg's fastest time at last night's superspecial in Perth, Subaru started today with high hopes. But although the Norwegian and team-mate Tommi Mäkinen have been among the leading non-Peugeots, they have been unable to really threaten Marcus Grönholm's advantage at the head of the field. Solberg started best of the Impreza drivers, holding the overall lead after the second stage and then occupying second spot once Grönholm got into his stride mid-morning. Mäkinen struggled on the opening three stages after he opted for Pirelli's wider tyre. But their fortunes reversed for the following two tests, as Solberg switched to a harder compound that didn't work and Mäkinen opted for the narrower Pirelli and improved his pace. Solberg benefited from Richard Burns's retirement, though, to arrive this evening at Langley Park in second overall. Mäkinen held fifth, albeit just nine seconds behind Harri Rovanperä.
Petter Solberg said: ãWe're obviously trying hard and it was frustrating when we got the tyre choice wrong because I had no feeling at all for two stages. But we're in a good position now and we have to keep this pace to make sure Grönholm can't relax.
Tommi Mäkinen said: ãI had completely the wrong tyre choice this morning. We thought the roads would be dry but in the end, the loose gravel was just sitting on top of some really wet surfaces. We had gone for the wider tyre and it just didn't cut through that at all. But since we changed back it has been better. We just have to be a bit patient and not push too hard to make up the time, because it's important to stay smooth and precise on these roads.

Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Carlos Sainz, Markko Martin and François Duval have been reliable today. Colin McRae's car has generally run without problems too, but the Scot did complain of a little brake fade towards the end of the day's longest stage. He also suffered an EMI mousse insert break-up in the same stage.
Sporting: Carlos Sainz has been Ford's strongest driver today. Buoyed by revised suspension geometry that he fine-tuned at the team's pre-event test, the double world champion set second-fastest time on one stage as he kept his Focus in the top five for much of the day. The retirement of Richard Burns boosted his chances further, and he'll go into tomorrow in third, but ready to battle with Petter Solberg for second overall. Colin McRae found it difficult to find his rhythm on a few of today's stages and he wasn't helped by some brake fade and an EMI mousse insert break-up in the longest test of the schedule. The Scot held sixth overall by this evening's superspecial. Markko Martin felt that the changeable conditions made it hard for him to compete on the Australian stages for the first time, but the Estonian still arrived back in Perth in seventh, only 14 seconds behind his team-mate. Ford's fourth entry, François Duval, held eighth after a day spent gaining experience of the conditions.
Carlos Sainz said: ãI had a feeling before this event that we'd found a better feeling with the car and it seems that's the case. We made a few changes to suspension geometry and it's really helped my confidence with the handling. It's nice to be fighting for second position after the last few rallies.

Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister's Octavia WRC has encountered no major problems today, although the young Finn says he lacks sufficient confidence in the car to really attack. His team-mate Kenneth Eriksson has endured a difficult opening leg. A loose pipe allowed hydraulic fluid to leak this morning, leaving his Octavia without any differential pressure for the first three stages. The problem was fixed at the following service, but on the next stage, a turbo pipe broke and the car lost boost. Eriksson fixed the problem himself before the day's longest stage but the repairs meant that he did not have enough time to accurately balance the car's tyre pressures before the 39km test. Halfway through it, the car's differential sensor failed, locking all of the car's differentials and making its handling even more unpredictable.
Sporting: Toni Gardemeister hasn't felt comfortable with his Octavia all day but the Finn battled through the forest stages to hold ninth as he arrived back in Perth this evening. His team-mate Kenneth Eriksson was slowed by a catalogue of mechanical glitches but the veteran Swede occupied 13th as the cars left the forests.
Toni Gardemeister said: ãI've got no confidence in the car at the moment. I went straight on at one junction today and at another I nearly went off completely. It's not easy - we clearly need to find something but it's not immediately clear what the problem is. All we can do is keep trying.
Kenneth Eriksson said: ãI was completely demoralised after this morning's stages, because we didn't get a single clean run. If you get one good stage then you can at least see where you are against the others. But with no differentials for the first three stages, and then the turbo and differential sensor problems, we didn't get that chance. I've had enough!

Mitsubishi
Technical: The Lancer Evo WRCs of Jani Paasonen and François Delecour were reliable today.
Sporting: Jani Paasonen knew that with wet roads, he would struggle to repeat his form from New Zealand last month, so the Finn has spent today settling into the Australian stages and making small adjustments to his Lancer's set-up. His pace was still good enough for him to hold 11th as he entered the Langley Park service this evening. His team-mate François Delecour wasn't so fortunate - the Frenchman was encouraged by a more aggressive front differential setting that gave him better handling, but on the day's penultimate stage he crashed heavily. His navigator Daniel Grataloup was immediately treated by medical crews at the scene and he was subsequently airlifted to hospital in Perth for further tests. There he was found to have a fractured ankle and pelvis and bruising to his right lung. Daniel was conscious and injuries are not considered critical.
Jani Paasonen said: ãThe conditions this morning made it very difficult to actually learn the stages, and I hadn't done any wet-weather testing here either so I had to learn how the car behaves on the roads here when they're wet. The biggest problem is knowing where the grip is, because it can be great in one corner and then not there at all at the next one. But I feel reasonably comfortable.

Hyundai
Technical: The Accent WRC3s of Juha Kankkunen and Freddy Loix were reliable today. Armin Schwarz, meanwhile, felt that his car's suspension softened towards the end of the day's longest test, and then its engine stopped and refused to restart in the following stage.
Sporting: Freddy Loix looked likely to occupy a points-scoring position for Hyundai for much of today's action. The Belgian was fastest overall on this morning's first stage and he held a top five placing until lunchtime. But in the longest stage of the day, he misheard a pacenote and rolled his Accent out of the event. Juha Kankkunen felt that his times didn't match his performances this morning, but the veteran Finn still arrived at Langley Park this evening in 12th after a steady drive. He is now the sole surviving Hyundai, since Armin Schwarz's efforts came to nothing after engine failure in the penultimate forest stage.
Freddy Loix said: ãThe accident was completely my fault. I misheard a pacenote and went into a corner far too quickly. The car slid off the road, hit a bank and rolled, and it was too badly damaged for us to continue. I'm totally disappointed because we'd shown again that we had good enough speed to get into the points.

Other entries
The battle for honours in the FIA Production Car World Championship category has seen seven changes of lead in seven stages today. After Toshihiro Arai grabbed the initial advantage last night, Marcus Ligato assumed the top spot on the first forest stage. Series leader Karamjit Singh moved ahead in SS3, before Ligato reclaimed the top spot in SS4. He then retired with gearbox problems, allowing another title hopeful, Kristian Sohlberg, to take the advantage. He then suffered a puncture, though, allowing Arai back into the frame before the Japanese driver was slowed by brake problems. All of the dramas allowed Singh back into the category lead as the cars arrived at Langley Park tonight. Other non-registered drivers have also featured strongly - Possum Bourne led Group N overall before his Subaru succumbed to suspension problems, while Juuso Pykalisto set competitive times until his Mitsubishi's engine failed.

01/11/2002 TODAYS STATISTICS
STARTERS: 69 crews (27 Group A and 42 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS: Burns (GB), Delecour (F), Schwarz (D), Loix (B), and 10 other drivers

TODAY: Friday 1 November - The second part of Leg 1 started from Perth at 07h00 and covered 673.64km, including 133.48km on eight special stages.

TOMORROW: Saturday 2 November - Leg 2 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 539.15km, including 147.27km on 11 special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Perth at 20h41.

WEATHER FORECAST: Scattered cloud with occasional showers.

LEG RESULTS
SS1 LANGLEY PARK SUPER 1 (2.20km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 1m 28.7
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1m 29.0
3= Burns (GB) Peugeot 1m 29.6
3= Sainz (E) Ford 1m 29.6
This stage took place yesterday evening.

SS2 HARVEY WEIR (6.97km)
1 Loix (B) Hyundai 4m 00.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 4m 01.5
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 4m 01.9
LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 5m 30.2
2 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 5m 30.9
3 Loix (B) Hyundai 5m 31.0

SS3 STIRLING WEST (15.89km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m 19.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 22.2
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 9m 22.3
LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 14m 50.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 14m 52.4
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 14m 55.1

SS4 MURRAY RIVER 1 (20.44km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 12m 15.0
2 Sainz (E) Ford 12m 16.7
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 12m 19.9
LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 27m 05.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 27m 14.7
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 27m 15.0

SS5 BRUNSWICK (16.63km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m 08.7
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 9m 10.1
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 12.0
LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 36m 14.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 36m 25.1
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 59m 26.7

SS6 STIRLING EAST REVERSE (38.93km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 22m 44.9
2 Sainz (E) Ford 22m 49.1
3 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 22m 52.5
LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 58m 59.4
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 59m 20.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 59m 21.7

SS7 MURRAY PINES SOUTH (11.98km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 6m 29.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 6m 31.2
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 6m 33.7
= McRae (GB) Ford 6m 33.7
LEADERS AFTER SS7
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 05m 28.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 05m 52.9
3 Sainz (E) Ford 1h 05m 56.9

SS8 MURRAY RIVER II (20.44km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 11m 47.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 52.8
3 Sainz (E) Ford 11m 53.2
LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 17m 16.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 17m 45.7
3 Sainz (E) Ford 1h 17m 50.1

SS9 LANGLEY PARK SUPER 2 (2.20km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1m 28.3
2 McRae (GB) Ford 1m 28.4
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1m 28.8
= Sainz (E) Ford 1m 28.8

[WRC] Rally New Zealand: SSS 1 & Preview
SSS 1 Results (Langley Park)
1. Solberg 0:01:28.7
2. Grönholm +0:00:00.3
3. Burns +0:00:00.9
4. Sainz +0:00:00.9
5. Rovanpera +0:00:01.1
6. Makinen +0:00:01.3
7. Eriksson +0:00:01.6
=7. Loix +0:00:01.6
9. C.McRae +0:00:01.7
10. Loeb +0:00:01.8
11. Duval +0:00:02.2
12. Gardemeister +0:00:02.6
=12. Kankkunen +0:00:02.6
14. Schwarz +0:00:02.7
15. Paasonen +0:00:02.9
16. Kuchar +0:00:03.8
17. Barratt +0:00:05.7
18. Herridge +0:00:06.7
19. Stohl +0:00:07.4

TELSTRA RALLY AUSTRALIA - Thursday, 31 October 2002
The world's top rally drivers will all have an eye on the weather when the 13th round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship, the Telstra Rally Australia, starts in host city Perth this evening. Although the rally starts with the spectacular Langley Park superspecial, based on the banks of the Swan River, the bulk of its action is concentrated in the Western Australia forests.
The road surface there is coated with fine, ball bearing-like gravel, punishing those running at the front of the field as they sweep it clear to reveal a more grippy surface for later crews. If it rains, however, the gravel will be packed down to form a more consistent surface, so the championship frontrunners will all be praying for rain tomorrow.
Marcus Grönholm effectively secured his second drivers' title in New Zealand earlier this month, but the Finn has already publicly stated that he expects his motivation to return as soon as he puts on his crash helmet. He and his Peugeot team-mate Richard Burns will start as two of the favourites but if the roads do stay dry, they can expect stern challenges from later runners like Ford's Markko Martin, Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb and the Hyundais of Freddy Loix, Armin Schwarz and Juha Kankkunen. With the top 15 cars at the end of each leg reversed on the running order for the second and third days, the fate of the rally could hinge on who gets the best run through tomorrow's eight stages.

Peugeot (1st - 147 points)
Technical: Peugeot has made no significant changes to its 206 WRCs for this event. The team's test car was damaged beyond repair in a pre-event accident involving Richard Burns, however, so it is not available for Peugeot's fourth driver, Gilles Panizzi.
Sporting: Peugeot originally entered four cars on this event, nominating Marcus Grönholm, Richard Burns and Harri Rovanperä for manufacturers' points and also offering fourth driver Gilles Panizzi the chance to use the test car to gain more experience of the specialised conditions. However, Burns crashed heavily during Peugeot's pre-event running and the damage to the car was sufficient to rule out Panizzi's planned start. The Frenchman then tried to complete the reconnaissance but that was halted when he damaged his car in an accident between two stages. Peugeot has confirmed, meanwhile, that Rovanperä will be reunited with his regular co-driver Risto Pietilainen (who has been recovering from an operation) on next month's Rally of Great Britain.
Marcus Grönholm said: ãRoad position will be the usual problem here for me. On the recce we could see some places where there were already some clean lines in the gravel that I'll be able to use, but there aren't that many so I'm sure we'll lose time. It could depend, though, on the weather -if it stays dry, it'll be bad for us but if it rains, then I don't think we'll have such a big disadvantage. It hasn't been easy to keep motivation after winning the title but I'm sure once I get into the car and put my crash helmet back on, I'll be ready to fight and win.
Richard Burns said: ãThe car feels as good here as it did in New Zealand and before our accident I think we were looking strong so yes, I'm optimistic here. A bit of rain tomorrow would make matters even better. But I don't expect Marcus to back off in any way - he's going to be just as strong a competitor as usual.

Ford (2nd - 89 points)
Technical: Ford's Focus RS WRC02s will run in essentially the same specification here as they did in Finland, although all three cars will use the slightly revised engine specification that featured on Markko Martin's car in Sanremo last month.
Sporting: Ford sends its three usual drivers - Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Markko Martin - to New Zealand, and all three will be registered for manufacturers' points. The team has also entered a fourth Focus RS WRC02 for the young Belgian François Duval. McRae will have a change of navigator for this event, since he and Nicky Grist agreed to end their partnership after Rally New Zealand.
The Scot's new co-driver is Derek Ringer, who partnered him for many of his early seasons and was alongside him when he won his only world title in 1995.
Carlos Sainz said: ãIf it stays quite dry here then we have a better chance to fight because if it rains, the Peugeots will have the same conditions and I'm sure they'll be strong. But all we can do is try our best to find as much speed as possible.
Colin McRae said: ãNicky brought a lot to the partnership but ultimately, it wasn't working out as well as it could have done so we decided to end it. I'm confident that I can be straight onto the button with Derek - it's certainly worked well during the recce and the shakedown this morning as ell.

Subaru (3rd - 50 points)
Technical: Subaru is reporting encouraging progress with the Impreza WRC2002's high-speed stability, after changes to its differential settings and tweaks to the suspension. That aside, the cars will run in a specification largely unchanged from that used in New Zealand.
Sporting: Subaru has entered two Impreza WRC2002s for this event, to be driven by four-times world champion Tommi Mäkinen and young Norwegian Petter Solberg.
Petter Solberg said: ãI didn't have the most straightforward test for here - we did have a few problems with the gearbox and the propshaft - but it's better that they happened during testing and not the rally. This morning at shakedown, the car felt very strong and we've found a few things since New Zealand that will help. It's hard to say whether we can really fight with the Peugeots here but I'm hoping that we'll certainly be closer.
Tommi Mäkinen said: ãThis is a rally that I usually look forward to and I've done well here in the past, so I feel very relaxed. The car's very comfortable to drive now - I've got more confidence with it than I had earlier in the season.

Mitsubishi (4th - 9 points)
Technical: Mitsubishi has made no major changes to the Lancer for this event.
Sporting: Mitsubishi Ralliart had entered all three of its drivers - regulars François Delecour and Alister McRae, and occasional third pilot Jani Paasonen. But even though McRae was given the all-clear to fly to Australia from England, a pre-event medical test revealed that the injury to his liver (sustained in a mountain biking accident in September) has still not healed sufficiently for him to compete with risking long-term damage. The Scot has thus been forced to withdraw from the second event in succession - he will undergo further tests on Monday before deciding whether to fly back to Britain for his home round of the championship next month. Unlike New Zealand, Paasonen did not have to be 'drafted in' at the last minute for this event - he had always been scheduled to compete in Australia. He and Delecour will be registered for manufacturers' points.
François Delecour said: ãThis isn't my favourite rally in the championship - I crashed out badly last year and the roads here are difficult - slippery and very narrow, with trees very close to the road.
Jani Paasonen said: ãIt won't be easy to set fastest times on stages like we managed once in New Zealand but of course I'll be trying to do that. I had a couple of days testing before here and some before that in Wales, and it all helps. I feel much more confident with the car every time I get some more kilometres.

Hyundai (5th - 9 points)
Technical: Hyundai has introduced no major changes to its Accent WRC3s for Australia.
Sporting: Hyundai sends three Accent WRC3s to New Zealand - for regular drivers Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix, and four-times world champion Juha Kankkunen.
Armin Schwarz said: ãThis is one of the most difficult events in the championship, because of the surface and how hard it can be to read the road with the thick forests and the sunlight coming through the trees. We could have good road conditions on the opening day and if we do, we'll have to capitalise on that.
Freddy Loix said: ãThe potential is there again for us to go very well here and get a good result, especially if the conditions stay dry on the first day and give us a good start. We know that the car is quick enough but what we need is luck and a good, clean run. If we get those and the right conditions, then I know we can be fighting for points again.

Skoda (6th - 8 points)
Technical: Skoda's Octavia WRCs are unchanged from the specification that was used in New Zealand.
Sporting: Skoda has entered two Octavia WRCs for this event, for regular drivers Toni Gardemeister and Kenneth Eriksson. The team confirmed late last week that 1994 World Champion Didier Auriol will drive an Octavia in the 2003 season.
Toni Gardemeister said: ãWe didn't have a test here in Australia with the car so I'm being realistic here. It would be a good result for us if we get near the points, especially if it rains on the first day because that will mean we don't have such an advantage of road conditions over the front cars.
Skoda Team Principal Pavel Janeba said: ãDidier will bring valuable experience of the other teams and cars to us next year, allowing us to really push forward with the current car. It's a very important move for our team.

Other entries
Citroen is not officially contesting the Rally Australia but the French manufacturer has been testing in the country recently as part of its build-up to a full FIA World Rally Championship assault in 2003. Spanish private team Piedrafita will run the same test car on this event for Citroen works driver Sebastien Loeb, allowing the Frenchman to gain valuable experience of how a World Rally Car behaves on the event's notoriously slippery road surfaces.
Rally Australia is the final round of the FIA World Production Car Championship, and three drivers can lift the title. Malaysian Proton driver Karamjit Singh has a lead of just two points from Finn Kristian Sohlberg's Mitsubishi, while Ramon Ferreyros still has an outside chance of denying them both.

31/10/2002 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: The 15th Rally Australia is the 13th of 14 events in the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship.

ENTRIES: 75 (30 Group A and 45 Group N)

DRIVERS: Argentina 1, Australia 22, Austria 2, Belgium 4, Bulgaria 1, Estonia 1, Finland 11, France 3, Germany 2, Great Britain 5, Italy 6, Japan 7, Latvia 1, Malaysia 1, Norway 2, New Zealand 1, Peru 1, Poland 1, Sweden 2, Spain 1.

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

CARS (including the manufacturers cars): Citroen 1, Daihatsu 2, Ford 4, Hyundai 6, Mitsubishi 37, Peugeot 4, Proton 1, Skoda 2, Subaru 17, Toyota 1.

Total - The rally covers 1571.98km, including 388.64km on 24 special stages (including three run twice and one used three times). All stages are on gravel roads closed to other traffic.

TIMETABLE
Thursday 31 October - The first part of Leg 1 starts in Perth at 18h30 and covers 5.40km, including 2.20km on one special stage. The first car is expected to arrive in parc ferme in Perth, Langley Park, at 19h10.
Friday 1 November - The second part of Leg 1 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 673.64km, including 133.48km on eight special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Perth, Langley Park, at 20h21.
Saturday 2 November - Leg 2 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 539.15km, including 147.27km on 11 special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Perth, Langley Park, at 20h41.
Sunday 3 November - Leg 3 starts from Perth at 07h00 and covers 353.79km, including 105.69km on four special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in at the finish control in Perth, Forrest Place, at 16h00.

WEATHER FORECAST: Cloudy, with a strong chance of showers

WRC Rally Australia: Pre Event Notes
CHARACTER OF THE EVENT
The main challenge of this smooth gravel event is the rapidly cleaning road surfaces, covered by unique bauxite stones which have the characteristic of ball bearings.

NOVELTIES THIS YEAR
Of the five different Service Park locations, two are at new locations: Dwellingup (Friday, instead of Collie) and Chidlow (Saturday, instead of Mundaring). The Service Parks at Langford Park (Shakedown), Langley Park (Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings) and Sotico on Sunday remain. The mandatory Thursday Shakedown has caused the promotional Rally Show to be moved to early evening on Wednesday, from the city to Langley Park.
The rally heads south for the first full day of action, then to the east for the second, the other way round to before. The rally goes back to the spectacular stage at Muresk, with its exciting series of jumps, also to the nearby York Railway stage. Missing this year is the Wellington dam stage, previously the longest stage of the event. Stirling East stage has been reversed in direction, lengthened to 38.93km and is now the longest of the event.
Many new promotional ideas, including 'Australiana' community activities at Dwellingup and Australian action displays at Chidlow. After a gap of several years, spectator trains are back again as well. Shuttle buses will also be made available for spectators from the local railways stations. Historic trains will be available to take hospitality guests from Pinjarra to the service halt at Dwellingup. The traditional short final stage will again be run, but earlier in the day. The last stage will now be the second longest section, at 36.84km.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS
Both FIA World Rally Championships for Manufacturers and for Drivers were settled at the Propecia Rally New Zealand, leaving the FIA Production Car World Championship to be settled in Australia. The attention now focuses on the championship race between the smaller three teams, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Skoda, currently separated by only one point.

NEWS FROM THE MANUFACTURERS' TEAMS
TEAM PEUGEOT TOTAL:
(2002 World Rally Champions after New Zealand, now with 147 points)
-Richard Burns (car no 1), Marcus Gronholm (car no 2) and Harri Rovanpera (car no 3). Peugeot Total has also entered a fourth, non nominated entry to be driven by Gilles Panizzi (car no 23). Life has been very busy for the new Champion Marcus Gronholm since New Zealand with appearances in Paris as well as testing in Britain, between moments enjoying home life. He told journalists at a press conference in Finland: "My name isn't Schumacher. I am not going to let my team mate Richard Burns win in Australia just because I am now the champion again. He will have to fight for himself!" During pre-event testing on Thursday 24th, Richard Burns crashed into a tree and badly damaged the car. The crew were unhurt, but original plans to reprepare the same car for Panizzi to drive on the event have been cancelled. Panizzi therefore will not start the event.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY (2nd 89 points)
Carlos Sainz (car no 4), Colin McRae (car no 5) and Markko Martin (car no 6). Ford Motor Company has also entered a fourth, non nominated entry to be driven by Francois Duval (car no 24). A co-driver change for Colin McRae! Derek Ringer returns to the side of the driver with whom they had been world champions together in 1995 and with whom he had won eight World rallies. Fortunately, considering the team's series of mishaps in New Zealand, a different set of cars were always planned to be used in Australia. Team adviser Phil Short has been promised the fulfilment of a personal dream. At a pre-event promotional cricket match, he has been promised the chance to bat against the bowler Dennis Lillee.

MARLBORO MITSUBISHI RALLIART (4th 9 points)
Francois Delecour (car no 7) and Jani Paasonen (car no 9). The only team in which the drivers have still not yet scored World Championship drivers' points. Announced last week that Alister would withdraw on account of continued trouble with his back, for the second rally running. Team Director John Easton: "This problem could not have come at a worse time for Alister. This event had always been one of his favourites." Because of the damage incurred to Paasonen's car in New Zealand, Ralliart have had to send another car from England for the rally.

555 SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM (3rd 50 points)
Tommi Makinen (car no 10) and Petter Solberg (car no 11). No third entry on this event. Petter Solberg's sudden engine failure near the end of Rally New Zealand has been assigned by the team to piston failure. Since New Zealand Prodrive has been active in Spain with test drivers Paolo Andreucci and Pasi Hagstrom carrying out initial development work on the 2003 version car. Tommi Makinen meanwhile has been carrying out road car development work on the new car at Nurburgring, Germany.

SKODA MOTORSPORT (6th 8 points)
Kenneth Eriksson (car no 14) and Toni Gardemeister (car no 15). No third entry on this event. Few changes since New Zealand, but a very important occasion for the team.
The Australian national VAG importers have started a new initiative for their domestic production car sales activities which is to be based around World Rally Championship activities, and this event is a focal point for the launch of this campaign. This is one of Eriksson's favourite events: outright winner in 1995 with Mitsubishi, Formula 2 winner for Hyundai in 1999.

HYUNDAI CASTROL WORLD RALLY TEAM (5th 9 points)
Armin Schwarz (car no 17), Freddy Loix (car no 18) and Juha Kankkunen (car no 19). Detailed electronic development continues, particularly in differential work and even since New Zealand. Together with engine development aimed at improving bottom end performance, the team has seen noticeable improvement in especially traction in the second half of the year.

AUTOMOBILES CITROEN
(not eligible for points in 2002 and not officially entered on this event). The Spanish dealer team Piedrafita Sport has entered Sebastien Loeb in a Xsara World Rally Car (car no 25) which is the official Citroen team's gravel test car.

NEWS FROM THE PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
One of three drivers will be the FIA's first Production Car World Rally Champion at the end of this event. Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh leads the series by just two points. His healthy lead before New Zealand was eroded when he retired. Chris Mellors, the team's chief engineer: "A new unit was fitted before the event started, and we discovered the gearbox output shaft had been manufactured with the wrong material." Singh meanwhile has been competing in China, the penultimate event in the FIA Asia Pacific Championship series where he gained an unbeatable lead in the series. Championship success in Australia will make Karamjit only the second driver ever to win two major FIA rally titles the same year, (Previously it was Carlos Sainz in 1990). Kristian Sohlberg: "Our car has to be completely reprepared after New Zealand. It is still on the boat, and we will only have five days after the boat arrives to get ready for the rally." Third driver is Peruvian Ramon Ferreyros. "Having had engine failures on the last two events, I am praying for better luck. My only hope to be champion is to win the category and that also depends on bad luck for both Karamjit and Kristian." It has been 12 years since Ramon first won an FIA title when he was the European Group N Champion ö the first South American to win an official FIA rally title. Back again in Australia is Ferreyros' Italian teammate Alex Fiorio, the only European driver on the 2002 event who also competed on the first Rally Australia, in 1988: "I will never forget the welcome we got. Half of Italy seemed to live in Western Australia!." Top Run will be running no fewer than six cars including Marcos Ligato in a Evo VII, and also the ex-New Zealand car run by Ligato which has now been sold to Australian driver Martin Lintott. All 14 drivers still eligible for the championship are due to take part in this event - and all of them have scored at least two points in the series so far this year.

OTHER TOP RUNNERS IN AUSTRALIA
Polish driver Tomasz KucharÎs Toyota is the only entry in the Îmanufacturer supported' category. Australia's national rally championship is run to Group N rules, and this event is the last round for the series. Notwithstanding that the title has already been won, Australia's top drivers have all entered this event, headed by the now-seven times Australian champion Possum Bourne, who is in fact a New Zealander!
Unlike New Zealand, Group N cars are very popular in Australia. Group N is expected to be a hard fought category, notwithstanding the additional presence for the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship drivers. Official Subaru drivers Bourne and Crocker will vye with their counterpart Mitsubishi drivers Ordynski and Lowndes, with privateers Evans and Herridge challenging them. Ordynski has already won the Group N category on Rally Australia eight times, Crocker has been Australia Group N champion for the last four years.

SPECIAL FACTS
Attention: whereas the Shakedown for the P1 (World Championship drivers) will be at the usual location at Langford Park, the P2 (manufacturer supported entries) and P3 (Production Car World Rally Championship cars) will be far away at a new location at Bakers Hill, on the road north east of Perth towards Northam. The FIA pre-event press conference will be held during the Shakedown near the Langford Park paddock at 11.00 hours.
Two Australia drivers active on the national series are the brothers Scott and Mark Pedder, both at the wheel of Group N Mitsubishis - and members of the Pedder Suspension family who have been traditional sponsors in Australian rallying. Scott was the highest placed non-professional driver in the 2002 National Championship.

WEATHER PROSPECTS: Clerk of the Course, Garry Connelly said: "Normally this will be nice, but in early November it is always possible to have an occasional wet day.

2002 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1st and already champion Marcus Gronholm 67 points; 2nd Richard Burns 34p; 3rd Colin McRae 33; 4th Gilles Panizzi 31p; 5th Carlos Sainz 29p; 6 th Harri Rovanpera 24p. 19 drivers have scored so far this season

2002 FIA PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP:
1st Karamjit Singh 28 points; 2nd Kristian Sohlberg 26 p; 3rd Ramon Ferreyros 20p; 4th Alessandro Fiorio 16p; 5th Toshihiro Arai 12 p; 6 th Gustavo Trelles 12p etc. 15 drivers have scored so far this season.

FIA WEBSITE: http://www.fia.com

ON EVENT CONTACT: http://www.rallyaustralia.com.au

LOCAL TIME: Western Australia is GMT + 8 hours.

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