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Wales Rally Great Britain
Round 14 of 14
November 6 - 9th 2003

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FIA Press Release - www.fia.com
[WRC] 2003 Wales Rally GB - Final
Sunday, 9 November 2003
Petter Solberg wrote another chapter of history in the FIA World Rally Championship when he scored his fourth win of the season to clinch the 2003 drivers' title - and the first for a driver from Norway. Solberg took control of the rally on the fourth stage and was never seriously challenged over the last two and a half days. The Subaru driver controlled proceedings from the front - backing off a little this morning, but charging back to set another fastest time through the 18th and final stage of the day. Solberg ended the event with a 43.6-second lead over runner-up Sebastien Loeb. Loeb's disappointment at missing out on the drivers' title was tempered slightly by the fact that Citroen won the manufacturers' award in its first full season with the Xsara WRC. When the day started out with foggy conditions in Rheola, Loeb was given the green light to push again and try to put Solberg under pressure. Frequelin's decision was made easier by the fact that Citroen's grasp on the makes' title was stronger when Harri Rovanpera retired and left Freddy Loix as the highest-scoring 206 in sixth place. Loeb was fastest on the first two stages, but failed to make a serious dent in Solberg's lead. Tommi Makinen took an emotional third place in his last WRC drive, edging out Colin McRae in a final-day shoot-out for the final podium spot between two of the sport's biggest names. McRae's efforts weren't helped by a puncture on the last stage.

Despite retiring with engine failure yesterday, Renault driver Brice Tirabassi won the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, defeating Suzuki's Salvador Canellas.

555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: Both Subaru Impreza WRC2003s ran reliably throughout the third and final leg of the event.

Sporting: Petter Solberg's success on this event confirmed him as Norway's first ever World Rally Champion. Solberg throttled back through the first two stages of the day - allowing Sebastien Loeb to close to 32.5 seconds, but he was back on it for the rally's last test, posting fastest time as he put everything into the stage which confirmed his status as the world's best rally driver. Makinen took the final podium position on his last drive in the FIA World Rally Championship and in the process helped ease Subaru clear of Ford, to take third place in the manufacturers' series. It was fitting that the four-times world champion's best result of the season came on the final round - although Rally Great Britain remains one of the few WRC rounds that he has been unable to win.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I just can't believe this. It's amazing, absolutely amazing. I haven't been thinking about the championship, just driving my stages and now we're here and we are the champions. The rally has gone so well for us, it really has - for the whole team this is a fantastic result."

Tommi Makinen said: "I'm so happy for Petter, it's great for him and everyone here. It's nice for me to make the podium on the last rally. I've enjoyed the event today, but it would have been better if the rain had come yesterday and let everybody have some good sunshine on the final leg."

David Lapworth said: "What a fantastic result and an excellent, calculated drive from Petter - he kept his cool all the way through. It's amazing when you think that he only won his first round of the world championship 12 months ago."

Citroen Total
Technical: Both Citroen Xsara WRCs of Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae have run without technical fault through the final leg. Carlos Sainz slid off the road on the third stage of the event on Friday.

Sporting: Sebastien Loeb pushed harder through the first two stages, but when it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to make the sort of inroads required to knock Solberg off the top spot, he knew that second place in the rally and the runners-up spot in the championship beckoned. McRae maintained his fourth place through Sunday's three stages. The Scotsman played the team game to help Citroen lift the manufacturers' title - setting aside his personal goal of beating Makinen to the final podium position. McRae's only problem through the final leg was a puncture on the final stage in Margam Park. McRae and co-driver Derek Ringer elected to stop and change the offending front-right deflation.

Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "It has been a difficult rally for me. I had to try to drive fast for myself but steady enough to stay on the road for the team. It has not been easy, but I'm here, second in the championship and first for the team."

Colin McRae said: "I slowed right down today - it was very important for us to get to the finish and help Citroen win the title - which is a great achievement for the team. The rally has been okay, but once Carlos went out on the first day it was clear that we had to get some points which was always going to make it difficult to attack and try to get past Tommi. There was a rough section with lots of really sharp stones in the earlier part of the last stage; it must have been there that we picked it up."

Ford Motor Company
Technical: Francois Duval was the only remaining official Focus RS WRC03 left after the first-leg departure of both Markko Martin and Mikko Hirvonen.

Sporting: Duval's run through the final leg was without incident and his fifth place finish ensured the team scored points on every rally this season. In fact Ford now has to go back to this rally in 2001 as the last time it failed to score a point on a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Duval once again enjoyed the second run at the Rheola and Margam Park stages on the final day.

Quotes: Francois Duval said: "Getting to the finish of this event was my target for this week. We've done it and I've learned more about one of the toughest rallies in the season. The car was very good for me today, no problems at all."

Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: The sole remaining Peugeot of Freddy Loix ran without any technical trouble today. Harri Rovanpera retired with a transmission problem on the first stage this morning, while Marcus Gronholm damaged his steering beyond repair on SS3.

Sporting: This was a difficult final day for the only team capable of denying Citroen its glory in the manufacturers' championship. Rovanpera's retirement made it all-but impossible for Peugeot to make it for titles on the trot. Loix continued to make good progress with his understanding of what makes the 206 tick. His effort to catch Ford's Francois Duval for fifth place were dealt a serious blow on the opening stage of the day, when he spun the Peugeot, stalling the engine in the process. From then on he drove to make sixth place without any problems.

Quotes: Freddy Loix: "The spin was really annoying. I dropped about 20 seconds, without that the time would have been good and we could have put more pressure on Francois. I wasn't on a big attack after that, there was quite a lot of fog around which made it difficult. I am happy with the progress I have made with the car on this rally. For me it has been lilke a really good test."

Corrado Provera said: "We are disappointed to lose the manufacturers' award, but we cannot keep winning forever. I was hurt last year when people complained about us winning all of the time. All we did last year was our job, this year the rest of the teams have done their job and Citroen has done it better than us. Look at the results, though: we have won four rallies, Citroen has won four and Subaru has won four - in my opinion it would be wrong to say that Citroen has dominated this year."

Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol's Skoda Fabia WRC ran reliably through leg three, while Toni Gardemeister slid off the road and into retirement on the first stage this morning.

Sporting: Auriol finished the event in 11th place following a trouble-free final day in his Fabia. The Frenchman had found the right set-up for his car mid-way through leg two and kept it for the rest of the rally, managing to pull in two manufacturer points for the Czech Republic team at the same time. Gardemeister was behind his team-mate after a torrid two days of Rally Great Britain. The Finn had been hit by a plethora of problems, including engine, suspension and transmission. His event came to an end when he slid off late in the first run through Rheola.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I was happy with the times which we were putting up later in the rally, it was nice to show that we had the pace. What the team needs now is development and time to get the car working like we know that it can. This rally isn't one of my favourites, but I have to say that I enjoyed it."

Toni Gardemeister said: "We went off the road on a right-hand corner. It was really difficult to get it going again, we would have needed maybe 100 spectators to push the car back onto the road. Even if we'd managed that then with the damage to the left-front corner, maybe we wouldn't have been able to carry on. It's a disappointing finish to a pretty disappointing event for us. We had many problems earlier in the rally, but when the car was okay - it was working quite well."

Other entries
While Brice Tirabassi won the FIA Junior World Rally Championship in his Renault Clio, Suzuki won the rally, courtesy of Daniel Carlsson's Ignis. The Swede's job was made slightly easier when his chief rival for the category - Kris Meeke - rolled his Opel Corsa on the penultimate stage. The leading non-official World Rally Car was the Peugeot 206 of Manfred Stohl, who just edged fellow 206 driver Roman Kresta for seventh position.

09/11/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS:   47 crews (33 Group A and 14 Group N) started this morning.

TOP RETIREMENTS: Rovanpera (FIN), Gardemeister (FIN), Kopecky (CZ), Svedlund (S), Aava (EE), Meeke (GB), Cecchettini (I).

  TODAY:
Sunday 9 November
Leg 3 started from Cardiff at 05h20 and covers 363.62km, including 73.86km on three stages.

SS16 RHONDDA 1 (30.61km)
1   Loeb                (F)      Citroen                 16m   25.5
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 16m   30.7
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 16m 35.6

LEADERS AFTER SS16
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              3h 05m 26.1
2   Loeb                (F)      Citroen              3h 06m 02.1
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              3h 07m 56.2

SS17 RHONDDA 2 (30.61km)
1   Loeb                (F)      Citroen                 16m   21.2
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 16m   24.6
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 16m 34.1

LEADERS AFTER SS17
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              3h 21m 50.7
2   Loeb                (F)      Citroen              3h 22m 23.2
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              3h 24m 30.3

SS18 MARGAM PARK 2 (12.64km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   7m   07.4
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                   7m   18.5
3   Duval                (B)     Ford                      7m   22.9

LEADERS AFTER SS18
1   Solberg            (N)     Subaru              3h 28m 58.1
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                        +43.6
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 +2m   58.8
4   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                 +5m   28.1
5   Duval                (B)     Ford                    +7m   16.1
6   Loix                  (B)     Peugeot               +8m   06.5
7   Stohl                (A)     Peugeot               +8m   48.4
8   Kresta             (CZ)    Peugeot               +9m   02.6
9   Pykalisto         (FIN)   Peugeot               +9m   53.6
10 Latvala              (FIN)   Ford                   +12m   25.3

FIA JWRC LEADERS AFTER SS18
1   Carlsson           (S)     Suzuki          3h   57m   29.8
2   Baldacci          (RSM)FIAT                    +1m   34.4
3   Teronen            (FIN)   Suzuki                 +7m   21.8
4   Canellas           (E)     Suzuki               +17m   20.5
5   Broccoli            (RSM)Opel                   +23m   28.4
6   Ceccato            (I)       FIAT                  +26m   56.0

FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT:                          The rally covered 1574.52km, including 376.81km on 18 special stages (including seven run more than once). All stages were on gravel roads closed to other traffic.

STARTERS:                    75 crews (53 Group A and 22 Group N) started the rally

FINISHERS:                    39 crews (25 Group A and 14 Group N) finished the rally

STAGE WINNERS:
Solberg (SS1-4-5-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-18)
Loeb (SS2-3-6-16-17)

RALLY LEADERS:          SS1-Solberg, SS2-SS3 Loeb-SS4-SS18 Solberg

FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 14 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers: Solberg (N) 72, Loeb (F) 71, Sainz (E) 63, Burns (GB) 58, Martin (EE) 49, Gronholm (FIN) 46, C. McRae (GB) 45, Makinen (FIN) 30, Duval (B) 30, Panizzi (F) 27, Rovanpera (FIN) 18, Gardemeister (FIN) 9, Auriol (F) 4, Loix (B) 4,Robert (F) 3, A.McRae (GB) 3, Hirvonen (FIN) 3, Schwarz (D) 3, Tuohino (FIN) 2, Stohl (A) 2,      Ginley (GB) 1, Kresta (CZ)1, Lindholm (FIN) 1, Bugalski (F) 1.

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers: Citroen 160, Peugeot 145, Subaru 109, Ford 95, Skoda 22.

FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 7 of 7 rounds): Tirabassi (F) 38, Canellas (E) 36, Carlsson (S) 33, Baldacci (I) 20, Aava (EE) 20, Teuronen (FIN) 19, Wilks (GB) 18, Broccoli (RSM) 13, Katajamaki (FIN) 10, Ligato (RA) 10, others

FIA Production Car World Championship (after 7 of 7 rounds/how many rounds entered, this event not counting): Rowe (GB) 43/6, Arai (J) 38/6, Blomqvist (S) 30/6, Singh (MAL) 30/6, Sola (E) 22/6, McShea (GB) 18, Ligato (RA) 13/6, others.

NEXT EVENT: 2004 January 23-25:    Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo
Website:                        www.acm.mc
[WRC] 2003 Wales Rally GB - End of leg two
Saturday, 8 November 2003
Norway's Petter Solberg continues to lead the way in this 14th and final round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Subaru driver - who won this rally 12 months ago - also remains in a potentially title-winning position with Citroen's Sebastien Loeb in second place. Soberg's only drama came on the final forest stage of the day when he hit a pothole one kilometre into the second run at Resolfen, damaging the suspension. The only other driver who arrived in Cardiff with a chance of lifting the title was Carlos Sainz and the Spaniard slid off the road on the second stage yesterday morning - setting up a straight fight between Solberg and Loeb. Today has been a relatively straight forward day for most of the top ten, with large gaps appearing between most of the crews, they are finding themselves driving to maintain position - unwilling to risk everything in an all-out effort to make up time to the driver ahead. The one fight which has gripped the large crowds lining the stages north of Cardiff has been between Tommi Makinen and Colin McRae. The four-times world champion Subaru driver continues to edge the Scotsman ahead of the final leg's three stages. In the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, series leader Brice Tirabassi retired his Renault Clio with engine problems, while second-placed man, and the only driver able to deny Tirabassi of the crown, Salvador Canellas is still too far down the order to trouble after suffering gearbox problems aboard his Suzuki.

At the head of the FIA's 1600cc category on the rally, Suzuki driver Daniel Carlsson continues to lead Kris Meeke (Opel) with the pair enjoying a fascinating second-for-second duel through today's eight stages.

555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: Both Subaru Impreza WRC2003s ran reliably through leg two.

Sporting: Petter Solberg led throughout the second leg without any problems. Last year's winner maintained that there was still some pace in reserve if Sebastien Loeb - his chief rival for this year's FIA World Rally Championship drivers' crown - started to attack. Solberg's only minor trouble today was taking a tyre which was too hard for two runs through the Crychan and Halfway stages. Makinen's biggest drama on the second leg came when he almost missed the start of the 12th stage due to being stuck in traffic. He made it with a matter of seconds to go.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I'm happy with the way the day has gone, but the gap is still not big enough between me and Loeb. Anybody who knows rallying, knows that anything can happen on the stages. We should have gone for a tyre a little bit softer this morning, even on the second run at the stages it still wasn't working so well - there was a lot of mud around on the second loop. Usually during the rally and in the stages I am working with the set-up of the car - on things like the transmission - but today I am quite happy; I have just been driving, not making any changes. That was a big fright on the last stage, we were quite lucky after the shock- the car wasn't so happy on right-hand corners."

Tommi Makinen said: "The problem with almost being late for the start of the stage was not so good; okay we made it, but there was no time to get ourselves ready and prepared - we got there and had to go straight away. It's nice to have a good fight with Colin today, but the stages have been so slippery."

Citroen Total
Technical: Colin McRae suffered fading brakes once again on the first two loops of stages this morning. Sebastien Loeb's car ran without mechanical fault throughout leg two. Carlos Sainz retired from the rally on the opening leg when he slid off the road.

Sporting: Loeb remained in second place throughout the day. The Frenchman was slowly dropping time to the leader and was unwilling to risk dropping points in the manufacturers' championship in an all-out pursuit of Petter Solberg. It was a similar story for McRae, he was wary that going off the road while chasing Tommi Makinen's third position would not go down well in the team.

Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "I am still pushing as hard as I can. For the first four stages this morning, the tyres were too hard which wasn't so good, but apart from that everything has been good. I am thinking about Citroen and the manufacturers' award - I have to finish the rally to help the team. Running a little bit further back on the road has been quite difficult - the stages have been slippier than yesterday."

Colin McRae said: "I'm still losing time towards the end of the stages when the brakes are starting to fade a little. Apart from that it's not been a bad day. I am trying to push to get past Tommi, but it's not easy when we've been told that we have to make the finish of the event."

Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: Harri Rovanpera and Freddy Loix have not suffered any mechanical problems on the second leg, while Marcus Gronholm retired the third official car after breaking the steering, when he clipped a log on stage three yesterday morning. The Bozian-run 206 of Gilles Panizzi retired with propshaft failure ahead of the first stage of the day.

Sporting: Rovanpera has grown in confidence with the car throughout Saturday's stages, with his times improving throughout the day. His job was made slightly easier when fellow 206 driver Panizzi, retired on the way to the first run through Crychan this morning. Prior to that, the Frenchman had been within ten seconds of the Finn. Freddy Loix's rally was also improving - until he went the wrong way with the car's set-up for the two stages in Margam, where he said the car was too hard. Loix's increased comfort behind the wheel of the Peugeot became clear as he made his way past the private 206 of Roman Kresta and into eighth place.

Quotes: Harri Rovanpera said: "The car is good, now I am pushing as hard as I can on the stages. It is still a little difficult at times because there is quite a big gap in front and behind of us; that's a little bit boring, it would be nice to be having a big fight with some of the other drivers."

Freddy Loix said: "Throughout the rally we have been making small changes and going in the right direction all of the time - until the two stages where the car was too hard. I'm happy with the way everything's going, but in some ways this is another test for me - I am still learning about what the 206 can do on the gravel stages."

Ford Motor Company
Technical: The Ford Focus RS WRC03 of Francois Duval - the only official Ford left in the rally - ran reliably throughout the second day of the event. Markko Martin retired on route to SS4 yesterday when the head gasket in his car went, while Mikko Hirvonen's 2002 car rolled early on leg one. The factory-backed Focus of Jari-Matti Latvala ran without mechanical fault today.

Sporting: Duval moved up one position, when Panizzi retired from the event. By the end of Saturday, the Belgian was facing a challenge from his countryman Freddy Loix, who was just half a minute behind him ahead of the final day's three stages. Duval's Focus ran well throughout the day, the only problem being a minor brake problem at the end of the final forest stage of the day.

Quotes: Francois Duval said: "The day has been good for me. The transmission trouble has not come back today, everything has been okay until the end of SS14. It's a long stage and I was using the left foot for braking a lot of the time, I think this probably caused the pedal to go a little bit long. Again, I have enjoyed the second run through the stages - I've learned a little bit and made some changes to my notes, which has helped."

Jari-Matti Latvala said: "Our biggest problem was on the final stage in Resolfen; about 13 kilometres into the stage I braked too late and slid straight on. I had to find reverse which took time - okay I didn't stall the car, but I still dropped 20 seconds. I had been braking later and later and later, then this - without this problem the time would have been really good."

Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol's Skoda Fabia WRC ran without major mechanical fault today, while the sister car of Toni Gardemeister suffered further transmission problems into leg two.

Sporting: Auriol found a set-up for the Fabia which he was happy with and stuck to it. His start to the second leg wasn't ideal, however, when he spun in the Crychan stage which opened proceedings this morning. That aside, however, the 1994 champion's day was largely without incident. The same could not be said for his Finnish team-mate. Gardemeister's Fabia lost hydraulic pressure on the way out to the competitive action this morning, meaning he had to tackle four stages without any assistance from the hydraulically-controlled transmission. The team changed the gearbox at the lunchtime service halt - but the afternoon stages weren't much better for Gardemeister, with the wrong level of pressure going to the front differential.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "The spin this morning was frustrating. It would have been okay, but we dropped the front two wheels over a hole and couldn't get the car turned around. We had to wait for some spectators to come and give us a push before we could get going again - this took maybe 30 seconds or so. Other than that, it's been quite okay."

Toni Gardemeister said: "I'm not so interested in this rally now. It hasn't been a good day. This morning it's so hard to drive the car without the diffs, no turn-in, hard to slow it down. It was not nice. Then this afternoon, we came close to rolling on one of the stages. I'm not really enjoying it. The last run through the forest stage was a little bit better but still the transmission wasn't perfect."

Other entries
Suzuki's Daniel Carlsson leads the FIA Junior World Rally Championship into the final day. The Swede's lead over Kris Meeke was extended when the Ulsterman suffered a throttle body problem on his Opel Corsa through the final forest stage of the day. Fiat driver Mirco Baldacci remains third. Top non-official World Rally Car in the event remains Roman Kresta, the Peugeot man holding eighth overall - with fellow 206 privateer Manfred Stohl just one tenth of a second behind.

08/11/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS:   55 crews (41 Group A and 14 Group N) started this morning.

TOP RETIREMENTS:   Panizzi (F), Sola (E), Ginley (GB), Laukkanen (FIN), Katajamaki (FIN), Tirabassi (F)

TODAY:
Saturday 8 November
Leg 2 started from Cardiff at 05h00 and covered 582.62km, including 138.71km on eight stages.

TOMORROW:    Sunday 9 November
Leg 3 starts from Cardiff at 05h20 and covers 363.62km, including 73.86km on three stages. The first car is expected to arrive at the finish in Margam Park at 13h24.

WEATHER FORECAST:            Overnight rain expected to continue into tomorrow morning..

SS7 CARDIFF SUPER SPECIAL 2 (2.45km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   2m   06.4
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                   2m   07.5
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                   2m   08.1
THIS STAGE RUN YESTERDAY NIGHT

SS8 CRYCHAN 1 (13.05km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   7m   10.6
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                   7m   14.6
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                   7m   15.6

LEADERS AFTER SS8
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              1h 39m 47.8
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              1h 39m 59.8
3   Makinen          (FIN)   Subaru              1h 41m 25.4

SS9 HALFWAY 1 (18.53km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 10m   15.7
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                10m   18.4
3   Makinen          (FIN)   Subaru                 10m   20.7

LEADERS AFTER SS9
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              1h 50m 03.5
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              1h 50m 18.2
3   Makinen          (FIN)   Subaru              1h 51m 46.1

SS10 CRYCHAN 2 (13.05km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   8m   15.9
2   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                   8m   16.1
3   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                   8m   18.5

LEADERS AFTER SS10
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              1h 57m 11.5
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              1h 57m 31.8
3   Makinen          (FIN)   Subaru              1h 58m 59.8

SS11 HALFWAY 2 (18.53km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 10m   11.0
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 10m   15.4
3   Makinen          (FIN)   Subaru                 10m   16.3

LEADERS AFTER SS11
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              2h 07m 22.5
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              2h 07m 47.2
3   Makinen          (FIN)   Subaru              2h 09m 16.1

SS12 MARGAM FOREST (17.37km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   9m   57.7
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                   9m   57.8
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                 10m   00.3

LEADERS AFTER SS12
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              2h 17m 20.2
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              2h 17m 45.0
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              2h 19m 18.3

SS13 MARGAM PARK 1 (12.64km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   7m   08.8
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                   7m   14.6
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                   7m   14.9

LEADERS AFTER SS13
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              2h 24m 29.0
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              2h 25m 00.3
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              2h 26m 32.9

SS14 RESOLFEN 2 (43.09km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 22m   21.3
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 22m   30.8
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                 22m   37.3

LEADERS AFTER SS14
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              2h 46m 50.3
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              2h 47m 31.1
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              2h 49m 14.0

SS15 CARDIFF SUPER SPECIAL 3 (2.45km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   2m   05.1
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                   2m   05.5
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                   2m   06.4

LEADERS AFTER SS15
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              2h 48m 55.4
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                        +41.2
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 +2m   25.2
4   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                 +2m   31.4
5   Rovanpera         (FIN)   Peugeot               +4m   33.9
6   Duval                (B)     Ford                    +5m   53.7
7   Loix                  (B)     Peugeot               +6m   29.2
8   Stohl                (A)     Peugeot               +7m   35.8
9   Kresta             (CZ)    Peugeot               +7m   36.5
10 Pykalisto         (FIN)   Peugeot               +8m   03.9

[WRC] 2003 Wales Rally GB Leg 1
Friday, 7 November 2003
After a drama-filled first couple of stages this morning, championship protagonists Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb settled down at the head of the field at the end of today's six stages. The third driver in with a shot at this year's FIA World Rally Championship drivers' crown - Carlos Sainz - retired on the Trawscoed test this morning. The Spaniard slid off the road and was unable to extricate his Xsara WRC, ending his dream of a third world title. Loeb led the event after the super special stage in Cardiff last night and maintained his grip on the rally through the first two forest tests this morning. Fastest times on stages four and five were enough to power Solberg to the front of the pack. Championship aside, there were problems aplenty for the leading crews on this sunny opening leg. Outgoing world champion Marcus Gronholm retired after SS3, having damaged the steering on his 206 when he clipped a log in a fast left-hand corner. Ford's Markko Martin was also hobbled in the third stage, the Estonian made it back to service with a seriously sick engine in his Focus. The problem could not be fixed and another potential winner retired five kilometres out of the service on the way to SS4. Solberg's team-mate Tommi Makinen settled into third place, albeit some distance behind the leaders, but with Colin McRae hard on his heels in fourth place.

555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: Neither Subaru Impreza WRC2003 has suffered any problems today.

Sporting: Petter Solberg ended what was, for him, an undramatic leg in the lead of the rally, having moved ahead of Loeb after the first run at Rheola test. The Subaru driver admitted he was driving with some pace in reserve and not taking too many risks. A front-right puncture five kilometres before the end of the fifth and final forest stage of the day allowed Loeb to pull 2.4s back. Tommi Makinen caught his ailing countryman Marcus Gronholm in the third stage of the day - dropping a few seconds before he made it past the Peugeot. Through fourth and fifth stages, Makinen felt the rear suspension on his Subaru was too soft for the drying stages.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "It's too early in the rally to be pushing to the limit. I'm happy right now, of course. I know that there are some stories that Loeb has been told to make it to the finish for the manufacturers' title - I don't care what anybody says, he's here to win - just like I am. I didn't hit anything to get the puncture in SS6. The tyre just went straight down - at the split before we were leading, it's a shame to drop that time - but this position is good for us."

Tommi Makinen said: "It was quite difficult on the second loop of stages, the car was sliding quite a lot. The third and fourth stages were nice, quite a bit drier than the first two. The suspension setting has been the only trouble we have had today, it's been good. "

Citroen Total
Technical: Sebastien Loeb's Citroen ran without mechanical fault today. Colin McRae's Xsara WRC suffered brake problems on the opening loop of stages this morning, while Carlos Sainz went off the road and into retirement on SS3.

Sporting: Loeb remained in the thick of the battle for the drivers' title. Team director Guy Frequelin had pointed out to the Frenchman that it would be good for Citroen's manufacturer title aspirations if he made it to the finish. Loeb admitted that was playing on his mind - along with too harder compound of Michelin for stages four and five - when he dropped back behind Solberg. Sainz's part in the championship battle did not last long. The Spaniard slid off on a third-gear corner in the third stage, having failed to react to the pace note call from co-driver Marc Marti. Sainz's day had started badly when the onboard camera in his Xsara caused an electrical problem which led them to missing their start time for SS2. Penalties for this were scrubbed as the organisers deemed this to be outside the control of the crew or the team. Colin McRae was struggling with more brake trouble aboard his Xsara WRC. The Scot was hit with two separate problems on the first two loops of stages but recovered to close the gap to third-placed Tommi Makinen to 10.8s after the final forest stage of the day.

Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "I heard Marc tell me it was a third-gear corner, but it simply didn't register with me - I went into the corner still in fifth. We slid off the road and that was the end. The car was not damaged, but it had slid nose first down a steep bank. There was no way we could get back. I'm so disappointed to end a rally which had offered so much in this way."

Sebastien Loeb said: "After the third stage this morning things couldn't have looked better. Guy (Frequelin) did speak to me in service after those two and I think maybe it was in my mind what he had said. There was a combination of this, me feeling more tense, the wrong tyres and two very good times from Petter (Solberg)."

Colin McRae said: "Part of the brake problem was air in the system - just like we had in Australia. It's really not good to have a problem like this is any stages, but especially not in these really quick ones. The last stage was much better - the brake problem was sorted, it was caused by a pads and discs problem combined with a slipping centre differential."

Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: Marcus Gronholm hit a log on the third stage this morning, breaking the steering. He retired on the following liaison section. The other two official cars of Harri Rovanpera and Freddy Loix ran without mechanical problems.

Sporting: Gronholm's disappointing year ended this morning when he retired from fourth place on this final round of the championship. The Finn had cut a corner and clipped a log, damaging the suspension. He made it through the stage - having slipped from 4th to 65th after dropping 14 minutes. Fifty kilometres away from the service park, he was stopped by the police and told his car was not in a safe state to drive on the road. Harri Rovanpera was happy to be back in an official car for the first time in two months, but felt he was getting too much wheelspin from his 206 through the morning. Freddy Loix - standing in for Richard Burns - didn't feel totally comfortable in his Peugeot. The suspension was too stiff for the Belgian, but the required adjustments couldn't me made until the final service of the day. Despite an even longer absence from the gravel-specification Peugeot than Rovanpera, Gilles Panizzi was putting on a fine demonstration in his Bozian-run 206, usurping the points-scoring Peugeots for much of this opening leg until Rovanpera took advantage of a Panizzi spin in Rheola 2 to clinch fifth position and top 206.

Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "I was maybe five centimetres off the right line, then bang we hit the log. It didn't smash the wheel or anything like that, it broke the steering and made driving the car so difficult. When we were out of the stage I thought we could make it back to service without problems. Okay it wasn't great to drive on the road, but we could have made it - the police didn't agree, though."

Harri Rovanpera said: "We made some set-up changes at lunchtime which helped this afternoon. I was going so hard in some of the stages today, but still not matching the times at the front - this is a little bit to do with the championship battle which Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb are in."

Freddy Loix: said: "Today has not been an easy one for me. I am trying to be smooth with the car, but it's hard work. Because of the suspension settings, I'm finding it quite hard to get any grip on turn-in or under braking. Unfortunately the changes we want to make to the suspension is not just a matter of a click-click here or there."

Gilles Panizzi said: "I haven 't driven on gravel since Cyprus, so today it has not been so easy. I don't have total confidence in the car - I am pushing at the maximum, but with the car set-up like it is, it's really hard to get it to do what I want. Okay, it's nice to be top Peugeot, but the times and the overall classification are not the best for the team. Stage six was better I had more confidence with everything, we'd changed some shock absorbers before the stage and it worked better."

Ford Motor Company
Technical: Markko Martin retired on the way to the fourth stage this morning, when his Focus RS WRC03 succumbed to an engine problem. The sister car of Francois Duval hit centre differential trouble on SS5, while Mikko Hirvonen went off the road on the third stage.

Sporting: Martin noticed an engine problem mid-way through the opening test this morning. The oil and water temperatures started to rise and continued to do so throughout the stage, peaking at 157 degrees. They completed the Trawscoed test with no water at all, dropping only five seconds in the stage - and maintained third place, just 12.1 seconds off the lead. Unfortunately the problem couldn't be rectified in service; Martin retired five kilometres out of Felindre. Duval held seventh place having run through stages he didn't know this morning and then suffering from transmission problems later in the day.

Quotes: Markko Martin said: "It is very disappointing to go out so early on this event. We never got a clean stage to look at the times, but I know we could have won here. Now I'm going to go home and take a break from rallying; I'm quite tired after such a busy end to the season."

Francois Duval said: "I'm getting good experience of the roads today, conditions are really tricky - finding where the mud can be slippery, is a hard job. The centre diff problem made the car handle like a rear-wheel-drive car, turning in and braking it was particularly difficult."

Mikko Hirvonen said: "It was my fault. I hit a rock on a straight section just before bend, this ripped off the left rear wheel. We had to go into the next corner sideways because we had no brakes, the car slid off the road and slowly rolled. The spectators got the car onto its wheels again, but with no brakes and not enough wheels we couldn't carry on."

Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol has suffered handling problems on his Fabia, while Toni Gardemeister's car was hit by engine, suspension and transmission problems.

Sporting: Skoda suffered a troubled first day of Rally GB. Gardemeister's car arrived in service following SS3 with no water after the temperature had risen to 130 degrees. Gardemeister dropped 2m10s in penalties as the team fixed the problem. On the final forest stage of the day, the Finn felt the car had broken a front driveshaft on the way out of service. Auriol couldn't find a set-up he was happy with throughout the first day. Through SS6 the Frenchman said it felt like the centre differential had broken. Auriol was 14th overnight, while Gardemeister was 19th after dropping five minutes with the transmission problem.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "This has been a very difficult day. The car wasn't right, but then at the start of SS6 it felt good. It felt good for 21km, then it was finished. It did not work after that. We have some work to do to get it right for tomorrow."

Toni Gardemeister said: "I had so many problems today. The engine thing was bad, but then we had the penalties - I was so angry in the next stage - I was completely over-driving. Then the driveshaft goes and we are in a rear-wheel drive car. Tomorrow must be better, we can't have any more problems."

Other entries
Suzuki driver Daniel Carlsson leads the way in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship standings. The Swede has a narrow lead over Kris Meeke's Opel Corsa. The Ulsterman - who led early on - survived a big sixth-gear moment mid-way through the day. In the race for the championship, Brice Tirabassi remains in pole position. The Renault driver is comfortably ahead of Salvador Canellas who suffered a broken gearbox - and the dropped 40s of road penalties trying to fix the fault in time.

07/11/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS:                             75 crews (53 Group A and 22 Group N) started this morning.

TOP RETIREMENTS:
Gronholm (FIN), Martin (EE), Hirvonen (FIN), Sainz (E), Eriksson (S), Feghali (RL), Wilks (GB)

TODAY:
Friday 7 November
Leg 1 re-started from Cardiff at 05h30 and covered 638.28km, including 164.24km on seven stages.

TOMORROW:
Saturday 8 November
Leg 2 starts from Cardiff at 05h00 and covers 582.62km, including 138.71km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Cardiff at 20h13.

WEATHER FORECAST:            Cloudy in the morning, with rain arriving in the afternoon.

SS1 CARDIFF SUPER SPECIAL 1 (2.45km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                   2m   08.7
2   Martin               (EE)   Ford                      2m   10.1
3   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot                 2m 10.5

SS2 BRECHFA (23.12km)
1   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 13m   19.6
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 13m   24.2
3   Martin               (EE)   Ford                     13m   28.0

LEADERS AFTER SS2
1   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 15m   31.6
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 15m   32.9
3   Martin               (EE)   Ford                     15m   38.1

SS3 TRAWSCOED (27.97km)
1   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 16m   23.4
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 16m   25.9
3   Martin               (EE)   Ford                     16m   29.0

LEADERS AFTER SS3
1   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 31m   55.0
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 31m   58.8
3   Martin               (EE)   Ford                     32m   07.1

SS4 RHEOLA 1 (32.58km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 17m   58.6
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 18m   07.1
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 18m   15.8

LEADERS AFTER SS4
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 49m   57.4
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 50m   02.1
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 50m   55.7

SS5 RESOLFEN 1 (43.09km)
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 22m   40.9
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 22m   44.0
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 23m   02.8

LEADERS AFTER SS5
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              1h 12m 38.3
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              1h 12m 46.1
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              1h 13m 58.5

SS6 RHEOLA 2 (32.58km)
1   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 17m   50.9
2   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 17m   52.5
3   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                 17m   53.2

LEADERS AFTER SS6
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              1h 30m 30.8
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen              1h 30m 37.0
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              1h 32m 01.9

SS7 CARDIFF SUPER SPECIAL 2 (2.45km)
TO BE RUN AT 19H32

LEADERS AFTER SS6
1   Solberg             (N)     Subaru              1h 30m 30.8
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                          +6.2
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 +1m   31.1
4   McRae             (GB)   Citroen                 +1m   41.9
5   Rovanpera         (FIN)   Peugeot               +2m   37.9
6   Panizzi             (F)      Peugeot               +2m   45.5
7   Duval                (B)     Ford                    +3m   33.0
8   Kresta             (CZ)    Peugeot               +3m   59.6
9   Loix                  (B)     Peugeot               +4m   16.9
10 Stohl                (A)     Peugeot               +4m   43.0

[WRC] 2003 Wales Rally GB Preview
Thursday, 6 November 2003
After 13 rallies in ten months, the FIA World Rally Championship arrives at its final destination in Cardiff this week. Four drivers left the penultimate round in Catalunya with a chance of lifting the 2003 drivers' title - but only three will fight it out in the Welsh forests. Peugeot's Richard Burns - who led the standings from round three until round 12 - was ruled out of Wales Rally Great Britain on medical grounds earlier this week. This leaves Citroen men Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz to battle it out with Subaru's Petter Solberg. One point separates the duelling trio, which means whoever finishes first will take the biggest prize on offer to rally drivers. In the manufacturers' standings, Citroen head Peugeot by five points - with the Versailles-based team hoping to end Peugeot's three-year dominance. The third and final title which will be sorted out this week will be the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, which Frenchman Brice Tirabassi leads ahead of the seventh and final round.

The championships aside, there are plenty of other drivers aiming to end the season on a high. Ford's Markko Martin has demonstrated the speed of the Focus RS WRC03 on numerous events this year and will be hoping to repeat his Finland win, while outgoing world champion Marcus Gronholm hasn't taken the top step of the podium since Argentina in April.

Citroen Total (1st - 147 points)
Technical: The three official Xsara WRCs will run in similar specification to the cars used on Rally Australia.

Sporting: Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz have accumulated the same number of points through the season, but Loeb leads the drivers' standings courtesy of his three wins to the Spaniard's one. Both drivers tested in mid-Wales last weekend, although the Frenchman was only driving for two hours, having completed the main part of his set-up work prior to the Tour of Corsica last month. Sainz's running time was spread over two days after the Xsara WRC suffered a mechanical fault. Sainz is a previous winner of this rally, but this is only the fourth time Loeb has tackled the rally. This year's Rally Great Britain will be Colin McRae's final outing in the Xsara, as the 1995 world champion's contract is up following the final round of the championship. McRae's early record on this event is formidable, but he has struggled to find that winning form in recent years.

Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "I've been in this position plenty of times before - I'm just going to try and enjoy the rally. Obviously I will be going flat out to do what I can on the rally. My test when quite well - it was good to get some time on Michelin tyres on this kind of road."

Sebastien Loeb said: "The recce for the rally went well. This is the fourth time I have done this rally, so for me the experience is not going to be a problem. The recce was good, but a lot depends on the weather - it probably will rain at some point during the event, when it does it's really hard to judge the level of grip. You can be in the middle of a corner, find a patch of mud and then the car starts sliding."

Colin McRae said: "It's good to be back home for the last rally in the championship. Obviously I want to put on a good showing in front of my fans in what's going to be my last round for a while. It's important for me to get to the finish of this event so that I can help Citroen for the manufacturers' award."

Marlboro Peugeot Total (2nd - 142 points)
Technical: Peugeot will field three official 206 WRCs for Marcus Gronholm, Harri Rovanpera and Freddy Loix. Gilles Panizzi will drive a factory-specification car run by Bozian Racing. The cars are in the same specification as they ran on the last gravel rally.

Sporting: Richard Burns was forced to withdraw from the event last Sunday on medical advice. The Briton fainted at the wheel of his car on the way to South Wales and was taken to hospital by Ambulance. He spent Sunday night in a Newport hospital before being transferred to a private clinic in Cardiff the following day to undergo further neurological tests. Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera both tested in Tyle forest last week, both running the 206 in similar set-up as on last year's Rally Great Britain. Gronholm arrives in Britain after a troubled rally in Catalunya. The Finn led Rally Australia - the championship's last gravel event - before sliding off the road on the second day. Rovanpera hasn't driven competitively in the WRC since Australia, where he finished seventh. Since the Perth event, however, the Finn has won the Costa Smeralda Rally in a privately-run 206. Loix drove the 206 in gravel trim for the first time yesterday afternoon in a private test. This will be his first outing for the French team and his first WRC drive since Australia - which was his final rally for Hyundai.

Quotes: Corrado Provera said: "This is a terrible way for Richard and Robert to end their year. They have worked hard all year and led the championship for most of it. I feel so sorry for them - the main thing now is for Richard to get better."

Marcus Gronholm said: "This is a rally I enjoy because the stages are fast ands always really challenging. With the drivers' championship gone, it's important to score a good result for the manufacturers' award. I want to win this rally again."

Harri Rovanpera said: "It seems like a long time since I was in the world championship, having missed the last three asphalt rounds. The test went well for me - it's good to be back behind the wheel."

Freddy Loix said: "Of course I am happy top be driving again, but at the same time this is not the way I wanted it to happen. Richard had a really important job to do for Peugeot this weekend, I'm sorry he wasn't able to do it. My test went well - the main thing I wanted was to have a safe car to drive on the rally, with the set-up working well."

555 Subaru World Rally Team (3rd - 93 points)
Technical: The emphasis is on reliability for the Subaru team on this event. To that end, the team has elected not to run the anti-roll system which it used for the first time in Sanremo last month.

Sporting: Petter Solberg won last year's Rally Great Britain - a similar result this time around would be good enough to secure him the championship. The Norwegian completed 350km of testing last Friday and Saturday. Last year's winner experimented with a variety of transmission and suspension set-ups and declared himself happy with the car after 12 hours of driving on the second of his two days. Solberg's last win on the championship in Corsica remains one of the talking points of the year, but the fifth place he achieved in Catalunya a week later kept him right in the hunt for the championship. This event will mark the end of Tommi Makinen's illustrious career in the WRC. The Finn - who has four world titles - has never won Rally Great Britain, and victory here would provide the perfect end to his time at the top of the sport.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "This is such an exciting time in the championship. I know what I've got to do and - though it won't be easy - I'm going to be trying like hell to win this rally. I will drive absolutely flat out. Sebastien might not have done the rally so many times, but he's got the pace and Carlos has been around for a long time, he has huge experience of these situations."

Tommi Makinen said: "This will be quite a strange rally for me. I have so many different feelings about things right now, it's hard to put it into words. I hope I have a good event, I've done it here lots of times before - I'll be attacking from the start and doing everything I can to help Petter."

Ford Motor Company (4th - 89 points)
Technical: As usual Ford is fielding a Focus RS WRC03 apiece for Markko Martin and Francois Duval, while Mikko Hirvonen will use a 2002 specification Focus for the event.

Sporting: Ford re-arranged its pre-rally test to allow Markko Martin more time to have physiotherapy on his neck - which he injured when he crashed on the final day of Corsica last month. Martin has not totally recovered and will retain the extra padding which was fitted to his seat belts for the last rally in Spain. Duval has yet to finish a Rally Great Britain, having started twice and failed to make it through three days on each occasion. Over the last three asphalt rallies, the Belgian has shown he has the pace to run right at the sharp end, he will be keen to continue that into this final rally of the year. After two rallies which he hadn't driven on before, Mikko Hirvonen is glad to be back on familiar territory - having competed on Rally Great Britain last season, albeit without making it to the finish. Ford will be extra keen to get one of the three official cars into the points on this event to maintain its astonishing reliability record - the team has scored points on every one of the proceeding 13 rallies.

Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I really like the fast and flowing roads on this event. I came close to winning last year, and that's what I want this time around. The best anybody else can hope for is eight points - I want ten. The only thing I don't like about Britain is the fog - I have never really driven in it anywhere else. The fog can make it really hard work, especially when the stages are so quick. "

Francois Duval said: "The last few rallies have gone well for me, now I need to carry that on here. The most important thing for me is to make the finish of the event - I need experience of this rally. While I haven't done all of the stages, from what I've seen the roads are very fast and enjoyable to drive."

Mikko Hirvonen said: "This has been an incredible year for me - my first full one in the championship. I've been here before, so I know a little bit about what to expect. I want to drive flat out and see what happens."

Skoda Motorsport (5th - 21 points)
Technical: The Skoda Fabias of Didier Auriol and Toni Gardemeister will run in similar specification to the previous gravel rallies in the championship.

Sporting: After a difficult time on the asphalt rallies, Gardemeister is looking forward to getting back onto the loose surface stages. The Finn's last outing on gravel - in Australia - was a memorable one: he won the Inmarsat Star of the Rally for driving the event with a broken bone in his wrist. Didier Auriol is not a big fan of this rally - his best result is the fifth place he took in 1990.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "This rally can be a really difficult one for me. If the conditions are good, then everything is fine, but when it gets foggy and the rain comes then it can be such a tough rally - not one of my favourites. The car ran well in shakedown and our recce has been good, now we have to wait and see."

Toni Gardemeister said: "The roads this year are quite hard. I don't think there has been much rain recently, so the stages are going to be really fast. There's a layer of stones on the top of the road as well - it's not like Australia or New Zealand, but it could make the roads quite difficult."

Other entries
Frenchman Brice Tirabassi leads the FIA Junior World Rally Championship by seven points from Spain's Salvador Canellas. The Renault driver remains the favourite for the title and only his Suzuki rival can deny him the chance to follow in the footsteps of Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Sola. Last year's JWRC champion, Sola, is present on this event - driving a privately-entered Citroen Xsara WRC.

06/11/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: Wales Rally Great Britain is the 14th of 14 events in the FIA World Rally Championship.

ENTRIES: 85 (61 Group A, 24 Group N)

DRIVERS: Argentina 1, Austria 2, Belgium 3, Bulgaria 2, Czech Republic 3, Estonia 2, France 5, Finland 11, Germany 2, Great Britain 27, Ireland 3, Italy 2, Japan 1, Lebanon 1, Netherlands 6, Norway 1, Poland 1, Republic of San Marino 2, Slovakia 1, Spain 4, Sweden 5.

MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru (Hyundai)

CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 4, Fiat 5, Ford 12, Hyundai 2, MG 2, Mitsubishi 17, Opel 2, Peugeot 10, Renault 4, Rover 1, Skoda 2, Subaru 14, Suzuki 4, Toyota 2, Volkswagen 3.

TIMETABLE:
Thursday 6 November
Leg 1 starts from Cardiff at 19h00 and includes one run at the 2.45km Cardiff Super Special stage.

Friday 7 November
Leg 1 re-starts from Cardiff at 05h30 and covers 638.28km, including 164.24km on seven stages. The first car is due to arrive back in Cardiff at 20h05.

Saturday 8 November
Leg 2 starts from Cardiff at 05h00 and covers 582.62km, including 138.71km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Cardiff at 20h13.

Sunday 9 November
Leg 3 starts from Cardiff at 05h20 and covers 363.62km, including 73.86km on three stages. The first car is expected to arrive at the finish in Margam Park at 13h24. There is a ceremonial finish at approximately 15h30 outside the National Museum in Cardiff.

Total
The rally covers 1574.52km, including 376.81km on 18 special stages (including seven run twice). All stages are on gravel roads closed to other traffic.

TOMORROW: Friday 24 October
Leg 1 re-starts from Cardiff at 05h30 and covers 638.28km, including 164.24km on seven stages. The first car is due to arrive back in Cardiff at 20h05.

WEATHER FORECAST: Overnight rain, possibly continuing through the morning. Temperatures expected around 10 degrees.

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