2002 FIA World Rally Championship
The Uddeholm Swedish Rally
www.swerally.se/
Round 2 of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship
1 - 3 February 2001
Extract from Official FIA Press Release
www.fia.com
UNOFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS
OUTRIGHT
1 Gronholm Peugeot 206 WRC 3:07:28,6
2 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 3:08:53,1
3 Sainz Ford Focus WRC 3:09:54,4
4 Burns Peugeot 206 WRC 3:10:02,5
5 A.McRae Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 3:11:43,3
6 C.McRae Ford Focus WRC 3:11:43,6
7 Tuohino Ford Focus WRC 3:11:52,0
8 Kankkunen Hyundai Accent WRC 3:12:05,5
9 Lindholm Peugeot 206 WRC 3:12:25,2
10 Duval Ford Focus WRC 3:14:01,9
GROUP N
1 Carlsson Mitsubishi Lancer 3:22:23,6
2 Kangas Mitsubishi Lancer 3:22:32,8
3 Backlund Mitsubishi Lancer 3:24:11,5
4 Sohlberg Mitsubishi Lancer 3:25:25,9
5 Arai Subaru Impreza WRC 3:25:52,0
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers
Gronholm (FIN) 12
Makinen (FIN) 10
Sainz (E) 8
Loeb (F) 6
Rovanpera (FIN) 6
C.McRae (GB) 4
Burns (GB) 3
A.McRae (GB) 2
Solberg (N) 1
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Peugeot 20
Ford 16
Subaru 12
Mitsubishi 3
Hyundai 1
Skoda 0
FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 1 of 6 rounds):
Duval (B) 10
Caldani (I) 6
Feghali (RL) 4
Carlsson (S) 3
Doppelreiter (A) 2
Schelle (D) 1
FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Cars (after 1 of 8 rounds):
Sohlberg (FIN) 10
Arai (J) 6
Ipatti (FIN) 4
Fiorio (I) 3
Girdauskas (N) 2
Rowe (GB) 1
STAGE WINNERS
Gronholm 1,7,8,9,10,11 Rovanpera 2,3 C.McRae 5,6,15 Radstrom 4 Burns 12,14,16
LEADING RETIREMENTS
SS16 Eriksson Skoda Octavia WRC Engine failure
SS14 Loix Hyundai Accent WRC Suspension failure
SS14 Schwarz Hyundai Accent WRC Transmission
SS6 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC Engine failure
SS4 Makinen Subaru Impreza WRC Overheating after off road
Sunday, 3rd February 2002
Finnish driver Marcus Grönholm has scored a dominant win on the second round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship, the Swedish Rally. The 2000 world champion was rarely troubled after he built up a substantial lead yesterday, and he and navigator Timo Rautiainen were able to relax in today's closing few stages to move to the top of the championship standings. Their team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietilainen also consolidated their second position, allowing Peugeot to celebrate a maximum score in the Manufacturers' championship.
Carlos Sainz held off Richard Burns in third though, preventing the French manufacturer from scoring a whitewash of the podium placings. The Swedish roads continued to thaw in the unseasonably warm climate today, making conditions extremely difficult with patches of gravel poking through the softening ice. Organisers were forced to cancel the day's second stage due to poor road conditions, and many drivers were concerned about how effectively their tyres would retain their studs on the gravel sections. Other mechanical problems arose for some crews, including Hyundai drivers Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz. The German retired on a road section with transmission trouble, while Loix's brave drive with a broken left foot came to an end when his suspension failed in the day's second stage.
PEUGEOT
Technical: The three 206 WRCs of Marcus Grönholm Harri Rovanperä and Richard Burns ran without problems today.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm consolidated his strong overnight advantage today, extending his lead over Harri Rovanperä to more than a minute to score his first victory of the 2002 season. Rovanperä in turn was able to ease off in the closing stages as he finished a comfortable second. The third 206 WRC of Richard Burns started today's tests in fifth but the reigning world champion swiftly passed Freddy Loix and began to close in on third-placed Carlos Sainz. The pair entered the final stage separated by just 12.5 seconds but Sainz held on to deny Peugeot a one-two-three. The event did, however, mark Burns's first fastest times and first points for his new team.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: "I'm delighted. We had a plan for this event and that was to really attack yesterday, to try and build up a lead that would allow us to relax a little today. And it's worked absolutely to that plan. I have a really good feeling with the 206 on gravel now and clearly our performance is very strong, so I'm looking forward to the next events."
Harri Rovanperä said: "I'd have liked to have really fought for the victory but we weren't so strong yesterday and Marcus pushed very hard at the right time. It's still a good result for Peugeot, though, because we've taken maximum points."
Richard Burns said: "We pushed harder than before in the last stage today, without taking massive risks, but ultimately we started today just a bit too far behind Carlos to make the attack possible. And when the second stage today was cancelled, it made things even harder. But I'm reasonably happy - it's good to get some points on the board and I feel much more comfortable and confident with the 206 than I did three days ago."
Peugeot Sport team director Corrado Provera said: "It doesn't get much better than this. We've taken our third Swedish Rally win in a row, we're already leading the manufacturers' championship and Marcus is in front in the drivers' championship. I'm absolutely delighted."
FORD
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae have run without major problems today, although Sainz was concerned by the amount of stud loss from his tyres in the gravely penultimate stage.
Sporting: Carlos Sainz started today's stages too far behind Harri Rovanperä to challenge for second, but still within striking distance of Richard Burns and Freddy Loix in third. Loix's challenge faded quickly but in the closing stages, Sainz had to dig deep to fend off a determined charge from Burns. The Spaniard looked to have done enough in SS14 but on the following stage, many of the studs in his front tyres were ripped out by the gravel patches in the roads and he dropped 12 seconds to his rival. The pair went into the last stage separated by just 12.5 seconds but although Burns was faster, Sainz did enough to hold onto the final podium placing by just over eight seconds. Colin McRae, meanwhile, honed in on a points placing today and he went into the last test determined to overhaul brother Alister for sixth. But instead, the 1995 world champion had a high-speed spin into a ditch and lost around 20s - as a result, he finished 0.3 seconds behind his younger brother. But then fifth-placed Ford privateer Janne Tuohino checked out of final service one minute late to drop behind both McRaes and allow Colin a single point.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "The last three stages weren't very nice for drivers, especially looking at the studs situation. I was really panicking a bit in the penultimate stage. In the last stage we had some split times and when we saw them we realised that we were five seconds ahead of Richard, so I took it a bit easier to make sure our studs lasted to the end. I also had a broken mousse insert in that stage so I'm pleased to get another podium finish."
Colin McRae said: "The spin was pretty spectacular - it was as big a moment as I'd like to have. It was in a fast muddy section and we got kicked out of the ruts, went into the ditch and then went around. The data logger showed we'd stopped for about 18 seconds. Obviously I'm disappointed not to get past Alister but at least we've taken a point from here - when we had the wheel problem yesterday even that didn't look possible."
MITSUBISHI
Technical: The Lancer WRCs of Alister McRae, Jani Paasonen and François Delecour encountered no significant mechanical problems today.
Sporting: Alister McRae battled with Janne Tuohino for much of today, and although the Scot lost out to the young Finn, he then benefited from Tuohino's decision to help Ford works driver Colin McRae by dropping road penalties. As a result Alister McRae (who'd held off brother Colin by 0.3 seconds on the final stage) finished fifth, scoring two points. Team-mates Jani Paasonen and François Delecour continued to experiment with set-ups and eventually finished 14th and 34th respectively.
Quotes: Alister McRae said: "It's good to hold off Colin and get some points, my first for Mitsubishi. I knew it'd be a big fight in the final stage with Colin but I just tried to be committed and stay in the middle of the road. It worked, although it sounds like he had a fairly big moment! We've learnt a lot about the Lancer here in these conditions and I'm looking forward to Corsica. Granted, we weren't really competitive the last time out on asphalt but I know we've a lot of new things to try before then."
HYUNDAI
Technical: Freddy Loix's Accent had run faultlessly throughout the event but it finally hit trouble in SS14. The Belgian's car broke its front suspension seven kilometres into the stage and he was forced to retire. Team-mate Armin Schwarz was another casualty of this morning's stages - the German forgot to switch on his Accent's active differentials for the opening stage but after the team changed the front differential at the following service, he felt the car lose drive on a road section and was forced to stop. Juha Kankkunen's car has run without significant mechanical problems, however.
Sporting: Freddy Loix probably knew this morning that holding off Richard Burns would be a difficult task and so it proved - the Englishman needed just the opening stage to brush past the Belgian. But Loix still looked likely to finish in fifth place until SS14, when broken front suspension brought his event to a premature end. It was a cruel morning for Hyundai - the team elected to change Armin Schwarz's front differential as a 'nothing-to-lose' attempt to solve the transmission glitches that plagued him yesterday. But on the road section after service the German felt his car lose drive and he retired. Juha Kankkunen thus ended up shouldering the team's hopes over the final few stages and the four-times world champion finished in eighth overall to score a manufacturers' point.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: "I'm disappointed not to finish but we had a fantastic rally and I didn't make any mistakes. Competing here has been very good for my head, because it can be difficult after an accident to decide when you should come back and now I already know that the speed is still there."
SKODA
Technical: The Octavia WRC of Stig Blomqvist has run without major problems today. Kenneth Eriksson's Octavia arrived at service after SS15 with severe overheating, forcing the Swede to fill the car's radiator with water sourced from a puddle. But he reached his mechanics and they soon changed the radiator, allowing him to continue. The overheating returned during the final stage, though, and the Swedish veteran was forced to retire.
Sporting: Despite the frenetic battle at the verge of the points positions, Kenneth Eriksson appeared to have done enough to finish fifth for Skoda on his home event. But prior to the last stage his Octavia started overheating and although the team changed much of the cooling system, the problem returned in the final, long test. Eriksson tried gamely to reach the finish but he was forced to stop seven kilometres from the end of the stage. Former world champion Stig Blomqvist, meanwhile, brought his Octavia home in 15th after a steady drive.
Quotes: Kenneth Eriksson said: "The engine temperature just kept rising and we tried to keep going, but once it was over 140 degrees we lost compression and the engine just stopped. I'm really disappointed because the split times for that stage were still strong and we were right on course for a good result. But I hope I've proved on this rally that the Octavia WRC is a competitive car on the loose-surface events."
CITROEN
Technical: The Xsara WRCs of Thomas Radstrom and Sebastien Loeb have both enjoyed a trouble-free final day.
Sporting: Neither Thomas Radstrom or Sebastien Loeb had much to gain but pride today after a number of excursions into snow banks had dropped them outside the top ten on the opening day. But they continued to push, regularly posting times in the top ten throughout the closing stages. Loeb eventually finished 17th, while Radstrom brought his car home in 37th.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "I came here to learn but I've been quite pleased by the way I've driven. It hasn't been easy for me all rally because I've always been running somewhere near the front of the field and we've quite often had to sweep clear the snow and loose ice for the guys running further back. But I needed experience of the conditions and I've got that now."
OTHER ENTRIES
Janne Tuohino was the top private World Rally Car driver on the event and he finished fifth on the timesheets, but he then took a ten-second penalty to enable Colin McRae to score a drivers' point instead.
There was a thrilling conclusion to the battle for honours in the Group N category for more standard vehicles. Young Swede Daniel Carlsson and Finn Juha Kangas went into the final stage separated by just a second - but Carlsson came out ten seconds to the good to claim a home victory.
In the FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Vehicles, Kristian Sohlberg led from the second stage to the finish, with Japanese driver Toshihiro Arai second and former British champion Marko Ipatti claiming the final podium place.
END OF LEG 2
OUTRIGHT
1 Gronholm Peugeot 206 WRC 2:12:16,0
2 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 2:13:06,1
3 Sainz Ford Focus WRC 2:14:37,5
4 Loix Hyundai Accent WRC 2:15:08,2
5 Burns Peugeot 206 WRC 2:15:08,7
6 Eriksson Skoda Octavia WRC 2:15:14,0
7 Tuohino Ford Focus WRC 2:15:34,4
8 A.McRae Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 2:15:35,6
9 Kankkunen Hyundai Accent WRC 2:15:53,3
10 Lindholm Peugeot 206 WRC 2:16:03,7
GROUP N
1 Kangas Mitsubishi Lancer 2:23:12,2
2 Carlsson Mitsubishi Lancer 2:23:16,3
3 Backlund Mitsubishi Lancer 2:24:30,5
4 Sohlberg Mitsubishi Lancer 2:24:54,5
5 Svedlund Mitsubishi Lancer 2:25:26,5
STAGE WINNERS
SS6 - McRae, SS7 - Gronholm, SS8 - Gronholm, SS9 - Gronholm, SS10 - Gronholm, SS11 - Gronholm
LEADING RETIREMENTS
SS6 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC Engine failure
SS4 Makinen Subaru Impreza WRC Overheating after off road
Saturday, 2nd February 2002
Peugeot driver Marcus Grönholm has tightened his grip on the second round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship, the Swedish Rally, which continued today. The 2000 world champion set fastest times on all but one of today's six stages to ease clear of team-mate Harri Rovanpera. The two Finnish drivers have established a strong Peugeot one-two formation at the head of the field, with Rovanpera's nearest rival - third-placed Carlos Sainz - over a minute and a half behind.
The weather in the forests north of host town Karlstad has been considerably warmer in the last 36 hours, and the resulting thaw has left deep ice ruts on some of the roads and allowed gravel patches to poke through on others. The unpredictable conditions have caught out several drivers - including points contenders Colin McRae and Jani Paasonen - and allowed less fancied runners to capitalise. Fast times from Kenneth Eriksson and Freddy Loix have kept Skoda and Hyundai in points positions for much of the day.
PEUGEOT
Technical: The 206 WRCs of Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanpera have run reliably today, although Rovanpera has expressed concern at his car bottoming out over the ruts and bumps in later stages. Richard Burns's day has been basically troublefree too, although the Englishman's screen smeared right in his line of vision during SS8.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm knew he'd have to attack today to stifle the challenge from team-mate Harri Rovanpera and the 2000 world champion achieved his goal in a dominant fashion. He posted second fastest time on the day's opening stage and was unbeaten thereafter as he built his advantage up from 0.9 seconds last night to more than fifty seconds this evening. Rovanpera has already effectively settled for a second place that would give Peugeot a maximum score in the Manufacturers' series - last year's Swedish Rally winner has more than a minute and a half in hand over Carlos Sainz. The third 206 WRC of Richard Burns has also charged today - despite a spin in SS7 the reigning world champion moved from an overnight 13th place to fifth by the end of today's last stage. He'll start tomorrow's final leg half a second behind fourth-placed Freddy Loix and just over half a minute behind third-placed Carlos Sainz.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: "I feel confident. The conditions today have been much better for me and I've been able to attack. Unless we have a technical problem then I'm sure we'll be able to hold position and get a one-two for Peugeot. I've been pleased by my speed but I showed in Australia and Great Britain last year that I had this speed."
Harri Rovanpera said: "The fight is over. I don't think there's a chance to take 50 seconds from Marcus tomorrow and we have a good lead over Carlos (Sainz) so we can take good points for Peugeot. Of course I'm disappointed that we've lost the battle with Marcus but he's been doing really good times today and it hasn't been quite as good for us. We still have to concentrate anyway - there are still 130km of stages left."
FORD
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz have been reliable today.
Sporting: Colin McRae started today well, setting fastest time on the opening (long) stage and even kick-starting the suggestion that he might be able to hunt down the two leading Peugeots. But then in SS7 he clipped a large rock on the inside of a corner and shattered his left-rear wheel. McRae and navigator Nicky Grist had to stop to change the wheel and they lost nearly three minutes, dropping to 14th overall. Although they recovered to 11th by the end of the day, they remain nearly a minute and a half off the points positions. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, has posted consistent top six times to move clear of Juha Kankkunen, Freddy Loix, Jani Paasonen and McRae. The Spaniard arrived back at this evening's final service in third overall.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "Conditions today have not been so nice - it has been quite icy in places but then sometimes you get gravel coming through. It's good that we've moved up the order but we can't really relax just yet."
Colin McRae said: "The car was exiting a corner and it drifted a little but we were still on the road. Then we just heard a big bang and the wheel had shattered. We drove for about another kilometre before we could find a place to stop and change the wheel. I'm very disappointed. All we can do now is try as hard as possible, because we've got nothing to lose."
HYUNDAI
Technical: The two Accent WRC2s of Juha Kankkunen and Armin Schwarz both hit transmission glitches this morning - they suffered a loss of hydraulic pressure that made the differentials malfunction. Freddy Loix's car has been reliable, however.
Sporting: Freddy Loix has continued to challenge for a points finish in Sweden, despite feeling that the warmer weather conditions demanded an aggressive driving style that was hard given his foot injury. The Belgian moved past Jani Paasonen on today's opening stage and held fourth as the crews returned to Karlstad. His team-mates Juha Kankkunen and Armin Schwarz both hit transmission problems this morning - Kankkunen dropped to ninth as a result, while Schwarz was unable to mount a recovery after his time-consuming accident yesterday.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: "I'm really enjoying myself - the car feels more like my style of car because you can steer it a bit on the throttle. The only thing that's worrying me slightly is that on the ruts, we need a bit more rebound in the suspension but if we make the car stiffer then we don't really know what'll happen in the slippery sections."
Juha Kankkunen said: "The car was hard to drive this morning without the hydraulics and even though the team tried to fix it I think there's still some air in the system - the diffs don't perform consistently throughout the stage. The roads aren't that nice here at the moment anyway - there's a lot of ruts and a fair amount of gravel."
SKODA
Technical: Kenneth Eriksson, Toni Gardemeister and Stig Blomqvist have encountered no significant mechanical problems with their Octavia WRCs today.
Sporting: Kenneth Eriksson has enjoyed improved fortunes today - after changing the centre differential settings on his Octavia, the Swedish veteran has moved up the leaderboard. His best performance came in SS8, where only rally leader Marcus Gronholm managed to beat his time. As a result, Eriksson had moved into the top six by early afternoon and as the crews returned to Karlstad this evening, he held sixth overall. Team-mate Toni Gardemeister struggled to gain confidence in his car today and he rolled out of the event in SS11. Former world champion Stig Blomqvist occupies 17th, despite running second on the road today.
Quotes: Kenneth Eriksson said: "The stage time was a little bit surprising but I pushed hard on that stage - I even went off slightly at one point. The change of settings on the centre diff has made the car more stable in the long corners and more predictable. I'm enjoying myself now but I'm not really thinking about positions. I'm taking it one stage at a time."
MITSUBISHI
Technical: The Lancer WRCs of Alister McRae, Jani Paasonen and Francois Delecour have been reliable today.
Sporting: Jani Paasonen's charge towards a points finish faltered today - the Finn started SS6 in fourth but spun and dropped to sixth, and then in SS7 he clipped a rock and broke a wheel. The resulting time loss dropped him to 18th overall, with little chance of even a point. Team-mate Alister McRae benefited from Paasonen's misfortune, and the problems encountered by his own brother Colin. After moving past Sebastian Lindholm and Juha Kankkunen this morning, the Scot arrived back at final service this evening in eighth overall. Francois Delecour, meanwhile, continues to experiment with set-ups on his Lancer but the Frenchman still lies outside the top 20 after his lengthy spell in a snow bank yesterday.
Quotes: Jani Paasonen said: "I did a spin at a junction on this morning's first stage. I pulled the handbrake but I forgot to use the clutch and the car just spun and stalled. Then in SS7 there was a rock on the inside of a corner and it broke the wheel. We had about half of the stage still to go so I stopped, 'phoned the team and checked if it was okay to continue. We got to the end of the stage and changed the wheel, but we'd lost a lot of time. I'm disappointed, because I really wanted to get into the points."
Alister McRae said: "I'm pushing hard and I've got good confidence in the car now. We've changed a few settings and it's certainly better in the twisty stuff than it was at the start - although there's still some work to do. I'm thinking about softening the suspension a little because the ruts and bumps are getting worse."
CITROEN
Technical: Thomas Radstrom picked up road penalties at first service this morning, because the Citroen mechanics had to change his Xsara's turbo and that wasn't possible within the allotted ten minutes. His and Sebastien Loeb's cars have run reliably thereafter, though. Loeb's Xsara has been handling to its drivers satisfaction after a complete transmission change yesterday evening.
Sporting: Thomas Radstrom started today with little to gain but scratch times, but the Swede ended up losing even more seconds instead. In SS7 he clipped the same rock that claimed Colin McRae and Jani Paasonen, breaking both a wheel and a brake disc. The resulting damage meant that he had no rear brakes for SS8. Sebastien Loeb also clipped the rock but the young Frenchman survived to set third fastest time on the stage. Despite losing more time when he scooped snow into the front of the car in SS9, he has moved into the top 20 today.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "I went a bit too quickly into a right hand corner in SS9 and then we went wide for the next left-hander. We clipped the snow bank and got snow into the front so we had to stop and clear it out to prevent overheating."
SUBARU
Technical: Petter Solberg was forced to retire the sole remaining Impreza on this morning's first stage when the car's engine lapsed onto two cylinders and it lost oil pressure.
Sporting: Petter Solberg's hopes of charging and catching third-placed Colin McRae evaporated before half of this morning's opening stage had been completed. The young Norwegian got 18km into SS6 before his Impreza lapsed onto two cylinders and then the oil warning light began to flash.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "Today we were going to start to push, because the road conditions were similar for all of us. Unfortunately 18km into the first stage the car went onto two cylinders, then the oil warning light came on and then it just stopped. There was no point in continuing because we checked and there was no oil in the car. It wasn't the situation as Tommi (Mäkinen) yesterday - I didn't hit a snow bank and in fact, the engine problem was on a long straight."
OTHER ENTRIES
Private World Rally Car crews have slipped down the order during today's stages. Janne Tuohino lost time in SS7 and SS8 and dropped to seventh by the end of the day, while Sebastian Lindholm has fought hard to keep his 206 WRC in the top ten, despite pressure from Toni Gardemeister and Juuso Pykalisto.
Stig-Olov Walfrdsson lost the lead of the Group N category in SS8 thanks to electrical problems. His glitches should have allowed Kenneth Backlund to assume control but the Swede suffered a puncture, so Juha Kangas now leads the class from Daniel Carlsson. None of the leading cars have registered for the FIA World Championship for Drivers of Production Cars, though - Kristian Sohlberg remains on course to claim maximum championship points, ahead of Toshihro Arai and Marko Ipatti.
END OF LEG 1
OUTRIGHT
1 Gronholm Peugeot 206 WRC 1:06:11,9
2 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 1:06:12,8
3 McRae Ford Focus WRC 1:06:53,4
4 Paasonen Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 1:07:05,5
5 Loix Hyundai Accent WRC 1:07:13,4
6 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC 1:07:14,6
7 Kankkunen Hyundai Accent WRC 1:07:21,0
8 Sainz Ford Focus WRC 1:07:21,1
9 Tuohino Ford Focus WRC 1:07:28,2
10 Lindholm Peugeot 206 WRC 1:07:32,4
GROUP N
1 Walfridson Mitsubishi Lancer 1:10:17,4
2 Carlsson Mitsubishi Lancer 1:10:42,3
3 Kangas Mitsubishi Lancer 1:10:46,0
4 Backlund Mitsubishi Lancer 1:10:59,4
5 Sohlberg Mitsubishi Lancer 1:11:34,2
STAGE WINNERS
SS1 - Gronholm, SS2 - Rovanpera, SS3 - Rovanpera, SS4 - Radstrom, SS5 - McRae
LEADING RETIREMENTS
SS4 Makinen Subaru Impreza WRC Overheating after off road
Friday, 1st February 2002
Finnish drivers Harri Rovanperä and Marcus Grönholm have become embroiled in a battle for the lead on the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Swedish Rally, which started from Karlstad this morning. Their two Peugeot 206 WRCs ended the last of today's five stages separated by just 0.9 seconds (in Grönholm favour), with their nearest rival - third-placed Colin McRae - more than half a minute behind.
Fresh snowfalls made conditions extremely slippery on the Swedish roads today, particularly for the first few crews on the stages since they often swept the loose snow clear for the crews running further down the order. One of the main victims of this was world championship leader Tommi Mäkinen, who dropped outside the top ten before retiring with an overheating engine after he clipped a snow bank.
PEUGEOT
Technical: The three 206 WRCs of Marcus Grönholm and Richard Burns have run without significant mechanical problems today. Burns did complain of stalling under wheelspin on the day's last stage, though. Harri Rovanperä lost time during the final pair of tests when a suspected throttle sensor problem drained his confidence in anything other than long straights.
Sporting: Harri Rovanperä and Marcus Grönholm set fastest times on three of today's stages to move clear of their opposition at the head of the leaderboard. Rovanperä was generally the quicker of the two until lunchtime, but in the day's last pair of stages a throttle problem cost him enough time for Grönholm to sneak ahead - by just 0.9 seconds. After this morning's second stage, Peugeot enjoyed a one-two-three 'lock-out' at the top of the leaderboard, but then Richard Burns hit trouble in SS3. The reigning world champion slid off briefly, filling the front of his car with snow. He and navigator Robert Reid had to stop soon afterwards to scoop snow out of the front of the car, to prevent an overheating engine. The resulting time loss dropped the Englishman outside the top ten. They also stalled at a hairpin in the day's penultimate stage.
Quotes: Harri Rovanperä said: "The throttle problem cost me some time because I had no confidence to really accelerate in the middle of the corner in case it gave the car too much throttle. It affected braking too."
Marcus Grönholm said: "I'm sure Harri has had better road conditions than us today, but he's made good use of that. Tomorrow, when Harri and I are running close together on the road, we'll make a bigger attack."
FORD
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae have run without major problems today.
Sporting: Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz have both suffered from relatively high positions in the starting order today - Sainz in particular lost valuable time in SS2 when a heavy shower coated the road in fresh snow. McRae has maintained a top six position throughout today's stages, although the Scot has already admitted that he is unlikely to be able to stop either Rovanperä or Grönholm. McRae reckoned that a snow tyre would have been slightly better than his choice (ice tyre) in the day's longest stage, SS3, but he still arrived back in Karlstad this evening in third overall after a fastest time in SS5.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "It's been difficult today - when there's fresh snow you just end up cleaning it off the road for the guys further back. I'm not sure what the difference is to Marcus, because he's running quite close to me on the road - maybe it's tyres, the car, the driver. But we're not so far away from the top six, so I think we can still fight for points."
Colin McRae said: "You can't say there's any one reason why the Peugeots are looking so strong against us - it's just that their package as a whole is working better here than ours. I've been fairly happy with the car and our tyre choices, so we just have to keep trying tomorrow and see what happens. Today ended better than it started but I'd still rather be less than half a minute behind the two Peugeots."
MITSUBISHI
Technical: The Lancer Evolution WRCs of Alister McRae, François Delecour and Jani Paasonen have been reliable today. But both McRae and Delecour expressed frustration at the car's handling in twistier sections.
Sporting: Mitsubishi started this morning stages hoping for improved fortunes after a frustrating Rallye Monte Carlo, and Alister McRae and Jani Paasonen duly delivered. McRae kept his Lancer on the fringes of the points positions all day and even though he felt he lost time with a poor tyre choice this evening, he still arrived back in Karlstad in 11th, less than 20s outside the points. Paasonen, meanwhile, posted a string of top ten times to keep his Lancer in the top six - he ended the day in fourth. François Delecour wasn't so fortunate - after being unhappy at his car's handling, the Frenchman lost more than 15 minutes in a ditch in the day's final stage.
Quotes: Alister McRae said: "It's been going pretty well - the car's great in the fast stuff but when it gets twisty, it's really difficult to get a feel for what's going on. I'm sure it's something that we can find in the differential settings. I was annoyed at the wrong tyre choice because we gave away time and you can't afford to do that here."
Jani Paasonen said: "I'm really pleased that things are going well here - I didn't have so much testing before the rally so this morning I really wanted to settle in and concentrate on not making a mistake. But I find the Lancer quite easy to drive and I know some of the stages from earlier years. I hope we can continue at this pace."
HYUNDAI
Technical: The Accents of Freddy Loix, Armin Schwarz and Juha Kankkunen have been reliable today.
Sporting: All three Hyundai drivers - Armin Schwarz, Freddy Loix and Juha Kankkunen - have taken full advantage of their lowly starting position to use cleaned roads and post top-ten times. Loix overcame his broken foot to speed up further this evening and inch into the points - he arrived at final service in fifth. Kankkunen lies just outside the points in seventh but Schwarz dropped outside the top 30 when he slid off in SS4. The resulting damage wiped out his lamp pod, which meant he had to tackle the final (dark) stage of the day with only standard lights.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: "I'm really pleased. The long stage today was quite draining physically for me, because the dressing around my foot is quite awkward and heavy and by the end of 40km the top of my left leg was sore."
Armin Schwarz said: "It was a fast left and we went straight on - then it took us a long time to get back onto the road again. Our lights were badly damaged so we had to do the last stage with just ordinary lights - it's a disappointing evening."
SUBARU
Technical: The Subaru Impreza WRC of Tommi Mäkinen was generally reliable today, but the world championship leader was less than satisfied with the car's initial set-up, which was tuned to harder road conditions. He then clipped a snow bank in SS4, filling the front of the car with snow. The Finn was forced to retire nine kilometres into the stage with an overheating engine. The differentials on team mate Petter Solberg's car stopped working on the day's first stage, although the Norwegian was able to fix the problem before SS2. He also suffered two tyre mousse insert break-ups after half of the day's longest (40km) stage and his chances of regaining the time loss were reduced when he felt that his lights didn't give him good enough vision in the dark.
Sporting: Tommi Mäkinen's day started badly when snow began to fall half an hour before the first stage. That meant a fresh covering of powdery snow on the roads, and Mäkinen lost chunks of time as he swept the route clear for rivals running further down the order. His problems were compounded by a wrong tyre choice for the first two stages and he arrived at lunchtime service only just inside the top 20 and over a minute and a half behind the leader. His rally ended shortly afterwards, when his car's engine cooling system was terminally damaged after he clipped a snow bank. His team-mate Petter Solberg has been running sixth on the road today, but the Norwegian's chances of capitalising on that were reduced by differential problems in SS1, two rear tyre mousse insert break-ups in SS3 and uncertainty about his lights and his pacenotes in SS5. He ended the day in fifth, albeit only 20s off third-placed Colin McRae.
Quotes: Tommi Mäkinen said: "We cut a junction a little in SS4 and clipped a thick snow bank. We didn't think anything had happened but a few kilometres down the road we saw the engine temperature had risen. We stopped to see if we could anything but the cooling system was completely blocked and we had no water."
SKODA
Technical: Kenneth Eriksson's and Stig Blomqvist's Octavia WRCs have been reliable today, but Toni Gardemeister hit problems on the second stage when his car started to lose power. Skoda technicians examined data at the following service and found no glitches but by the start of the day's longest test, SS3, the young Finn's car had lost almost all its turbo boost.
Sporting: Skoda's regular Swedish driver Kenneth Eriksson has upheld the Czech manufacturer's honour today, keeping his Octavia WRC on the fringes of the top ten. He ended the leg in 12th. Team mate Toni Gardemeister has been less than satisfied with his car's handling and he also lost boost for the longest (40km) stage, but the young Finn still held 15th by the end of today's last stage. The third car, driven by Stig Blomqvist, was around half a minute adrift but still fighting in 18th.
Quotes: Kenneth Eriksson said: "I'm quite happy so far but the conditions today definitely favour the guys running further back down the field. The snow is quite soft and as it gets sprayed out of the way you can see the harder, clean line appearing."
CITROEN
Technical: The Xsara WRCs of Thomas Radstrom and Sebastien Loeb have been reliable today, although Loeb was worried about his car's handling in the day's final stage.
Sporting: Sebastien Loeb found it difficult to cope with running second on the road this morning - the young Frenchman felt he was cleaning the road of loose snow for later cars. In SS3 he spun in a fourth-gear corner and as he tried to turn the car around, he nosed it into a snow bank and got stuck for more than two minutes. He dropped outside the top 20 as a result. Team-mate Thomas Radstrom's day was even more adventurous - the Swede spun in SS2 and then in SS3, he slid off at a slow bend and got his Xsara stuck on top of a snow bank. With few spectators around, he and navigator Denis Giraudet had to resort to shovels to extract the car from its position and they lost more than seven minutes. They set fastest time on the next stage.
Quotes: Thomas Radstrom said: "The accident was quite like Richard's here last year - we just slid onto the top of the bank but there was no way we could get off without either lots of spectators or a shovel. We didn't have the spectators."
OTHER ENTRIES
Several privateer World Rally Car drivers have posted top ten times today - young Finn Janne Tuohino held fourth overall in his 2001 specification Ford Focus after two stages (he dropped down the top ten later in the day), while Sebastian Lindholm, Juuso Pykalisto and Henning Solberg all traded times with factory cars.
In the Group N category for more standard machinery, Stig-Olov Waldridsson set fastest times on the opening three stages to build up an advantage that he held until the end of the day. Local rival Daniel Carlsson holds second, ahead of Juha Kangas and Swede Kenneth Backlund.
[WRC] Uddeholm Swedish Rally: Welcome
After one of the driest Rallye Monte Carlos in recent memory, the FIA World Rally Championship switches to snow for its second round, this weekend's Swedish Rally. Citroen's decision late last week not to pursue an appeal against Sebastien Loeb's time penalty in Monte Carlo handed that rally win (a record 24th at WRC level) to Tommi Mäkinen, who thus leads the drivers' standings as the crews head north to Sweden.
If history is any guide, Mäkinen must start as one of the favourites for the Swedish, purely on grounds of his nationality. Despite the World Rally Championship's international flavour, no non-Scandinavian has ever won this event, although Spain's Carlos Sainz has finished on the podium five times in seven starts. He and his Ford team-mate Colin McRae will probably take the fight to the locals, but Peugeot's two Finnish drivers, Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä, have maintained the Scandinavian lock-out over the last two years and the French marque will be keen to score a hat-trick in Sweden after a disappointing Rallye Monte Carlo. And there remains the 'wild card' of Citroen - after the Xsara's strong showing two weeks ago, local driver Thomas Radstrom is being widely tipped to set fast times on his home event.
SUBARU (1st - 12 points)
Technical: Subaru sends two brand new Impreza WRCs to this event for Tommi Mäkinen and Petter Solberg, but the team has not introduced any major technical revisions since Monte Carlo.
Sporting: Subaru has entered two Impreza WRC2001s for this event, to be driven by regular pilots Tommi Mäkinen and Petter Solberg. Citroen's decision to withdraw its appeal against Sebastien Loeb's time penalty from the Rallye Monte Carlo means that Mäkinen is awarded the victory on the opening round of the season. The four-times world champion thus becomes the first driver ever to win the event four years in succession, and the first driver to reach 24 World Rally Championship wins.
Quotes: Tommi Mäkinen said: "This event is like a big question for us - it's the first time that I've driven in these conditions on Pirelli tyres, but I must say the initial feeling is good and the reliability has been impressive. It was good to be quick so early in Monte Carlo and I think we can make things difficult for the other guys here as well."
Petter Solberg said: "I must say I'm really looking forward to this rally. I was really pleased with how I drove in Monte Carlo and I know I can do good times here as well"
FORD (2nd - 10 points)
Technical: After introducing a raft of revisions to the Focus RS WRC for Monte Carlo, Ford retains basically the same specification on its cars for Sweden. None of the Focus WRCs present are new either.
Sporting: Ford had entered three Focus RS WRC02s for its regular drivers Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, and Markko Märtin, but it was forced to withdraw the latter driver this afternoon after he crashed at this morning's shakedown. The car was heavily damaged at the front-left corner and Ford mechanics had insufficient time to make the necessary repairs. Ford will, however, field a 2001-specification car for young Belgian Francois Duval - he'll dovetail selected World Rally Car appearances with an assault on the Junior World Rally Championship. He won the opening round of the latter series in Monte Carlo.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "I think we've shown over the years that we can be competitive here, but although we've come close we've never actually won the Swedish. I'm looking forward to trying again. During the recce the stages were quite nice with some snow, but if it thaws by Sunday then the second passes over some stages could be quite difficult."
Colin McRae said: "Depending on what the weather does here, I'd say that victory is certainly possible. The car's felt pretty good in testing and if the snow holds or more arrives, I'll be quite happy. I feel really sorry for Marko, though - this was one of the events where he could really have gone well."
PEUGEOT (3rd - 4 points)
Technical: Peugeot have made only a few adjustments to the 206 WRCs for this event - all three of the works cars will now run with the hydraulic anti-roll bars that were fitted to Gilles Panizzi's car in Monte Carlo. The team continues to develop the next evolution of the car, meanwhile - improvements will centre on its abilities in rough surfaces, and homologation in May or June is likely, in time for a debut on the Acropolis Rally.
Sporting: Peugeot has entered three official cars - for reigning world champion Richard Burns, 2000 title-holder Marcus Grönholm and last year's Swedish Rally winner Harri Rovanperä. The team's fourth regular driver Gilles Panizzi will tackle the event in a 206 WRC run by private team Bozian.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "The team has now extended the steering column and adjusted the amount of travel on the throttle pedal. It's still not perfect but it's not too far off. The thing that's lacking is the real feel of what the car's doing, although I think that'll be less exaggerated in these conditions than it was on dry asphalt in Monte Carlo. With that in mind, I'm hoping that we'll be doing consistently good enough times to get into the top three - if you can be in the top three here, then anything is possible. I'd say Marcus and Harri are favourites though - they're clearly going to push each other along."
Marcus Grönholm said: "I have a good feeling with the car here and I feel confident. Maybe experience of these conditions helps - in our championship in Finland we're doing three or four rallies on snow."
MITSUBISHI
Technical: Mitsubishi Ralliart's three Lancer WRCs will run in basically unchanged specification for this event. Alister McRae has a brand new car for the Swedish.
Sporting: Mitsubishi enters three cars in Sweden - Alister McRae and Francois Delecour are joined in the line-up by young Finn Jani Paasonen. McRae has been suffering from 'flu in the days preceding the event.
Quotes: Alister McRae said: "I'm hopeful that we'll be more competitive here than we were in Monte Carlo. We didn't get such a good set-up for there but in the testing for Sweden the Lancer's felt really good. Of course it's hard to really gauge how good the car is until we see our times against the opposition but I instantly had a good feeling for the handling and the engine on the snowy surfaces."
SKODA
Technical: Skoda continues with the revised pedal boxes in its Octavias for this event. Introduced in Monte Carlo, they hinge the pedals on the floor, not above the drivers' feet. The Czech manufacturer's cars will also feature a different type of brake caliper system from this event.
Sporting: Skoda has entered three Octavia WRCs for this event - regular drivers Kenneth Eriksson and Toni Gardemeister are joined by former World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist. It's a line-up that's not without pedigree - between them, Eriksson and Blomqvist have won this rally eight times. Gardemeister inadvertently delayed this morning's shakedown when he slid off the stage and got stuck in a snow bank.
Quotes: Kenneth Eriksson said: "I'm quite optimistic for this rally. Obviously I know the conditions very well and I learnt a lot about the Octavia in Monte Carlo. It's got quite a good balance and even though it's quite a big car, the handling is good and that's very important on the snowy surfaces. It'll be a big challenge but I'm looking forward to it."
Toni Gardemeister said: "I think we can aim for a point or two here, because we were in the top ten in Monte Carlo and I'm sure the snow will suit the Octavia better than dry asphalt. I finished in the points here last year and even though it'll be difficult to repeat that, I'll be trying for a similar result."
HYUNDAI
Technical: Hyundai has made only a few changes to the Accent WRC2 for its final scheduled event - the car features revised differential mapping and slight alterations to the dampers. Work continues apace on the WRC3, meanwhile - the new-specification engine that will be fitted in the next evolution is already running on the dynometer.
Sporting: Hyundai fields three Accent WRC2s in Sweden - regulars Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix are joined by four-times world champion Juha Kankkunen. The Finn will tackle most loose-surface rallies for the team this season. Loix's participation was in some doubt after he broke a bone in his foot in a heavy accident on Rallye Monte Carlo but despite needing crutches outside of the car, the Belgian insists that the injury won't pose too much of a problem on the stages.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: "My foot doesn't hurt, and the only 'medication' that I'm taking is designed to prevent infection. It's not so bad - I'm trying to get as good a feeling as possible under braking. Probably the hardest thing for me on this rally will be that I haven't had so long in the car beforehand - only 50km, and most of that was spent getting used to the support on my foot."
CITROEN
Technical: Citroen's Xsara WRCs remain technically unchanged for their first 'winter' rally.
Sporting: Citroen sends two Xsara WRCs to this event, to be driven by Sebastien Loeb and Thomas Radstrom. The team elected not to pursue its appeal against Loeb's two-minute penalty on the Rallye Monte Carlo (incurred by changing tyres in the wrong service area), so the young Frenchman has dropped behind Tommi Mäkinen to second overall in that event's final classification.
Quotes: Thomas Radstrom said: "The car feels pretty good here - it's been getting quite a bit better on the snow in the pre-event testing. Of course it should really be too early in the Xsara WRC's life for us to really challenge here but you never now. We'll certainly try as hard as possible and see what we can do."
Sebastien Loeb said: "I'm here for more experience, basically. It will not be easy to repeat the sort of performance that I showed in Monte Carlo but I want to learn how to drive the World Rally Car on snow so I need as many kilometres as possible. The car has felt very nice in testing but I've only been here last year and that was in a challenge-specification Saxo, and we retired on the first day."
OTHER ENTRIES
Several privateer World Rally Car drivers could well inch into the top ten in Sweden - in particular, Sebastian Lindholm (Peugeot 206 WRC) and Janne Tuohino (Ford Focus RS WRC01) will be aiming to embarrass some of the works entries.
The Swedish Rally is the opening round of the FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Cars, the series designed for crews using more standard Group N machinery. Multiple category champion Gustavo Trelles will target yet another title in 2002, but the Uruguayan will have to overcome highly-rated opposition including Alex Fiorio, Toshihiro Arai and former British champion Marko Ipatti.
STAGE ITINERARY
Leg 1, Friday 1st February (702.24km)
06:00 Start from Karlstad
07:10 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
08:28 SS 1 Sagen 1 14.17km
09:17 SS 2 Rammen 1 23.16km
09:59 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
11:47 SS 3 Granberget 40.51km
13:34 Regroup (Hagfors) 10 min.
13:44 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
15:12 SS 4 Fredriksberg 1 18.14km
15:54 SS 5 Lejen 1 28.07km
17:16 Service (Hagfors) 45 min.
19:15 End of leg 1 in Karlstad
Leg 2, Saturday 2nd February (674.20km)
06:00 Start from Karlstad
07:10 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
08:58 SS 6 Granberget 2 40.51km
10:45 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
12:13 SS 7 Fredriksberg 2 18.14km
12:55 SS 8 Lejen 2 28.07km
14:17 Regroup (Hagfors) 10 min.
14:27 Service (Hagfors) 20 min
15:08 SS 9 Malta 11.25km
15:40 SS 10 Hara 12.29km
16:16 SS 11 Torntorp 1 19.21km
16:58 Service (Hagfors) 45 min.
18:57 End of leg 2 in Karlstad
Leg 3, Sunday 3rd February (518.77km)
06:00 Start from Karlstad
07:10 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
08:28 SS 12 Sagen 2 14.17km
09:17 SS 13 Rammen 2 23.16km
09:59 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
10:56 SS 14 Vargasen 32.43km
11:59 SS 15 Torntorp 2 19.21km
12:41 Regroup (Hagfors) 10 min.
12:51 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
13:51 SS 16 Hagfors 41.09km
14:35 Service (Hagfors) 20 min.
16:15 Finish of the rally in Karlstad
If you enjoy this mailing list, please forward it to a friend or refer them to: http://www.worldrallychampionship.com
www.motorsportivarmland.nu