2003 WRC mailing list, brought to you by:
http://www.wrc-online.netRALLY ARGENTINA
5th round of 14 in the 2003 World Rally ChampionshipRally Argentina photographs:
http://www.wrc-online.net/default.asp?sid=0&pid=14&galleryid=86FIA RALLY NEWS - http://www.fia.com
RALLY ARGENTINA
[WRC] Rally Argentina 2003 - Gronholm wins
Sunday, 11 May 2003
Marcus Gronholm staged one of the most astonishing come back drives to win Rally Argentina, round five of the FIA World Rally Championship in his Peugeot 206 WRC. The Finn started the day 15.2 seconds behind Markko Martin, but was leading when the cars came out of the first stage this morning. The engine failed on Martin's Focus, robbing him of the chance to fight with the reigning world champion over leg three's five stages. Nobody could match Gronholm's time through the SS21, after which he had a 20.2-second lead over Carlos Sainz. Sainz - who had led the event until confusion between himself and co-driver Marc Marti left him booking into a control early and incurring a one-minute penalty - lost the runners-up spot to Richard Burns, who nosed his Peugeot ahead of the Citroen on the penultimate test, despite problems with the turbo on his 206. Those problems worsened on the final stage, however, dropping him back behind the Citroen. Some consolation for Burns was that he still leads the driver's championship - by two points from Gronholm - while Peugeot remains at the front of the race for the manufacturer's award.Peugeot
Technical: The Peugeots of Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera ran without any problems, but Richard Burns' car suffered turbo problems on the final three stages.Sporting: Marcus Gronholm moved to the head of the field after the opening stage of the day and went into the final loop of stages with an 18.5 second advantage. He maintained that lead through the last loop of stages, winning the event by 26.6 seconds from Carlos Sainz. Burns ensured that Peugeot held two of the three podium places by bringing his car home third. He was second for one stage, before turbo failure intervened.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "I am very happy to have come back and won this rally. When we hit the rock on the first day I thought there was no chance that I could get a result like this. We drove absolutely flat out this morning, but not taking any risks. The Fords have pushed us quite hard in some places, but this is a good result for me and for Peugeot."
Richard Burns said: "The anti-lag system on the turbo stopped working for all of the last three stages, but then we had some sort of turbo failure eight kilometres from the finish of the final stage. I was happy to have got ahead of Carlos on the penultimate stage, given that it was difficult to drive the car without the ALS system. I was not happy at falling behind him on the last stage, but leading the championship is some small consolation."
Harri Rovanpera said: "After the terrible start to the season that I have had, I am quite glad to make it to the finish in fourth place. This is always a tough rally and this year has been more of the same. We had a few problems during the day, but okay we are here."
Citroen
Technical: Carlos Sainz's Citroen Xsara WRC ran without mechanical fault through the final leg. Sebastien Loeb crashed off the road yesterday, while Colin McRae retired on Friday when his car caught fire.Sporting: Sainz dropped time to Gronholm on the opening test of leg three, but went quickest on the next stage. The Spaniard admitted he was pushing as hard as he could, and found himself embroiled in a battle for second place with Richard Burns. Burns passed him on the penultimate stage, but Sainz re-passed him for the place on the final competitive section of the rally.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "I have been going at the absolute maximum through the stages today. Marcus was always going to be very hard to beat, but I had hoped to keep Richard behind me. We had some small problems, nearly stalling on the start line of one stage and then nearly stalling in the middle of another stage. After the position we were in yesterday, this is disappointing, but still we have good points for the championship."
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg's Impreza WRC03 ran without fault through the final leg.Sporting: Solberg spent another day altering the set-up of his car. He caught Francois Duval in SS22, losing some time in the Belgian driver's dust, but still made it home in fifth place, picking up four championship points. The team took the decision to withdraw Tommi Makinen at the end of leg two, happy with the test data they had gained throughout Saturday.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "You wouldn't believe how much we have changed the car over the past three days, but all of the time the car has been getting better and better. I am really growing in confidence with the suspension now. The gaps ahead and behind were big, so for us today was another test day."
David Lapworth said: "I'm very pleased with the way Petter and Tommi have performed. We had some new parts on the car here and they have worked very well. If you take away the time both of the cars lost, then you can see that we are right up the at the sharp end."
Skoda
Technical: Both Octavia WRCs ran without any mechanical problems today.Sporting: Didier Auriol admitted that his car still didn't feel quite right on the bumpier stages, but he was doing enough to keep his team-mate Toni Gardemeister at bay. Both the Skoda drivers benefited from the retirement of Armin Schwarz, moving in to the sixth and seventh positions they would hold until the end of the event.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "Today hasn't been too bad. We took off on the biggest jump on the second stage this morning and flew, the car landed on its side - it was very close to an accident. The biggest jump of my life. This has been a long event, and towards the end we were pushing really hard to try to catch Armin, but then he retired and we got the sixth place. I am happy with the result."
Toni Gardemeister said: "Looking at the times, you always start to wonder what the result would have been like without the penalty and without the problems we have had during the event. You can always say that, this is the way with rallying. The stages today have been good. It was strange this morning, maybe we were struggling with the traction or something, it felt good while I was driving - but the times were not so good."
Ford
Technical: Markko Martin retired with an engine problem 11.4 kilometres into the first stage this morning. Francois Duval suffered gearbox and engine trouble. Mikko Hirvonen's car ran without mechanical fault.Sporting: Martin's efforts to win his first ever round of the FIA World Rally Championship, came to nought in the first stage this morning. Duval had started the day seventh and would have moved up one place at the expense of his team-mate. Unfortunately he went in the opposite direction after gearbox problems and then engine problems slowed him on his run in through the final leg. He ended the event in eighth place. Mikko Hirvonen enjoyed the final day more than either of the previous two. Running at the head of the field was an advantage for him, the warm, dry weather creating dusty conditions for those following him.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "The engine felt fine for the first ten kilometres of the stage, but then we started to lose power and the oil pressure warning light came on. I asked the team what to do and they told me to switch off, otherwise the engine would have been destroyed. This is another big disappointment. It was always going to be hard work keeping Marcus behind, but we would have given it a really good go. Certainly I think we could have kept Carlos and Richard behind."
Francois Duval said:"On the first stage this morning, we only had three gears (first, second and third) after one kilometre. Then it started to change gear by itself. On the second stage, the gearbox was stuck in second gear. Everything was getting very hot, the engine, transmission everything. The team changed the gearbox, but we still had problems on the final loop."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "The car has been perfect today. I enjoyed the first two stages this morning, but then for the last three I decided not to push too hard, really I was just checking my notes. This is good experience for me to finish this event."
Malcolm Wilson said: "I'm disappointed, but once again we have shown the pace that the car has. We always said that Greece would be a fair place to judge the new car. I'm sure that we will have got rid of these gremlins before then. We know what the problem is with the transmission on the car and I know it won't be a problem for the next rally."
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz retired from the event on SS24. The engine on his Accent WRC had failed. Freddy Loix retired the sister car on day one with a broken boost pressure sensor.Sporting: Schwarz had maintained his sensible pace, holding sixth overall after the second run at the La Falda test. The German's only problem until then had been the dust on the first three stages. He had found visibility particularly difficult in the high-speed sections of the stage. Schwarz pulled over two kilometres from the end of the SS24, reporting engine failure.
Quotes: A team spokesman said: "We don't know exactly what the problem with the car is, but it sounds like it may be the head gasket. This is a big blow for Armin, Manfred and the whole team. Sixth place would have given both Armin and Hyundai a lot of points. It's a real shame. Armin had done precisely what we asked of him, driving to make sure he got to the finish. Then this happens, it's a tough sport."
Other entries
Toshi Arai dominated this third round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship in his Subaru Impreza. The Japanese driver enjoyed a trouble-free run through the final five stages to arrive back in Villa Carlos Paz with more than 2 minutes advantage over Dani Sola who had struggled with a puncture on the first day and then turbo trouble through the next leg.British driver Niall McShea held second place, but his hopes of a big points score were wiped out on the final loop of stages, however, when the intercooler broke. Karamjit Singh took third in his Proton Pert.
Gabriel Raies was the leading non-factory World Rally Car. This was an emotional event for the local Toyota Corolla WRC driver. The 47-year-old bows out of the sport after 25 years, finishing the event in tenth position.
11/05/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 41 crews (17 Group A and 24 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: Martin (EE), Makinen (FIN), Schwarz (D) and other 7 drivers.
TODAY: Sunday 11 May
Leg 3 started from Carlos Paz at 06h35 and covered 324.36km, including 105.49km on five stages. The first car arrived back in Carlos Paz at 14h39.SS21 S.MARCOS SIERRA 2 (9.61km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 16m 49.2
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 16m 58.5
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 17m 00.6LEADERS AFTER SS21
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 18m 07.0
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 18m 27.2
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 18m 27.7SS22 S.MARCOS SIERRA-CUCHI 2 (22.57km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 13m 04.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 13m 06.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 13m 08.2LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 31m 13.3
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 31m 31.8
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 31m 35.9SS23 LA FALDA 2 (9.37km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 6m 24.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 6m 25.8
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 6m 25.9LEADERS AFTER SS23
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 37m 37.7
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 37m 57.7
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 38m 02.4SS24 LA CUMBRE 2 (21.70km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 18m 23.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 18m 27.4
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 18m 33.0LEADERS AFTER SS24
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 56m 01.3
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 56m 29.8
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 56m 35.1SS25 ASCOCHINGA 2 (28.83km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 18m 36.5
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 18m 43.7
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 18m 51.5LEADERS IN CARLOS PAZ AFTER SS25
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 4h 14m 45.0
2 Sainz (E) Citroen +26.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot +1m 12.8
4 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +2m 19.3
5 Solberg (N) Subaru +3m 11.4
6 Auriol (F) Skoda +7m 58.5
7 Gardemeister (FIN) Skoda +8m 33.7
8 Duval (B) Ford +12m 35.3
9 Arai (J) Subaru +20m 01.7
10 Raies (RA) Toyota +20m 03.4PROD. CARS WRC LEADERS AFTER SS25
1 Arai (J) Subaru 4h 34m 46.7
2 Sola (E) Mitsubishi +2m 09.6
3 Singh (MAL) Proton +3m 26.7
4 Manfrinato (I) Mitsubishi +4m 25.2
5 De Dominicis (I) Mitsubishi +25m 04.3
6 Trivino (MEX) Mitsubishi +41m 47.6
7 Errani (I) Mitsubishi +56m 25.6
FINAL STATISTICS
EVENT: The rally covered 1454.89km, including 379.334km on 24 special stages (including 9run twice). All stages were on gravel roads closed to other traffic.
STARTERS: 78 crews (31 Group A and 47 Group N) started the rally
FINISHERS: 33 crews (14 Group A and 19 Group N) finished the rally
STAGE WINNERS: Gronholm (SS1-3-4-11-12-15-17-18-20-21-23-24)
Sainz (SS6-7-9-15-16-19-22-25)
Martin (SS10-13-15)
Rovanpera (SS8-15)
Burns (SS2-15)
Makinen (SS5)
Loeb (SS15)
Warmbold (SS15)
Raies (SS15)
stage 14 was cancelledRALLY LEADERS: SS1-SS8 Gronholm
SS9-SS19 Sainz
SS20 Martin
SS21-SS25 GronholmFIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 5 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers: Burns (GB) 32, Gronholm (FIN) 30, Sainz (E) 24, Loeb (F) 17, C. McRae (GB) 17, Solberg (N) 13, Martin (EE) 13, Makinen (FIN) 11, Duval (B) 9, Gardemeister (FIN) 9, Rovanpera (FIN) 5, Panizzi (F) 4, Auriol (F) 4 Robert (F) 3, A. McRae (GB) 3, Schwarz (D) 1.FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers: Peugeot 65, Citroen 52, Ford 29, Subaru 27, Skoda 19, Hyundai 3.
FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 2 of 7 rounds, this event not counting): Tirabassi (F) 10, Katajamaki (FIN) 10, Ligato (RA) 8, Canellas (E) 8, Broccoli (RSM) 6, Wilks (GB) 6, Aava (EE) 5, Teuronen (FIN) 5, Cecchettini (I) 4, Ceccato (I) 4, others.
FIA Production Car World Championship (after 3 of 7 rounds): Arai (J) 20, Singh (MAL) 17, Blomqvist (S) 11, Rowe (GB)11, Ligato (RA) 8, Sola (E) 8, Al Wahaibi (OM) 6, Bourne (NZ) 5, Manfrinato (I) 5, Holowczyc (PL) 4, Ferreyros (PE) 4, De Dominicis (I) 4, others.
For more extensive results please consult the FIA Internet site at: www.fia.com
NEXT EVENT:
June 5 -8: Rally Acropolis
Press Officer: Akis Temperidis
Tel: +30 21 0 60 68 940
Fax: +30 21 0 60 68 868
E-mail: press.office@acropolisrally.gr
Website: www.acropolisrally.gr
[WRC] Rally Argentina 2003 - Leg 2
Saturday, 10 May 2003
Ford's Markko Martin ended the day at the top of the timesheets. The Estonian leads this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship by 15.2 seconds from Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm. Carlos Sainz had been on top through the second leg, until a misunderstanding between him and his co-driver led him to check in early to a control following the penultimate stage. The minute penalty he received dropped the Xsara driver back to third.Gronholm's fight back was one of the stories of the day. He started the leg in sixth place and said this morning that his chances of winning this event were almost non-existent. By the end of the day it was a different story. Martin knows he's got a fight on his hands, and was concerned by gear selection problems aboard his Focus towards the end of the leg.
There was a good deal of confusion surrounding the rally throughout the day. The first two stages were cancelled due to spectators' misbehaving. The third stage was delayed for one hour and fifty minutes until the FIA safety delegate was happy with the crowds in the stages north of Villa Carlos Paz. The organisers decided to alter the route, dropping the final two stages from today and putting them in tomorrow morning.
Ford
Technical: Markko Martin was worried about a gear selection problem on his Focus through the middle loop of stages. Francois Duval's car was troubled by a slight misfire in SS19 and a brake problem in the last test of the day. Mikko Hirvonen's Focus RS WRC 02 was losing power through SS19.Sporting: Markko Martin moved into the lead of the rally prior to SS20. He had dropped time in SS18 after hitting a bank and damaging the left-rear tyre one kilometre into the stage. Duval dropped one place to Solberg early in the day. He wasn't happy with his pace notes on some of the day's tests and admitted he had been making changes as he was competing on the stages.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I was worried about the gearbox in the middle loop. It wasn't the same as the problem that we had with the selection yesterday, but all the same I was trying to make sure that I didn't change gear as much as I would normally have done. Marcus is closing in, sure it's going to be a big fight tomorrow."
Francois Duval said: "On the road section I noticed the misfire was there, but when we got into the stage and went into second gear it seemed to clear itself. Earlier today we broke the windscreen in the car, but I'm not sure how. On that last stage the brakes went five kilometres from the end, there was nothing - not even the handbrake.
Mikko Hirvonen said: "Today has been okay. Running first on the road hasn't helped us much, we've been finding all of the slippery places. There are parts of the stage which are covered in small stones, they are quite bad. The water temperature was going up in stage 19, so the engine could have gone into a safe mode - which would have explained the engine losing a little power."
Peugeot
Technical: Richard Burns' Peugeot 206 WRC ran without mechanical fault today, while Marcus Gronholm's car suffered a leaking rear differential for three stages. The steering rack was bent on Harri Rovanpera's car for stages 17, 18 and 19.Sporting: Gronholm moved up from sixth place to third through today's stages, closing and eventually passing his team-mate Burns who dropped to fourth on the final stage of the day. Rovanpera has dropped back from fourth to sixth place.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "I noticed a noise coming from the differential when we left service earlier this afternoon, then it started to leak oil. I don't know how much time it cost us, not much I don't think. I am still driving at 100 per cent, but we will have to see what we can do tomorrow - maybe the win is possible."
Richard Burns said: "I felt that I drove well in the stage near to Carlos Paz, but we didn't seem to get much reward for our effort - it's a bit demoralising. This has been a strange rally. We got up really early this morning, but never actually did anything until the afternoon."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I remember hitting one stone in the braking area for a corner half way through stage 17, after that the steering wasn't right. It feels like the rack is bent. The problem has certainly cost us time today."
Citroen
Technical: Sebastien Loeb retired from the rally, sliding his Xsara WRC off the road on SS20. Carlos Sainz's car was reliable, while Colin McRae retired yesterday when his Xsara caught fire.Sporting: Sainz dropped from the lead of the rally to third place prior to the final stage of the day. He was penalised one minute for going into a time control one minute early. The Spaniard is now 8.1 seconds behind Marcus Gronholm in second place and 15.2 seconds off the leader Markko Martin. Loeb was lying fifth when he went off the road. Neither Loeb or his co-driver Daniel Elena were injured and the damage to the car was reported to be light.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "The reason I booked in early for the control was because of a misunderstanding between my co-driver and myself. I thought Marc was waving me in to the control, but actually he was telling me to stay where I was. Obviously it is disappointing, but we will fight tomorrow and see what we can do. Up until then we had a good day, there hadn't been any problems and the car was - and still is - running fine."
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg's car has run reliably today, while Tommi Makinen has complained of a transmission noise. The team changed the gearbox at second service today and the rear differential at the third service.Sporting: Solberg moved past Duval early in the leg and held sixth place for the remainder of the day. The Norwegian driver admitted that given the big gap between himself and fifth-placed Harri Rovanpera, this was all he could do. Makinen has also been making up time following his time-consuming transmission problems yesterday. Makinen started the day in 19th spot, but had climbed to the fringes of the top ten by the end of the day.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I'm still not completely happy with the new suspension on the car, it's taken me longer to get used to it than I thought it would. It's getting better all of the time, but I'm still not as confident with it as Tommi is. Today hasn't been a bad day, though."
Tommi Makinen said: "I'm annoyed that I had to drive all three stages this morning, going flat out, then we only get a time for the third stage. Everybody else has driven that stage on tyres which are almost new, but mine were well used. The noise from the transmission was bad, but we're not sure what caused it - so the team have been changing parts on the car through the day."
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz's Accent WRC3 has struggled to keep the durability of his shock absorbers through today's stages. It has also developed a differential problem, causing the rear differential to lose its effectiveness. Freddy Loix retired the team's other Accent yesterday with a broken turbo boost sensor.Sporting: Schwarz moved up one place today. The differential problem caused him a half-spin on the final stage, while his windscreen was smashed by spectators throwing rocks on the previous test.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "The shock absorber problem is just the same as yesterday. If the stage is really bumpy then we can start to lose the shocks after maybe three kilometres. The problem with the differential, starts when it gets hot. It is bad in some of the corners, it's like driving a rear-wheel-drive car, we have to wait before we can get on the throttle."
Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister's Octavia suffered an a broken front-left driveshaft on SS16 this morning and then differential problems with the car on stages 17, 18 and 19. The shock absorbers went soft on Didier Auriol's car through the loop of the three stages this afternoon.Sporting: Auriol maintained his tenth position today, while Gardemeister's hopes of catching his team-mate were dealt a serious blow by the transmission troubles which beset his Octavia. He remained 11th but dropped time to Auriol. The diff problem was fixed, but Gardemeister felt something had broken on the rear suspension of the car through the final stage.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "When we had the problem with the shock absorbers going hard, the car started bouncing around so much. My arms were really aching at the end of the loop of three stages."
Toni Gardemeister said: "I am not happy at all. The driveshaft went three kilometres into the stage - it was so annoying because I was trying like hell to catch Didier. Then the centre differential locked solid for the next three. It was so bad, in the twisty parts of the stage the car has been so difficult to drive. In the last stage the car was sliding a little bit too much."
Other entries
Japan's Toshi Arai continued to lead the way in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship. The Subaru driver enjoyed a trouble-free day and held a comfortable lead over Britain's Niall McShea. McShea's Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 was down on power after damaging the turbo on the opening leg. In addition to that his car suffered a bent rear wishbone later in the day. Reigning Production Car champion Karamjit Singh moved his Proton Pert up the order throughout the day, ending the leg 19.2 seconds off the back of his rival.10/05/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 48 crews (21 Group A and 27 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: 7 non seeded drivers
TODAY: Saturday 10 May
Leg 2 started from Carlos Paz at 06h55 and covered 544.20km, including 98.70km on four stages.TOMORROW: Sunday 11 May
Leg 3 starts from Carlos Paz at 06h35 and covers 324.36km, including 105.49km on five stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Carlos Paz at 14h39.WEATHER FORECAST: Overcast with the possibility of rain later in the day.
SS14 CAPILLA DEL MONTE 1 (23.02km)Cancelled
LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 54m 01.2
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 54m 23.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 54m 41.3SS15 S MARCOS SIERRA-CHARBONIER 1 (9.61km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 6m 33.7
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 6m 33.7
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 6m 33.7LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 00m 34.9
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 00m 57.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 01m 15.0SS16 S MARCOS SIERRA-CUCHI 1 (22.57km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 13m 13.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 13m 14.8
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 13m 16.7LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 13m 48.5
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 14m 15.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 14m 31.7SS17 COSQUIN-VILLA ALLENDE (19.19km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 13m 17.0
2 Martin (EE) Ford 13m 18.1
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 13m 20.1LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 27m 12.6
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 27m 33.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 27m 56.8SS18 CARLOS PAZ-CABALANGO (14.81km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 10m 08.3
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 10m 08.4
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 10m 09.5LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 37m 21.0
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 37m 49.8
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 38m 10.3SS19 TANTI-COSQUIN (9.50km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 5m 52.1
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 5m 52.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 5m 52.6LEADERS AFTER SS19
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 43m 13.1
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 43m 45.4
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 44m 02.9SS20 CAPILLA DE MONTE 2 (20.02km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 17m 06.5
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 17m 12.8
3 Martin (EE) Ford 17m 17.2LEADERS AFTER SS20
1 Martin (EE) Ford 3h 01m 02.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 3h 01m 17.8
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 01m 25.9SS21 S MARCOS SIERRA- CHARBONIER 2 (9.61km)
CancelledSS22 SAN MARCOS SIERRA-CUCHI 2 (22.57km)
CancelledLEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Martin (EE) Ford 3h 01m 02.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot +15.2
3 Sainz (E) Citroen +23.3
4 Burns (GB) Peugeot +26.6
5 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +1m 21.4
6 Solberg (N) Subaru +2m 49.3
7 Duval (B) Ford +4m 22.8
8 Schwarz (D) Hyundai +4m 58.0
9 Auriol (F) Skoda +5m 25.3
10 Gardemeister (FIN) Skoda +6m 02.9
[WRC] Rally Argentina 2003 - Leg 1
Friday, 9 May 2003
Carlos Sainz is the overnight leader of the fifth round of the 2003 FIA World Rally Championship in Argentina. Sainz's Citroen is 22.4 seconds ahead of Ford's Markko Martin, after a largely trouble-free day for the double world champion, who posted three fastest times through the day. Martin was slowed by transmission trouble on the second loop of stages, but set fastest time on two of the final four stages of the day to move back into the frame. Richard Burns led Peugeot's charge, having been the first through the day's 11 stages to the north of the event's base in Villa Carlos Paz.Marcus Gronholm led competitors into the first full day of competition on Rally Argentina. The Peugeot driver had set established a 2.3 second lead on the two runs at the Pro Racing superspecial stage just outside Carlos Paz last night. Gronholm's grip on the lead of the rally was wrenched free when he smashed the right-rear wheel on a ninth-stage rock, dropping almost two minutes and five places.
Citroen
Technical: Colin McRae retired his Xsara WRC on SS9 when the car caught fire, while Carlos Sainz's car suffered power steering problems on the first loop of stages. Sebastien Loeb enjoyed a trouble-free day in his Xsara.Sporting: Sainz led the event at the end of the opening leg. The Spaniard had dropped from third to fourth after SS5, but despite the steering problems on the next stage he set fastest time and moved into second. One stage later he was into the lead and remained there for the rest of the day. Loeb's progress was undramatic, save for an overshoot at the same place as Sainz in SS9. Loeb made alterations to the transmission set up of his Xsara after the first loop of stages and was much happier thereafter. McRae's rally ended on the opening leg for the second event in succession, with a fire on SS9.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "The steering started to go at the end of stage five. It was quite difficult, some times it would be there and then it would fail for a couple of corners. In stage nine I was too fast into one corner, we overshot and I stalled the engine. That cost us about ten seconds. Today we have been surviving these stages, some of them have been quite rough. I am pleased with today."
Sebastien Loeb said: "I am really happy with the changes I made to the car, it made it easier for me to get on the power earlier in the corners."
Colin McRae said: "Smoke started to come into the car during the stage. When we started to get a fire in the car, we pulled over to put it out. We stopped three times in the stage, but in the end it was too bad and we stopped for good."
Ford
Technical: Markko Martin's Focus RS WRC 03 suffered gearbox problems on the second loop of stages. Mikko Hirvonen's 2002-specification Focus hit turbo trouble, while Francois Duval's car was mechanically reliable.Sporting: Martin was once again the fastest Ford - holding a top three spot until he lost three gears on SS9. The Estonian driver dropped to fifth, but bounced back with fastest time on the next stage - moving up to second by the end of the leg. Duval's day started badly when he hit a rock hard two corners into the first stage of the day and smashed a wheel. He then dropped more time when he caught Petter Solberg following the Subaru driver's fifth-stage roll. Hirvonen's problems also stemmed from hitting a rock. The young Finn went over a rock which flattened the exhaust on his Focus and caused a loss of power and damage to the turbo.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "The engine didn't feel right this morning, it wasn't responding right - then the handling wasn't
right either. We made the car slightly stiffer for the afternoon - going back towards on New Zealand specification. Then came the gearbox problems; I was having to drive flat out because we only had three gears - we were bouncing off everything."
Francois Duval said: "It was hard work following in Petter's dust, but the big problem was hitting the rock early in the day. It wasn't right to call it a puncture, the mousse never stood a chance, we'd broken the wheel."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "I'm just not having any luck at all. We had some big problems with the car being down on power after we'd hit the rock and then this afternoon the turbo failed (thought to be a symptom of the earlier problems). We had to stop in the stage and disconnect the pipe. It's been a frustrating day."
Peugeot
Technical: All three of the Peugeot 206 WRCs ran without mechanical fault through today's nine stages.Sporting: Marcus Gronholm smashed the right-rear suspension on his 206 WRC on the ninth stage, dropping 1m 50s getting the car out. The reigning world champion had been leading the rally early in the leg. Gronholm also claimed to have been accredited a wrong time on SS7. Should his demand be accepted, he would still remain in sixth, but 20" closer to Loeb.
Richard Burns felt his car was sliding too much on the first loop of stages. He made changes to the car throughout the day in an attempt to try and fine tune the handling. He would end the day in third place. Harri Rovanpera ended the day fourth.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "The rock we hit was big, very big. It was only a second-gear corner, but we slid wide and hit the rear wheel hard on the rock. This was not too far into the stage, so for the next 24 kilometres things were very exciting."
Richard Burns said: "The car didn't feel right at the front. We were suffering from quite bad understeer, it just won't turn in. Even in the fast corners, you turn in and you can feel it wandering."
Harri Rovanpera said: "Running further back on the road really hasn't been good for us today. This morning we had two punctures after hitting rocks that had been pulled out and then we dropped 40 seconds in Mikko Hirvonen's dust."
Subaru
Technical: Tommi Makinen's Subaru Impreza WRC 2003s suffered serious transmission problems at the start of SS8, forcing the Finn to drive two stages and the road sections in second gear. Petter Solberg's car ran reliably throughoutSporting: Makinen held an early top three place after setting two fastest times, but his hopes of winning this event went out of the window with the gearbox problem, on the last of the middle loop of today's stages. The problem was with the selector and the unit was changed at lunchtime service. Unfortunately for the Finn, he dropped so much time going through SS8 that he incurred a penalty for late arrival at the start of SS9. Petter Solberg rolled on the fifth stage this morning, dropping two minutes, but ran without problems for the remainder of the day making up places and progressing back up the leaderboard.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "We were having some problems with the brakes in left-hand corners. On the first stage this morning this caused us to spin and hit the bank. The roll came in a slow fourth gear corner. We got out and then the spectators came and we got it back on the wheels."
Tommi Makinen said: "On the first loop of stages, everything was good. The car, and especially the new suspension, felt fine. Then we couldn't get a gear at the start of the eighth stage. Eventually we managed to get second gear, but we dropped so much time going through the stages at that speed. Now we're just going to keep going and see what we can do, see if we can make any points."
Hyundai
Technical: Freddy Loix retired his Accent WRC3 after the sixth stage with engine problems. Armin Schwarz's car ran without any mechanical problems.Sporting: Loix's car cut out half way through the stage. Initial thoughts were of a water-related problem, because the car had just come through a water splash, but it was discovered to be an electrical fault. Schwarz maintained his early top ten placing, despite problems with the car's shock absorbers and being forced to drive with his door open for three kilometres following a watersplash in SS5.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "We found the limits of the shock absorbers at shakedown yesterday. Now we are driving within those limits, which means we are having to take it steady in places. The door opening was a strange one, I've no idea how it happened, but I struggled for a while with dust and water coming in before I was able to get it shut again."
David Whitehead said: "Loix car's problem was with the boost pressure sensor, which appears to have broken up and stopped communicating with the engine management system. The engine overheated, went on to a default setting and eventually stopped. After a long discussion over the radio, Freddy got the car started again - but they had dropped 27 minutes."
Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister's Octavia WRC suffered a broken track control arm on SS5 today. Didier Auriol felt the car's suspension wasn't working right for the morning stages, otherwise it was reliable.Sporting: Following the implementation of a 60-second penalty, Gardemeister's rally went further downhill on the opening loop of three stages when he clouted a rock and damaged the steering. Gardemeister admitted he had struggled with the size of the Octavia on some of the day's narrower stages. Auriol suffered suspension trouble early in the day.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "The car has been hard to drive. It's quite strange because at the test it felt very good, there were no problems."
Toni Gardemeister said: "Starting this morning with the 60-second penalty was not very nice, but the first stage was okay. On the second stage this morning we hit a stone which knocked the tracking out and made the car hard to handle in the fast sections."
Other entries
Toshi Arai leads the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship standings in his Subaru Impreza, the Japanese driver is comfortably ahead of the reigning Junior World Rally Championship champion Dani Sola, who is enjoying his best run yet in his Mitsubishi Lancer. Ford Focus RS WRC driver Antony Warmbold is the leading non-factory driver in 13th place, with local driver Gabriel Raies's challenge falling away in his Toyota Corolla WRC.09/05/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 78 crews (31 Group A and 47 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: Loix (B), McRae (GB) and 28 other drivers
TODAY: Friday 9 May
Leg 1 restarted from Carlos Paz at 06h25 and covered 572.53km, including 169.10km on 11 stages. The first car arrived back in Carlos Paz at 20h43.TOMORROW: Saturday 10 May
Leg 2 starts from Carlos Paz at 06h55 and covers 552.89km, including 153.90km on nine stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Carlos Paz at 20h22.WEATHER FORECAST: Overcast early in the morning, sunny in the afternoon.
SS1 Super Special Pro-Racing 1 (3.02km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 2m 09.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2m 11.0
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 2m 11.4SS2 Super Special Pro-Racing 2 (3.02km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2m 09.4
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 2m 10.3
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 2m 10.5LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 4m 20.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 4m 22.5
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 4m 23.0
These two stages were run yesterdaySS3 EL REPOSO-LOS SAUCES 1 (10.03km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 5m 44.9
2 Martin (EE) Ford 5m 48.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 5m 48.3LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 10m 05.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 10m 10.8
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 10m 12.6SS4 CANADA DE RIO PINTO-VILLA ALBERTINA 1 (10.91km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 7m 43.4
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 7m 46.5
3 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 7m 46.6LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 17m 48.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 17m 57.9
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 18m 00.6
SS5 VILLA ALBERTINA-ISCHILIN 1 (15.17km)
1 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 8m 54.5
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 54.7
= Martin (E) Ford 8m 57.7
4 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 58.8LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 26m 43.2
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 26m 57.9
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 26m 59.6SS6 MUSEO FADER-ONGAMIRA 1 (18.49km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 10m 12.7
2 Martin (EE) Ford 10m 14.2
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 10m 14.9LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 36m 58.1
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 37m 13.0
3 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 37m 13.4SS7 LA FALDA-VILLA GIARDINO 1 (9.37km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 6m 25.1
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 6m 27.6
3 Martin (EE) Ford 6m 29.3LEADERS AFTER SS7
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 43m 38.1
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 43m 43.1
3 Martin (EE) Ford 43m 46.1SS8 LA CUMBRE-AGUA DE ORO 1 (21.70km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 18m 47.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 18m 50.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 18m 50.9LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Sainz (FIN) Peugeot 1h 02m 35.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 02m 36.4
3 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 02m 39.8SS9 ASCOCHINGA-LA CUMBRE 1 (28.83km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 19m 07.4
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 19m 07.6
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 19m 10.0LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 21m 43.0
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 22m 14.3
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 22m 16.2SS10 EL REPOSO-LOS SAUCES 2 (10.03km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 5m 38.4
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 5m 40.0
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 5m 43.7LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 27m 27.9
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 27m 58.0
3 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 27m 58.7
SS11 CANADA DE RIO PINTO-VILLA ALBERTINA 2 (10.91km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 7m 38.2
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 7m 41.1
3 Martin (EE) Ford 7m 42.3LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 35m 13.6
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 35m 41.0
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 1h 35m 45.0SS12 VILLA ALBERTINA-ISCHILIN 2 (15.17km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 8m 47.5
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 8m 51.5
3 Martin (EE) Ford 8m 53.0LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 44m 09.6
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 44m 34.0
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 44m 44.3SS13 MUSEO FADER-ONGAMIRA 2 (18.49km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 9m 49.6
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 9m 51.3
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 9m 51.6LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 54m 01.2
2 Martin (EE) Ford +22.4
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot +40.1
4 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +41.8
5 Loeb (F) Citroen +50.2
6 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot +1m 24.3
7 Duval (B) Ford +2m 38.3
8 Solberg (N) Subaru +2m 43.3
9 Schwarz (D) Hyundai +3m 03.0
10 Auriol (F) Skoda +3m 06.8
Rally Argentina 2003 - Pre Event
Thursday, 8 May 2003
Richard Burns' second place on the last round of the FIA World Rally Championship in New Zealand was enough for him to maintain his status as the leader of the driver's title race. Burns has yet to win his first event for the Peugeot team, but the Englishman has succeeded in Argentina previously - taking maximum points in 2000. His team-mate Marcus Gronholm's New Zealand win promoted him to second in the standings. The combined efforts of the two 206 WRC drivers was enough for Peugeot to ease into the lead of the manufacturer's championship, five points clear of Citroen.Rally Argentina has changed from last year. The stages around Mina Clavero - south-west of the event's base in Villa Carlos Paz - have been removed, allowing the organisers to use the town of La Cumbre as a single service park. The other change for this year is the rallies complete absence from the Cordoba area. Last year the finish was in the Olympic Stadium, this time around it is alongside the lake in Villa Carlos Paz. The stages, however, remain as tough as ever - with leg one providing a particularly tough challenge with 11 stages and 175km of competitive driving.
Citroen will be enjoying these stages for the first time, not having competed with the Xsara WRC previously. Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae currently hold third and fourth, with equal points, in the standings, with Carlos Sainz one point further back.
Marlboro Peugeot Total (1st - 49 points)
Technical: The Peugeots arrive here in the same specification that they tackled Rally of New Zealand.Sporting: The Peugeot 206 WRC has yet to win this event, although the French team came close last season, before Gronholm and Burns were both excluded for technical infringements after the finish of the 2002 rally. The last event in New Zealand was Peugeot's most successful outing of 2003, marking the team's first one-two finish of the season. Harri Rovanpera has struggled this season, he did not compete in Monte Carlo and has failed to finish any of the last three rallies. Gilles Panizzi completed the recce for this event, but as he is not taking part in Rally Argentina he went home on Wednesday.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "I am not thinking about last year at all, that's history. I am quite happy with the car, we didn't make any significant changes at shakedown. We are definitely here to try and win this rally."
Richard Burns said: "I like this event, but I preferred it when we used the stages further south. The car feels good, there's nothing new on it since the last round - we're running a similar set-up to New Zealand, with the suspension a little bit higher to cope with some of the rougher stages."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I don't feel that I am under any pressure because of what's happened at the start of this season. If the result comes for me on this rally, then it comes for me."
Citroen Total (2nd - 44 points)
Technical: The three Xsara WRCs, which were new for the last round, remain unchanged in specification from New Zealand.Sporting: Both Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz have won this event before, but Sebastien Loeb has never competed here - but did carry out the recce last season. Citroen has won two of the four rallies so far this season - Loeb in Monte Carlo and Sainz in Turkey - but the drivers felt the car needed work on the engine after being outgunned on the faster stages in New Zealand.
Quotes: Colin McRae said: "This is an event I enjoy, but it looks like the stages are going to get quite badly cut up. New Zealand was obviously a disappointment for us, we're looking to make up for that here."
Sebastien Loeb said: "It's hard to know what I can do here, obviously it's a disadvantage not having competed on this rally before. I'm going to be looking at the set-up that Colin and Carlos take because we're not allowed to test on rallies outside of Europe."
Carlos Sainz said: "Argentina is always a good event. I won here last year, okay it's not the way you always want to win - but I have been on the other end of decisions like that in my career before. I like this country and the people, it's nice to come somewhere where all of the locals speak Spanish."
Ford Motor Company (3rd - 26 points)
Technical: Markko Martin has a new Focus RS WRC03 for this event, while Francois Duval drive's Martin's New Zealand car. Mikko Hirvonen remains in a 2002-specification Focus.Sporting: Martin is the only one of the three drivers to have competed on this event previously, the Estonian finishing fourth here last season. The pace of both Martin and the new Focus in New Zealand was one of the talking points of the fourth round. He set a string of fastest times through leg two before a broken cam belt forced him out of second overall. Duval finished the event and scored a point for Ford in the sister car, although he had been slowed early on by hydraulic trouble.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I'm not sure what I think of this rally. When we were recceing some of the stages, I liked some of the stages, but then there were some which weren't so good. It's not such a fast rally as New Zealand. The last rally was good for me and the team, it would be nice to do the same times here."
Francois Duval said: "Coming to this rally for the first time is not going to be so difficult as going to New Zealand for the first time: the stages here are not so specialised. I did the recce here last year, but the notes I made weren't so good, so I've made new ones for this season. Some of the stages here look a little rough, but we tested in Portugal before coming here and the car worked well over rough roads."
"Mikko Hirvonen said: "My aim here is to get through the rally without any mistakes and get some experience for next season. It would be nice to get into the top ten."
555 Subaru World Rally Team (4th - 22 points)
Technical: The Subaru Impreza WRC2003 features new dampers for this event and both Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg will have new cars at their disposal. The team completed two gravel tests in preparation for this event, one in Spain and one at the notoriously rough Chateau Lastours test venue in France.Sporting: Solberg scored his best finish of the season in New Zealand, taking third overall after what he admitted had been a sensible drive. The Norwegian driver failed to finish in Monte Carlo and Turkey earlier this season, but his efforts on the Auckland-based fourth round have moved him up to eighth in the table, just two points behind Makinen. Makinen is a previous winner of Rally Argentina.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "Some of the new stages which have been included for this year are very fast and - in some places really rough. The first test of the new dampers went well before this event. It was nice to be on the podium again in New Zealand, it would be good to get there again on this rally."
Tommi Makinen said: "I'm not thinking about last year's rally (where he crashed heavily). You put those things out of your mind, forget them. I like this event, it's one of my favourites of the season. The car felt very good in the test, very nice to drive. I'm feeling positive about this rally."
Skoda Motorsport (5th - 12 points)
Technical: The Skoda Octavia WRC remains in the same specification it has been in throughout the 2003 season. Development work is now being directed towards the team's all-new Fabia WRC which is set to make its debut towards the end of the season.Sporting: Toni Gardemeister arrives in Villa Carlos Paz on the back of his best result of the year: fifth overall in New Zealand. The Finn was backed up by team-mate Didier Auriol who also managed his best showing in the team which he joined for this season when he brought his Octavia home in eighth place. The Frenchman found the handling of his car troublesome for the first two legs of the last round, but Argentina is a rally he has won twice previously and he's looking forward to it. Gardemeister starts the rally with a 60-second penalty for breach of regulation 13.1.5.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I have a good feeling for this rally. I want to push hard from the start of the event, but realistically we don't stand a chance of winning. The priority for me is to get some more points for the team and to be as close as possible to the front of the field."
Toni Gardemeister said: "I like this rally, I finished fifth here last year. The thing I don't really like about the event is the fog and the rain - although we do seem to go quite well under those sort of conditions. So far we have had a good year, I hope the weather stays dry and we can go flat out from the start."
Hyundai World Rally Team (6th - 3 points)
Technical: Hyundai has continued to refine the developments it made to the Accent WRC's engine and suspension for the last round in New Zealand. As both Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz crashed their cars heavily on round four, the team has been working flat out to get a brace of 2002 cars up to the new specification.Sporting: Rally Argentina has happy memories for the British-based team, it scored its first points in the FIA World Rally Championship on this event in 2000. This season so far, however, hasn't provided much success for the team. Hyundai has gathered three points from the four rallies which have gone before this one, but there is plenty of optimism for this week's rally - especially as Freddy Loix wents fastest on one of t last year's stages.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "This is only my third attempt at this event, and I haven't finished one of them - so I want to get to the end to get more experience."
Freddy Loix said: "The stages are quite rough in places - a little bit like those in Greece - but a bit faster. I've scored points here on my last two visits to the rally, so I think we can do it again. Hopefully the engine modifications we made for New Zealand will assist us here."
Other entries
This event is the third round of the FIA Production Car Championship and of the top three drivers of the standings, only reigning champion Karamjit Singh will start this event. Six drivers have decided to miss Rally Argentina - as the crews can only score points on six from the seven rallies included in the calendar for production category cars.German driver Antony Warmbold leads the charge of the non-works World Rally Cars in his Ford Focus RS WRC, with Gabriel Pozzo driving a Skoda Octavia WRC and top local driver Gabriel Raies (Toyota Corolla WRC) following him.
08/05/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: Rally Argentina is the 5th of 14 events in the FIA World Rally Championship.
ENTRIES: 92 (30 Group A, 62 Group N)
DRIVERS: Andorra 1, Argentina 43, Belgium 3, Brazil 1, Bulgaria 1, Canada 1, Croatia 1, Chile 3, Ecuador 2, Estonia 1, Finland 5, France 2, Germany 2, Great Britain 4, Italy 7, Japan 2, Malaysia 1, Mexico 1, New Zealand 2, Oman 1, Peru 2, Poland 2, Norway 1, Uruguay 1, Spain 2.
MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru
CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 3, Fiat 5, Ford 4, Honda 2, Hyundai 3, Mitsubishi 39, Opel 2, Peugeot 3, Proton 1, Renault 5, SEAT 9, Skoda 3, Subaru 12 Toyota 1
TIMETABLE:
Thursday 8 May
Leg 1 starts from Carlos Paz at 18h30 and covers 13,80km including two runs at the 3.02km Super Special Complejo Pro-Racing track.Friday 9 May
Leg 1 restarts from Carlos Paz at 06h25 and covers 572.53km, including 169.10km on 11 stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Carlos Paz at 20h43.Saturday 10 May
Leg 2 starts from Carlos Paz at 06h55 and covers 552.89km, including 153.90km on nine stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Carlos Paz at 20h22.Sunday 11 May
Leg 3 starts from Carlos Paz at 08h30 and covers 240.39km, including 59.90km on three stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Carlos Paz at 14h30.Total
The rally covers 1379.61km, including 388.94km on 25 special stages (including ten run twice). All stages are on gravel roads closed to other traffic.TOMORROW:
Friday 7 February
Leg 1 restarts from Carlos Paz at 06h25 and covers 572.53km, including 169.10km on 11 stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Carlos Paz at 20h43.WEATHER FORECAST: Misty conditions early with the sun coming out later.
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