2003 WRC mailing list, brought to you by:
http://www.wrc-online.netACROPOLIS RALLY
6th round of 14 in the 2003 World Rally Championship
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[WRC] Acropolis Rally 2003 - Leg 3, Final Report
Sunday, 8 June 2003
Estonian Markko Martin scored his first win in the FIA World Rally Championship in Greece today. The Ford Focus RS WRC 03 driver was untroubled through the final leg of the Acropolis Rally, which took crews south of the event's Lamia base for two loops of three stages. Martin and co-driver Michael Park (Britain) had led the rally from the second stage on Friday. This was also Ford's first win with the new car which was introduced to the championship in April.Citroen's Carlos Sainz took second place after a fight to the finish with Petter Solberg. Solberg moved ahead of Sainz with two stages to go, only to get stuck behind an ailing Colin McRae on the penultimate test. The Subaru driver entered the final stage 9.4 seconds adrift of Sainz. Solberg set his fourth fastest time from the six stages run today, but he missed out on second by 6.7 seconds. Fourth place was enough for Richard Burns to extend his lead in the driver's championship, while Ford's success trims Peugeot's lead in the manufacturer's standings to 11 points.
Frenchman Brice Tirabassi won the FIA Junior World Rally Championship round to extend his lead at the top of that table.
Ford
Technical: Francois Duval slid off the road on the fifth stage of the event, while Mikko Hirvonen went out when he lost a wheel on leg two. Markko Martin's car broke a rear anti-roll bar on the opening loop of stages this morning.Sporting: Martin controlled the rally from the front through the final leg, arriving back in Lamia with a 46-second gap over second-placed Sainz. The anti-roll bar problem - on the second stage today - affected the car's handling slightly, but otherwise it was a clean run for Martin.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "This is a big result for everybody in the team. The only time I thought maybe we weren't going to win this event, was when the bonnet flew up on the first day. Then I thought: "Oh no. Here we go again, the longest stage of the rally and another strange problem for us." But we managed to minimise the time loss and here we are, winners at the finish."
Michael Park said: "I've dreamt of this day for a lot of years and there are a lot of people who I'll be thanking at home in Britain for getting me to this stage. Markko has driven a great rally, showing he can even do it when he can't really see where he's going!"
Malcolm Wilson said: "This result means so much to everybody. It's a fantastic thing to be able to give Markko his first win, but at the same time it's so important for Ford and our new sponsors BP. It's amazing, and to think this is only the car's third rally - and we have shown winning pace on the two before it. Brilliant."
Citroen
Technical: Sebastien Loeb's Citroen Xsara WRC retired with engine problems on the first stage of the event. McRae's brake problems continued into the final leg and were compounded by an electrical glitch which affected the throttle on the penultimate stage. Sainz's car ran without mechanical problems.Sporting: Sainz felt he took a Michelin tyre that was too hard for the conditions this morning, but came out on top of his major fight with Solberg through the final stage.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "I am happy with this result. I don't think we could have done much better. The rally has generally gone well, we had to make a few adjustments to the car to start with, but then it was good. It's good to keep hold of second place today."
Colin McRae said: "Things were going to plan until that last-but-one stage, when the throttle problem hit us. We were about two kilometres from the end of the stage when it went wrong. Derek (Ringer, co-driver) had to get out and jam the throttle open. We got through the stage then. On the road section we switched the engine off and suddenly it worked fine. This is a lot of hard work for one point."
Subaru
Technical: Both Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen's Subaru Impreza WRC 2003s ran without mechanical problems through the final leg.Sporting: Solberg had closed the gap to Sainz to 0.9s after the first loop of three stages this morning. Fastest on the first two, Solberg dropped half a second to the Spaniard on the third. On the repeat loop through the afternoon, he moved past Sainz on the first stage of the loop, but then got caught behind Colin McRae on the penultimate test. Sainz re-passed him and, despite setting fastest time, Solberg couldn't get second place back. Makinen was embroiled in a battle for fifth place with Burns. He stalled twice on the first two stages and then felt he'd run on a tyre too soft for the afternoon stages. Burns passed him and Makinen ended the event fifth. Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "We pushed hard on the first two stages this morning and got the time right down, but then in the third one we thought we might not be so quick. There was a lot of uphill stuff which didn't suit the car so well. I was happy to get past Carlos, but then we found Colin with no throttle on the last stage. It was terrible, he didn't move over so in the end I had to hit him in the back. Third is not a bad result, but second would have been better for us."Tommi Makinen said: "The team had made some more changes to the car overnight and today it felt quite okay. I took my decision with the tyres for the stages this afternoon, but I made a miscalculation about the heat. The tyres were too soft, it was completely my own mistake."
Peugeot
Technical: Harri Rovanpera's car ran reliably through the final leg, while Richard Burns' 206 WRC was still hampered by the gearbox problems which struck on SS13. The Peugeot team is unable to change the gearbox, having installed the one permitted spare gearbox on the opening leg. Marcus Gronholm retired at the end of leg one with a broken fuel pump.Sporting: Rovanpera ended the event in sixth position following an undramatic final leg. Burns pushed as hard as he dared with his broken gearbox, and managed to get past Makinen and into fourth place on the final stage of the rally.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "I haven't been thinking about catching Tommi today. My first priority was to get the car to the finish, with this gearbox problem, but having done that it was a great result for us. I have to say I am a little surprised that the gearbox has taken this punishment; okay we noticed a few noises coming from some of the other gears, but they have kept on working. I said I wanted to keep my lead here and that's what I've done. I am happy."
Harri Rovanpera said: "We haven't done anything today. No testing on the car, no changes to the car, just driving the stages. For me this rally was a little bit lost, with the gearbox problemon the second day."
Corrado Provera said: "I am very happy for Richard, he drove a very good event, but I do feel for Harri Rovaqnpera - he doesn't seem to be able to do anything to get a result. Marcus as well would have been very close without his problem. But after that, I have to say a big and genuine well done to Ford. We know what it is like trying to win with a new car and they have done it. Congratulations to them".
Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister's Octavia retired on the second leg with no oil pressure.Sporting: Auriol was hit with a 20-second penalty following a late departure from first service this morning. The Skoda team took longer than expected changing the fuel pump on the Frenchman's Octavia. Auriol maintained his ninth place through the final day.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "Everything has been okay today. Some of the stages were suiting the car quite well. The roads weren't too rough today, which was good. This has been quite a hard rally - the Acropolis always is - so it's good for me and for the team to come out here with some points. Now we're going to test the new Fabia WRC in Italy next week. I'm looking forward to this, I haven't done so much with the car on asphalt, so it will be an interesting test.
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix went out of the rally on day one with mechanical problems, while Jussi Valimaki retired prior to leg two with clutch trouble. Manfred Stohl was driving a semi-works Accent WRC3 and had a trouble-free run through the final leg.Sporting: Austrian driver Stohl held a top ten place early in the leg, but then slipped back to 11th. This was his first ever outing in a Hyundai, but it was his 73rd round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Quotes: Manfred Stohl said: "I'm pleased to have finished this event and gained a lot of experience of the car and the team,. That was what I came here for, it was very important for me to learn about everything. I never thought I would be able to manage a result like this. I am so happy for everybody in the Hyundai team, myself and my sponsors."
Other entries
Brice Tirabassi took his second win in this year's FIA Junior World Rally Championship, with a comfortable victory in Greece today. The Renault Clio driver has led from the start of the event, and has never looked seriously threatened by anybody over the past three days. The final leg proved to be as trouble-free as the rest of the Frenchman's event. He said: "This morning a couple of the stages were slippery. We have been the first two-wheel-drive car into the stage, and we take a different line to the cars ahead of us, which means that our line isn't always being swept clean. Apart from that it's been a good day, I am very happy with the result, both on this rally and in the championship."Daniel Carlsson (Suzuki Ignis) took second place, with almost five minutes in hand over his team-mate Urmo Aava.Tirabassi's fellow Oreca team Renault driver Simon Jean-Joseph, won the A6 class overall, the Martinique driver being too old for eligibility for the FIA Junior World Rally Championship.Of the non-works World Rally Car drivers, Gilles Panizzi was the top finisher, bringing his Bozian-run, factory-specification Peugeot 206WRC home in eighth place, following a final leg without any problems. Behind him, 18-year-old Jari-Matti Latvala managed an astonishing top ten finish on only his second ever outing in the FIA World Rally Championship. The Finn drove sensibly throughout the event, to guide his M-Sport-run Ford Focus RS WRC 02 to the finish.08/06/2003 TODAY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 42 crews (31 Group A and 11 Group N) started this morning.TOP RETIREMENTS: Kresta (CZ), yesterday's last TC.
TODAY: Sunday 8 June
Leg 3 started from Lamia at 08h00 and coveed 336.83km, including 105.04km on six stages. The first car arrived back in Lamia at 16h20.SS17 DIKASTRO 1 (18.40km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 08.7
2 Martin (EE) Ford 16m 18.6
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 16m 19.7LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Martin (EE) Ford 3h 46m 44.4
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 47m 46.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 47m 51.5SS18 NEW TARZAN 1 (20.65km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 15m 27.8
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 15m 29.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 15m 30.4LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Martin (EE) Ford 4h 02m 16.9
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 4h 03m 18.9
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 03m 19.3SS19 AGIOS STEFANOS 1 (13.47km)
1 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 10m 02.6
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 10m 03.1
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 10m 03.4LEADERS AFTER SS19
1 Martin (EE) Ford 4h 12m 24.6
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 4h 13m 22.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 13m 22.9SS20 DIKASTRO 2 (18.40km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 15m 58.3
2 Panizzi (F) Peugeot 16m 04.1
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 16m 04.8LEADERS AFTER SS20
1 Martin (EE) Ford 4h 28m 36.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 29m 21.2
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 4h 29m 26.8SS21 NEW TARZAN 2 (20.65km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 15m 10.3
2 Panizzi (F) Peugeot 15m 13.1
3 Martin (EE) Ford 15m 13.6LEADERS AFTER SS21
1 Martin (EE) Ford 4h 43m 50.4
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 4h 44m 37.1
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 44m 46.5SS22 AGIOS STEFANOS 2 (13.47km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 5m 55.4
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 5m 56.4
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 5m 57.1LEADERS IN LAMIA AFTER SS22
1 Martin (EE) Ford 4h 53m 40.5
2 Sainz (E) Citroen +46.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru +52.7
4 Burns (GB) Peugeot +2m 06.6
5 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +2m 12.3
6 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +3m 44.7
7 Panizzi (F) Peugeot +3m 54.3
8 McRae (GB) Citroen +4m 05.0
9 Auriol (F) Skoda +6m 27.2
10 Latvala (FIN) Ford +11m 33.4JUNIOR WRC LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Tirabassi (F) Renault 5h 27m 34.0
2 Carlsson (S) Suzuki +55.2
3 Aava (EE) Proton +7m 28.7
4 Canellas (E) Suzuki +13m 21.2
5 Svedlund (S) Volkswagen +21m 48.1
6 Wilks (GB) Ford +36m 34.1FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: The rally covered 1443.80km, including 399.49km on 22 special stages (including ten run 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: 37 crews (26 Group A and 11 Group N) finished the rally
STAGE WINNERS: Martin (SS2-11-13-14-15)
Rovanpera (SS3-4-5-12)
Solberg (SS6-9-10-17-18-20-22)
Gronholm (SS7)
Duval (SS1)
Sainz (SS16-21)
Makinen(SS19)
SS8 was cancelledRALLY LEADERS: SS1 Duval SS2-SS22 Martin
FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 6 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers:
Burns (GB) 37, Sainz (E) 32, Gronholm (FIN) 30, Martin (EE) 23, Solberg (N) 19, C. McRae (GB) 18,Loeb (F) 17, Makinen (FIN) 15, Duval (B) 9,Gardemeister (FIN) 9, RovanperaSchwarz (D) 1.FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Peugeot 73, Citroen 62, Ford 39, Subaru 37, Skoda 20, Hyundai 3.FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 3 of 7 rounds):
Tirabassi (F) 20, Canellas (E) 13, Aava (EE) 11, Katajamaki (FIN) 10, Wilks (GB) 9,Carlsson (S) 8, Ligato (I) 8, Broccoli (RSM) 6, others.FIA Production Car World Championship (after 3 of 7 rounds, this event not counting):
Blomqvist (S) 11, Singh (MAL) 11, Rowe (GB)11, Arai (J) 10, Ligato (RA) 8, Al Wahaibi (OM), Bourne (NZ) 5, Holowczyc (PL) 4, Ferreyros (PE) 4, Roman (S) 3, others.For more extensive results please consult the FIA Internet site at: www.fia.com
NEXT EVENT: June 19 - 22: Cyprus Rally, Limassol, Cyprus
Website: www.cyprusrally.org.cy
[WRC] Acropolis Rally 2003 - Leg 2
Saturday, 7 June 2003
Ford driver Markko Martin maintained his grip on the Acropolis Rally, round six of the FIA World Rally Championship, at the end of today's eight stages to the south of the rally's base in Lamia. The Estonian's chief rival, Peugeot's Harri Rovanpera, dropped out of the reckoning, when his 206 was struck by gearbox problems on the second stage this morning. Martin's car ran without fault on the stages, although he and co-driver Michael Park turned mechanics between the second two tests this morning when an electrical connection in the gearbox broke. With help from the engineers over the radio the pair sorted the problem out and drove the next stage without any problems.This morning Martin admitted he was still feeling the effects of driving 20km of yesterday's Elatia stage with the bonnet up, blocking the air intake. But by the afternoon, he was feeling fine and demonstrated this by setting fastest time on four of the day's stages.
Citroen driver Carlos Sainz is second overnight after a trouble-free day in his Xsara WRC, while Petter Solberg battled back after dropping one minute with a broken driveshaft on his Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 to end the leg in third spot.
Ford
Technical: Markko Martin's Ford Focus RS WRC 03 ran without mechanical fault throughout the day.Sporting: Martin continues to lead the event, having started the day with a 4.8-second lead over Rovanpera. He dropped some of that on the first stage, but made it all back up on the next one when Rovanpera hit gearbox trouble. Martin was caught in Rovanpera's dust which cost some time, however. The only other minor drama for the leader was a gearbox problem which developed between stages ten and 11. Martin and his co-driver Michael Park were on the radio for advice while they reconnected a sensor. Martin ended the day with a 55.8sec lead. The other driver running in a semi-works capacity is Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford's 18-year-old RS WRC 02 driver. The Finn enjoyed his day to bring the car home in 12th position.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "We had to stop twice in the dust, which was bad from Harri's car this morning. Then this afternoon the gearbox problem could have been very bad for us. I noticed something on the data on the road section, but we were able to pull over and get the connector back together. It would have been very bad if we couldn't, it would have meant us using the manual shift."
Malcolm Wilson said: "I am pleased with what both Francois and Mikko did yesterday. Francois in particular did a very good job, and from the television you can see that the accident wasn't really his fault. He drove well through the proceeding stages and it just shows what he is capable of, he's led another rally. Imagine what his time would have been like without the spin in that first stage. Right now, though, all eyes are on Markko who is doing a fantastic job for us."
Citroen
Technical: Colin McRae's Xsara WRC was hit by brake problems on the first and second loops of stages, but Carlos Sainz's car run reliably.Sporting: Leg two was a good one for Citroen, with both of the remaining Xsaras closing in on the top three positions. Sainz hit second spot when two of the three cars ahead of him ran into trouble. McRae eased his way past Makinen on pace.
Quotes: Colin McRae said: "The team didn't tell me new pads had been fitted to the car for the first stage, so when I started to use them, they weren't bedded in. We got to the end of the stage and they were on fire. We had no brakes for the next road section, but they can back a little for the next stage. On the middle loop there was a reoccurrence of brake trouble with the rears, we did not really have any. I'm going at about the same pace as yesterday. I'm not going to push any harder, once you do that there's a danger of starting to overdrive the car and losing time that way."
Carlos Sainz said: "I am happy with the car now. I'm not going to be making any more changes. Everything has gone well for us today, but there's still a long way to go. Everybody around is pushing hard, it wouldn't be the rally if people weren't pushing."
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg's Impreza broke a driveshaft on the third stage this morning. Tommi Makinen suffered suspension trouble on the first loop of stages.Sporting: Prior to his problem on the third stage of the day, Solberg had been fastest on two stages, still promising that he wasn't taking any risks, The differential trouble, cost him one minute and he dropped back from third to fifth through the Drosohori test. Makinen benefited from his team-mate's demise - and that of Rovanpera - to move into an early third place, despite his suspension trouble. The remainder of the day went well for both drivers.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I'm, not going to say that I'm out of this rally. Anything can happen here; I know this because it happened to me this morning. We haven't pushed too hard this afternoon, not taken too many risks, but we will be having a big push tomorrow. I can still win here."
Tommi Makinen said: "We had a puncture on stage 13, but the mousse worked okay. Apart from that, everything is okay. We have had quite a lot of oversteer in some of the stages today, when the suspension goes soft then the back end of the car is sliding out wide."
Peugeot
Technical: Harri Rovanpera suffered a gearbox problem on the second stage of the day. Richard Burns' car also had gearbox problems, the Englishman lost second gear ten kilometres after the start of SS13. Marcus Gronholm retired from third place when the fuel pump broke six kilometres from the final service park last night.Sporting: Rovanpera had closed on the leader through the first stage of the day, but on the tenth test of event his 206 WRC would not engage second gear, which was shortly followed by third gear. He dropped down the order to eighth place, dropping one and a half minutes on that test and then another two minutes on the next one. By the end of the day, Rovanpera was seventh.
Burns' day had started well, with top three times on stages ten, 11 and 12. He'd climbed to sixth when his gearbox broke for the second leg in succession. Because the rules stipulate that manufacturers can only use two gearboxes, Burns had to go out into the day's final loop of three stages with the broken transmission.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "Running further back on the road helped us on the stages this morning, but then the gearbox breaking again is a big problem. It's hard to keep other drivers behind, when we have problems like this."
Harri Rovanpera said: "The gearbox problem was a disaster for me. On a rally like this, you use second and third gears all of the time, so not to have them is terrible. On SS11, I had to stop at a hairpin trying to find a gear to get going again. It is such a pity, things were going so well for us."
Skoda
Technical: Didier Auriol's Octavia WRC was suffering from suspension trouble this morning, while Toni Gardemeister retired his car with no oil pressure yesterday.Sporting: Auriol started the leg in ninth place and ended the day in the same spot. He wasn't happy with the car's handling, but accepted that on the rough Greek roads, finding the perfect set-up was always going to be hard. The Frenchman remains in a manufacturer's point-scoring position, which he hopes to maintain tomorrow. He ended his day on a high, setting second fastest time in the Lilea Superspecial.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "Some of the stages have been very bad today. We seemed to knock the steering out somewhere, it didn't feel right at all. Okay, all we can do now is carry on and drive for the finish."
Hyundai
Technical: The Accents WRC3.5s of Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix retired yesterday, while the WRC3 version of Jussi Valimake retired before the first test this morning..Sporting: Valimaki's clutch was set to be changed at first service this morning. Unfortunately for the team, there was a problem with bleeding the transmission system, which was only fixed 45 seconds before Valimaki and the team went out of rally. The Finn couldn't make it to the control and their event was over.
Quotes: Jussi Valimaki said: "It's quite disappointing. Yesterday when everything was okay, we were setting some very good times. I was happy with the car, but we had a clutch problem last night, which was going to be sorted out at service; but there was a problem with the system, which meant it couldn't be bled in time and that was the end.
David Whitehead: "This is another disappointing result for us. We came here feeling that we could come away with a result, but it hasn't happened. We're not going to let our heads go down, we look ahead to Cyprus. We are hoping to test before Cyprus, but again the problems we had here are not problems we've had anywhere before."
Other entries
Renault driver Brice Tirabassi continues to lead the FIA Junior World Rally Championship. The Frenchman's Renault Clio has been at the top of the standings since the start of the event. The brake problems which hampered him through leg one, have not re-appeared on a trouble-free second leg for the driver. Daniel Carlsson remains in second spot, despite suffering a puncture on his Suzuki. Finland's Kosti Katajamaki retired from the event with a broken gearbox on his Volkswagen Polo. Third place was held by Urmo Aava in another Suzuki. The leading non-works driver remained Gilles Panizzi who suffered a broken shock absorber this morning, but otherwise enjoyed a clean run in his factory-specification, Bozian-run Peugeot 206 WRC.07/06/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 52 crews (41 Group A and 11 Group N) started this morning.TOP RETIREMENTS: Gronholm (FIN) yesterday's last TC. Valimaki (FIN).
TODAY: Saturday 7 June
Leg 2 started from Lamia at 06h00 and covered 608.67km, including 148.63km on eight stages. The first car arrived back in Lamia at 19h55.TOMORROW: Sunday 8 June
Leg 3 starts from Lamia at 08h00 and covers 336.83km, including 105.04km on three stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Lamia at 16h20.WEATHER FORECAST: Remain hot and sunny.
SS9 MENDENITSA (17.34km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 10m 55.0
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 10m 59.6
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 00.9LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 58m 36.7
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 58m 40.7
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 1h 58m 53.9SS10 BAUXITES 1 (23.45km)
1 Solberg (E) Subaru 14m 14.8
2 Sainz (EE) Citroen 14m 16.7
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 14m 18.8LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 13m 02.0
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 13m 08.7
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 13m 29.2SS11 DROSOHORI 1 (17.76km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 14m 48.6
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 14m 52.4
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 14m 53.7LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 27m 50.6
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 28m 21.6
3 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 2h 28m 52.1SS12 RENGINI 2 (11.84km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 8m 30.2
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 8m 31.3
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 8m 34.4LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Martin (E) Ford 2h 36m 28.1
2 Sainz (EE) Citroen 2h 36m 57.8
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 2h 37m 28.4SS13 ELATIA-ZELI 2 (34.68km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 23m 44.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 23m 49.2
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 23m 49.7LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Martin (E) Ford 3h 00m 12.3
2 Sainz (EE) Citroen 3h 00m 52.8
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 3h 01m 23.4SS14 BAUXITES 2 (23.45km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 13m 51.9
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 13m 53.0
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 13m 55.5LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Martin (EE) Ford 3h 14m 04.2
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 14m 53.7
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 15m 16.9SS15 DROSOHORI 2 (17.76km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 14m 23.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 14m 27.3
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 14m 30.3LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Martin (EE) Ford 3h 28m 27.8
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 3h 29m 24.0
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 29m 44.2SS16 LILEA-PARNASSOS 2 (2.43km)
1 Sainz (E) Citroen 1m 57.6
2 Auriol (F) Skoda 1m 58.0
3 Martin (EE) Ford 1m 58.0
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1m 58.3LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Martin (EE) Ford 3h 30m 25.8
2 Sainz (E) Citroen +55.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru +1m 17.0
4 McRae (GB) Citroen +1m 33.6
5 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +2m 05.0
6 Burns (GB) Peugeot +2m 10.7
7 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +3m 31.1
8 Panizzi (F) Peugeot +3m 34.9
9 Auriol (F) Skoda +4m 12.9
10 Kresta (CZ) Peugeot +7m 22.2
[WRC] Acropolis Rally 2003 - Leg 1
Friday, 6 June 2003
Ford driver Markko Martin picked up in Greece where he'd left off on the last round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Argentina. The Estonian retired from the South American event while leading - and he ended leg one of this week's Acropolis Rally in the same position. Martin had been forced to give best to his team-mate Francois Duval on the opening test, however. From stage two onwards though, Martin led. Duval maintained the Ford one-two until the fifth stage of the day, when he slid off the road in his Focus. Martin's day wasn't without incident either. He was forced to drive 20 kilometres of that stage with the bonnet up on his car, following a heavy compression through a dip in the road which forced the bonnet up. Despite extremely limited visibility, Martin was an amazing fourth quickest on the stage. Peugeot's honour is being defended by Harri Rovanpera who is close on the Ford driver's tail at the end of the today. Marcus Gronholm was third when he retired, only six kms before the final TC, with a fuel pump problem.Ford
Technical: Francois Duval retired his Ford Focus RS WRC 03 on SS5, sliding off the road eight kilometres from the finish of the test. Markko Martin's car ran reliably. Mikko Hirvonen retired his WRC 02 after breaking a wheel on the second run at the Pavliani stage.Sporting: There has been a Ford Focus RS WRC 03 at the head of the field all day today, with Duval leading after the opening test, only to give best to his team-mate Martin on the next stage. Martin maintained his advantage, despite having to drive 20 kilometres of the Elati - Zeli stage (the longest of the rally at 34km) with the bonnet up and blocking the screen. Despite this, however, he was still fourth fastest - just six seconds off the pace. Duval was in second place when he slid off the road. Hirvonen's only problem was excessive tyre wear on SS5.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "Everything is okay. The bonnet coming up was a bit of a pain. I don't know why it happened. We went into a quite a hard compression and then the bonnet flew up. I couldn't see very much, I was having to get right down and look under the bottom of the bonnet. It was really hard to find the corners, we were off the road for some of the time, but we made it through."
Francois Duval said: "I am really disappointed with this. Everything was going well, I was getting into the event and not going flat out. We came to a second or third gear corner, and there was a little mix up on the note. My co-driver told me something and I thought he meant something else. We just slid off the road a little and into a ditch. The problem was there were not enough spectators to help push the car out, so that was the end."
Peugeot
Technical: Richard Burns' 206 WRC suffered gearbox problems on the second loop of stages today. The Englishman lost third gear on SS4 and was having trouble selecting second gear by the end of the following stage. Rovanpera's car ran without fault. Gronholm car retired just before the end of leg one, with a fuel pump problem.Sporting: Harri Rovanpera felt he had chosen the wrong tyres for the first three stages of the rally. On the right rubber for stages four and five, the Finn moved up the order and was up to second by the end of the leg. Marcus Gronholm was left to sweep the stages clear, but managed the task well and - despite a spin on SS4 - limited the loss to hold third. Burns' transmission trouble dropped him down the order, but he fought back over the final trio of stages to hold an overnight tenth place.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm had said: "We knew when we came here - like we always do for these rallies, that the road surface was going to be a problem. It's not something to worry about now, we just have to get on with it. I had a spin on the fourth stage today which dropped us some time while I got the car turned around again." And after retiring: "It is really frustrating! We know the fuel is in the tank, but it cannot reach the engine!"
Richard Burns said: "On stages where you're not in first gear or fifth gear very often, losing third is a big handicap. There is quite a big gap between second and fourth, so I was having to rev the car very hard and then grab fourth. Coming down the box later in the next stage, I noticed the car wasn't selecting second too easily."
Harri Rovanpera said: "Running further back on the road has been good today, certainly the road has been swept for us, but at the same time there have been some big rocks uncovered as well. Apart from my tyre choice this morning, I'm happy with the way the day has gone."
Subaru
Technical: Both Subaru Impreza WRC 2003s ran without fault today.Sporting: The Subaru team was happy with the performance of the drivers today, feeling that Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg were ideally placed for an attack on tomorrow's stages. Both drivers had stalled their cars under braking, but that aside there were no major problems throughout this opening leg.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "The first time we stalled, we dropped about 20 seconds (on SS1) and then the second time we did it (in SS4) we lost about 15 seconds. It's quite hard to get one of these hot engines fired up again when they stall. Apart from that, I'm happy. We were planning to be around fifth at the end of today and we are a little bit ahead of the plan already."
Tommi Makinen said: "I think we have to make some changes to the set-up of the car, it feels a little bit lazy when I'm turning in to corners. We will make some alterations to the differentials and the suspension. We had new dampers for the last rally in Argentina - maybe we still don't know enough about them."
Citroen
Technical: Sebastien Loeb retired on the opening stage of the day when his Xsara WRC succumbed to an engine problem. Colin McRae dropped 50 seconds of road penalties when his car wouldn't start prior to the second stage of the day. Carlos Sainz's Xsara WRC ran without mechanical fault through the opening leg.Sporting: Sainz led the Citroen attack at the end of the day, but on the stages, it was McRae who had been fastest. The Scot's charge was blunted by the addition of 50 seconds to his total time after the car wouldn't start going into the second stage. He was in the top three stage times on fourof the morning's five stages, only to drop a little time over the final loop. Sainz stiffened his car for the second loop of stages, but felt it was too hard and came back towards the original settings for the final loop. The Spaniard's decision was clearly the right one as he turned a 4.6-second deficit to Makinen into a 0.3-second advantage over the Finn, to claim an overnight fifth.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "I wasn't so comfortable with the car this morning, but things have got better. On the first loop of stages there was still quite a lot of gravel around on the roads, there wasn't much of a line being swept clean. Now I am reasonably happy, we are not so far off Marcus (Gronholm) so that can't be bad."
Colin McRae said: "There's no point thinking about what we could have done without this 50-second penalty. It's there and we have to deal with it. We have managed to claw some of the time back and it's still possible that we can get a very good result at the end of the event."
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz retired on SS1 with a broken cam belt on his Accent WRC. Freddy Loix suffered a fire on the same stage after a pipe from the shock absorber broke spraying oil onto the turbo. The Belgian withdrew at the start of the third stage unable to fix his suspension trouble. Jussi Valimaki's WRC3 was reliable for leg one of the event.Sporting: Schwarz posted the second retirement of the event - two kilometres after Sebastien Loeb parked his Citroen. Loix made the decision not to start SS3, feeling he would only do further damage to his Accent WRC. Valimaki's was the sole remaining official Accent in 13th, albeit a WRC3 rather than the latest specification WRC3.5 which Schwarz and Loix had been using. Valimaki received a two-minute penalty for a breach of the gravel car regulations.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "It is so frustrating to go out of this rally so early, especially when we knew what the car could do on these type of stages. We haven't had the chance to prove ourselves at all here. The problem came 12.5 kilometres into SS1. The engine went sick and that was the end. It looks like trouble with the cam belt."
Jussi Valimaki said: "I remembered the fourth stage quite well and our time was good in there. On the next stage we hit a bump very hard and knocked the steering a little out of line. It was a very heavy impact, I thought we must have broken something in the steering."
Skoda
Technical: Didier Auriol's Octavia WRC ran reliably, while Toni Gardemeister retired after the fifth stage with no oil pressure.Sporting: Didier Auriol was happy with the way his car ran through the day, but felt he been a little conservative with his tyres through SS4, saving them for the long stage which followed. He brought the sole remaining Octavia home in ninth place at the end of today. Gardemeister wasn't happy with the handling on his car through the morning stages, but felt much better on the second loop - only for the engine to give trouble. He got out of SS5 but parked up 12 kiolometres outside of service.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "The road has been clean, but some big, big rocks pulled out - you don't know whether to go left or right around them when you arrive at speed. I thought we had a steering problem on SS5, but it was nothing. I shouldn't have taken it so easy on the fourth stage, we've been through SS5 and they're still okay."
Toni Gardemeister said: "The turbo blew on the car about eight kilometres from the finish and then Inoticed the oil pressure dropping. On the stage before, we had broken a shock absorber, but it was the oil pressure which finished it for us."
Other entries
Brice Tirabassi leads the FIA Junior World Rally Championship standings in his Renault Clio. The Frenchman has led the event all day, despite suffering a long brake pedal on the day's earlier stages. VW man Kosti Katajamaki held and early second, only to drop behind Daniel Carlsson (Suzuki) later in the leg. Gilles Panizzi is the leading non-works driver in the overall stakes, holding seventh place in his Bozian-run, works-specification 206WRC. Panizzi's Bozian team-mate Roman Kresta was fined $1,000 for breach of gravel car regulations.06/062003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 78 crews (31 Group A and 47 Group N) started this morning.RETIREMENTS: Duval (B), Hirvonen (FIN), Schwarz (D), Loix (B), Gardemeister (FIN), Loeb (F), Pykalisto (FIN), Gronholm (FIN) and 15 other drivers
TODAY: Friday 6 June
Leg 1 started from Lamia at 07h00 and covered 498.14km, including 145.66km on eight stages. The first car arrived back in Lamia at 19h38.TOMORROW: Saturday 7 June
Leg 2 starts from Lamia at 06h00 and covers 608.67km, including 148.63km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Lamia at 19h55.WEATHER FORECAST: Will remain dry and sunny.
SS1 PAVLIANI 1 (24.45km)
1 Duval (B) Ford 19m 54.7
2 Martin (EE) Ford 19m 56.6
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 19m 58.8SS2 STROMI 1 (14.61km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 11m 40.2
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 11m 42.9
3 Duval (B) Ford 11m 44.6LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Martin (EE) Ford 31m 36.8
2 Duval (B) Subaru 31m 39.3
3 Makinen (FIN) Citroen 31m 52.1SS3 ELFTHEROHORI (18.67km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 28.2
2 Martin (EE) Ford 11m 31.0
3 Duval (F) Ford 11m 31.6LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Martin (EE) Ford 43m 07.8
2 Duval (F) Ford 43m 10.9
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 43m 25.5SS4 RENGINI 1 (11.84km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 8m 41.8
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 8m 42.9
3 Duval (F) Ford 8m 46.4LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Martin (EE) Ford 51m 55.9
2 Duval (F) Ford 51m 57.3
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 51m 11.1SS5 ELATIA-ZELI 1 (34.68km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 24m 21.9
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 24m 24.4
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 24m 26.1LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 16m 23.8
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 16m 33.0
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 16m 48.5SS6 PAVLIANI 2 (24.45km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 19m 29.5
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 19m 36.7
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 19m 40.1LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 36m 06.5
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 36m 13.1
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 36m 25.2SS7 STROMI 2 (14.61km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 11m 25.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 25.8
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 26.7LEADERS AFTER SS7
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 47m 35.0
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 47m 39.8
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 47m 50.8SS8 LILEA-PARNASSOS 1 (2.43km) CANCELLED
LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 47m 35.0
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +4.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru +23.9
4 Sainz (E) Citroen +37.9
5 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +38.2
6 Panizzi (F) Peugeot +48.2
7 McRae (GB) Citroen +56.8
8 Auriol (F) Skoda +1m 29.7
9 Burns (GB) Peugeot +1m 39.7
10 Stohl (A) Hyundai +2m 36.2
[WRC] Acropolis Rally 2003 - Event Preview
Thursday, 5 June 2003
As the FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe for the first time since February, Peugeot duo Richard Burns and Marcus Gronholm maintain their positions at the top of the driver's standings. Ahead of this week's Acropolis Rally, Gronholm has narrowed the gap between himself and his 206 WRC team-mate to just two points. The reigning champion scored his third win of the season on the last round in Argentina. Burns has yet to win this season, but has finished on the podium on the last four rallies. Peugeot holds a 13-point lead over Citroen in the manufacturer's championship.The two French marques have dominated the top step of the podium on all five rallies run so far this year, with Citroen succeeding on the two rallies Peugeot has not. Carlos Sainz is the top Xsara WRC driver behind Burns and Gronholm. The Spaniard won the Rally of Turkey - on similar terrain to this week's Acropolis - and came close to repeating that maximum points haul in South America. Sainz's team-mates Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae are joint fourth in the driver's standings. Loeb won this year's opening round in Monte Carlo, while the Scot has yet to win in 2003. His record in Greece is impressive, however: McRae has won five of the last seven of these rallies. This is a special year for the organisers of the Lamia-based event, it is the 50th anniversary of the Acropolis Rally. The base for the rally has shifted from Delphi to the city of Lamia, 210 kilometres north of the capital Athens. The rally will also include three stages not used since the early 1990s.
Marlboro Peugeot Total (1st - 65 points)
Technical: The specification of the Peugeots is unchanged from the last outing in Argentina, although Richard Burns and Gilles Panizzi completed an extensive asphalt test between the rallies in preparation for using the 206 on the three sealed surface rallies at the end of the season. The Peugeots of Burns and Rovanpera have been fitted with air conditioning for this event.Sporting: The Peugeot 206 WRC has yet to win this event, but Marcus Gronholm did finish second on last year's rally. The Finn has undergone surgery on his left knee since Rally Argentina, but he is confident it won't affect his performance on the event as he hunts for his fourth win from six starts this season. Burns and Harri Rovanpera drive the other two official cars run by Peugeot Sport, while Panizzi's works-specification 206 is run by Bozian Racing. This will be Panizzi's first outing since Turkey earlier in the year, when the Frenchman finished fifth.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "My knee is fine. It was destroyed when I was racing motorbikes earlier in my career. I had the operation a couple of days after Argentina and was quiet for a week or so after that. It's okay. This is another rally that Peugeot wants to win this year."
Richard Burns said: "I've won this event before (in 1999) and it is one which I quite enjoy. This year there are some of the old stages included in the route. When we looked at them on the recce they weren't quite as rough as we thought they might have been."
Harri Rovanpera said: "Finally I managed to get some points in Argentina. Our start to the year wasn't good, we didn't seem to be getting any luck, now it's all working more like we want it to."
Citroen Total (2nd - 52 points)
Technical: The three Xsara WRCs remain unchanged from Argentina, although the team has made numerous revisions to many areas of the car since its test prior to the event.Sporting: Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz have a fine history on this event. Save for one event, the pair have dominated the rally since 1994. Sainz won on similarly rough stages in Turkey in March this season and might well have won the last round, had it not been for a misunderstanding between himself and co-driver Marc Marti which led him to book in to a control one minute early. Between them, McRae and Sainz have done this event 23 times, while their younger team-mate: Frenchman (and Monte Carlo Rally winner) Sebastien Loeb has only done the Acropolis twice - and only once in a World Rally Car.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "The car is going to be roughly the same set-up as Turkey, but the team is always working hard and always making revisions to the car. The test we did went well, but we can't really experiment with the car until we have seen all of the possible alternatives. I won my first ever world championship rally here in 1990, which makes it an unforgettable place for me."
Colin McRae said: "Greece is quite like Turkey, but the stages are a little bit faster. They're still not fast enough for me. I wouldn't really say that the Acropolis is one of my favourite rallies - I like the quick ones. Having said that, I seem to have found the knack needed to win it over the past few years. On this rally, though you also always need a little bit of luck."
Sebastien Loeb said: "I am well motivated for this event. I suppose it might be a good chance for me to win on gravel this year, as it is not as specialised as some of the other events such as Australia or Finland. We had a little bit of trouble getting the Xsara set-up right here last year, but this time around it is feeling much better. It's a much easier car to drive this season."
Ford Motor Company (3rd - 29 points)
Technical: Markko Martin has a new Focus RS WRC03 for this event, while Francois Duval uses one of the New Zealand cars. The Blue Oval will also field two Focus RS WRC02s in Greece, with Finnish youngsters Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala driving them. Ford has revealed a new colour scheme for this season, with Martin's car running with Castrol livery, while Duval's Focus has BP decals.Sporting: Martin once again demonstrated the potential of Ford's new Focus in Argentina, leading the event into the final day. Engine problems - caused by dust - brought his rally to a premature end, however. Martin spearheaded the team's pre-Acropolis test in Greece last week, completing 400 kilometres in three days. This will be the third time Duval has started the Acropolis Rally, although it will be his maiden attempt in a World Rally Car, having used a Puma on the previous two outings. This will be the first time Hirvonen and Latvala have competed on this rally. Latvala actually makes history in Greece this week, becoming the youngest driver ever (18) to drive an official manufacturer's car.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "Our test went well, but I'm not going to make any predictions about the result - ask me on Sunday. Okay, we led the rally last year but that time is gone, we've got to get on with this rally and try to get the result here."
Francois Duval said: "I've got some experience of this rally, but that was in the Puma. I'm going to have to take that into consideration when I'm making my pace notes: the speeds and braking distances vary quite a lot from the Focus."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "This is another new rally for me, but it has been a big help being able to talk to Markko and take some advice from him. The Focus has a great record on this rally which has given me a lot of confidence for this weekend."
Jari-Matti Latvala said: "This is a big challenge for me. I haven't been able to prepare for the rally as fully as I would have liked as I've been busy at school (he studies at a sports school in Finland). I have spent quite a long time talking to my engineer about what sort of pace I should drive at on these roads, it's very important t to get that right in Greece."
555 Subaru World Rally Team (4th - 27 points)
Technical: Both Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen will have new Subaru Impreza WRC2003s at their disposal on this event. The car does not have any significant changes since Argentina, although Makinen and Pasi Hagstrom did complete a five-day development test on the rough roads around Chateau Lastours in France prior to this event.Sporting: Neither Makinen or Solberg has won this rally, but both are upbeat about their chances this time around. The last round in South America proved something of a mixed bag for the British team, with Makinen withdrawing from the event after dropping a lot of time with a second-leg transmission problem, while Solberg recovered from an early roll, to end the event in fifth place.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "The car and the tyres have always worked well on this event - and the Acropolis is a rally which I like. By the end of Argentina, I felt much happier with the way the new dampers were working, we made so many changes to the set-up during that rally - I'm more confident now."
Tommi Makinen said: "The testing for this event went well, we got good work done with the suspension. I usually go quite well on rough stages like the ones we'll have this week. I'm looking forward to the three new stages on the event, it's good to have something different."
Skoda Motorsport (5th - 19 points)
Technical: There have been no new developments on the Octavia WRC for this event..Sporting: The Czech Republic team arrives in Greece on the back of its biggest points haul of the season in Argentina. Didier Auriol's best 2003 finish of sixth place combined with seventh for Toni Gardemeister moved them closer to a top four place in the manufacturer's standings. The team has also announced a debut rally for the Fabia WRC, which will be seen for the first time on the Rally Duetschland at the end of next month.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "Argentina showed what can be achieved if we can keep out of trouble, we'll be looking to do the same on this rally. We might not be able to win the event, but if we are sensible and cautious we can be in a strong position."
Toni Gardemeister said: "Argentina was not so good for me, I had some trouble with the car's transmission and some road penalties from the start, hopefully Greece will be better. I will drive with the same tactic as ever this season: flat out."
Hyundai World Rally Team (6th - 3 points)
Technical: Hyundai has made further small refinements to the Accent WRC since the last outing in Argentina. The team spent three days testing the car on rough gravel, one day each for Freddy Loix, Armin Schwarz and Jussi Valimaki - who is nominated as the team's third driver. The weather wasn't ideal for the test in Greece, however, with rain spoiling the team's chances of gathering useable data for the event. Loix's Accent is brand new, the first one of the season.Sporting: After four rallies without scoring a point, Hyundai is keen to get something from this event - and the team appears better prepared than ever to manage that.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "We are looking forward to this event, especially with the new stages. When you look back in the championship to when new stages have been coming in, the Hyundai has gone quite well. This is one of my favourite rallies, you have to use your head to make the right tactical decisions."
Freddy Loix said: "This is a very tough rally, especially for the heat. I am always working to keep quite fit, working on the bike and things like that, but one of the most important things is to make sure we drink lots of water to make sure that we don't dehydrate. For sure it's going to be hard work, but at the same time it's usually been a good rally for the team."
Other entries
Brice Tirabasi (Renault) and Kosti Katajamaki (VW) share the lead of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship coming into the third round of the 1600cc series. Roman Kresta (Peugeot 206WRC) and Antony Warmbold (Ford Focus RS WRC02) are among the top non-works drivers on the entry list.05/06/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: Acropolis Rally is the 6th of 14 events in the FIA World Rally Championship.ENTRIES: 90 (70 Group A, 20 Group N)
DRIVERS: Argentina 1, Austria 3, Belgium 2, Bulgaria 2, Czech Republic 2, Croatia 1, Estonia 2, Finland 10, France 7, Germany 4, Great Britain 6, Greece 32, Italy 3, Lebanon 1, Netherlands 1, Norway 2, Poland 1, Romania 1, San Marino 2, Slovakia 1, Spain 3, Sweden 2 Turkey 1.
MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru
CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 6, Fiat 5, Ford 13, Hyundai 5, Mitsubishi 17, Opel 3, Peugeot 13, Renault 5, Rover 1, Skoda 2, Subaru 5, Suzuki 4, Toyota 8, VW 3.
TIMETABLE:
Thursday 5 June
Ceremonial start at 19h30, AthensFriday 6 June
Leg 1 starts from Lamia at 07h00 and covers 498.14km, including 145.66km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Lamia at 19h38.Saturday 7 June
Leg 2 starts from Lamia at 06h00 and covers 608.67km, including 148.63km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Lamia at 19h55.Sunday 8 June
Leg 3 starts from Lamia at 08h00 and covers 336.83km, including 105.04km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Lamia at 16h20.Total
The rally covers 1443.80km, including 399.49km on 22 special stages (including ten run twice). All stages are on gravel roads closed to other traffic.TOMORROW:
Friday 6 June
Leg 1 starts from Lamia at 07h00 and covers 498.14km, including 145.66km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Lamia at 19h38.WEATHER FORECAST: Expected to be sunny, with a chance of cloud cover later in the day.
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