2003 WRC mailing list, brought to you by:
http://www.wrc-online.netADAC RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND
25-27th July 2003
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__________________________________________________________________________Rallye Deutschland photos:
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The usual FIA press release has not been available for distribution the last two days. Due to this, tonight's newsletter takes a different format. Please accept our apologies for the unexpected changes.
Rallye Deutschland photos link:
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[WRC] Rallye Deutschland - Final report
Sunday, 27 July 2003
Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb took his second consecutive win on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland this afternoon, despite more changeable conditions on the tricky asphalt stages. The Frenchman was locked in a day-long duel with Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm - a battle that went right down to the final kilometre of the final stage. Gronholm dropped time on the day's opening loop of stages north of the rally's Trier base when he clouted a kerb, damaging the suspension on his 206 WRC. Loeb made the most of his rival's problem and eased his way clear, heading into the final stage with a 13-second advantage. Gronholm maintained his flat out pace, but admitted he was going to need his rival to make a mistake to allow him into the top spot. Loeb made no mistakes, but was overly-cautious on the first ten kilometres of SS22. The split time revealed that he had dropped ten seconds to the Finn, and it required an all-out attack from Loeb to bring his Xsara WRC to the finish 3.6s ahead. Richard Burns finished third after a similarly tight fight with Colin McRae, while Markko Martin won the Inmarsat Star of the Rally award for setting ten fastest times. Mechanical troubles aboard his Ford Focus RS WRC03 ensured he would finish no higher than fifth, however. Burns continues to lead the drivers' championship - extending his to four points over Carlos Sainz, while Peugeot heads the race for the manufacturers' championship with a seven-point cushion over Citroen.Citroen Total
Technical: All three Xsara WRCs ran without problems today. Philippe Bugalski retired the fourth Citroen on the opening leg with turbo problems.Sporting: Sebastien Loeb's win here is his third ever WRC success - and his second consecutive win on this event. The Frenchman was on top form through Sunday; he may not have set any fastest times, but he brought the Xsara home at the head of the field having seen off the reigning world champion. Colin McRae spun on the final stage of the first loop, after setting fastest times through the previous two. He and Richard Burns battled through the last three stages, with the Scotsman being forced to give best to the 2001 champion, his cause not helped by a spin on SS19. The final Xsara of Carlos Sainz was also stuck in a final-stage fight - the Spaniard continuing to trade times with Ford's Francois Duval. Not having enjoyed this event, Sainz finally had something to celebrate as he beat his former team-mate by 9.5s.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "It is a fantastic result to win this event again. The fight with Marcus through the last few stages was amazing. I thought we had enough going into the last stage - but then I saw the split time and knew I was only three seconds ahead I had to put in the maximum attack for the last part - but it worked."
Colin McRae said: "All of our good work this morning was spoiled when we spun. There was some gravel in a corner and the back of the car just got away. It was a real slow one though, we had to do loads of shunting forward and backwards."
Carlos Sainz said: "I'm quite glad to get this rally finished. It hasn't been the best for me, but you have some rallies like this. Today has been a big fight with Francois, which has made the final day more interesting."
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: Gilles Panizzi's Peugeot 206 WRC suffered suspension problems through the first loop of stages this morning, while Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns's cars ran without fault.Sporting: Gronholm hit a kerb on the first stage this morning, damaging the front-right suspension on his car and dropping him further behind Sebastien Loeb. The Finn then dropped more time through the final loop, ending the event in second place. Burns was slowed by a spin mid-way through the first stage of the morning, but other than that he enjoyed a trouble-free run to clinch the final podium place after a fascinating battle with Colin McRae. Panizzi was at a loss to explain the suspension trouble, but it cost him enough time to drop him behind Petter Solberg and Cedric Robert. Robert's works-specification, Bozian-run 206 arrived at the finish one place ahead of Panizzi in ninth spot.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "Before I even hit the kerb, I'd dropped some time when I ran wide at one junction. When I broke the suspension, there was a big bang and then it was hard to keep the car straight. I tried to fix the problem after the stage, but there wasn't time. I got it almost fixed for the third run - but it was not 100 per cent perfect. A win would have been nice, but at least we've got some points from this event."
Richard Burns said: "We got some luck with the weather on that first loop - it's about time after the way we kept catching the worse of it yesterday. It was only drizzling for us on part of the stage. The spin was a real shame this morning, prior to that we'd been up on Colin (McRae - who won the stage) at the split. This was a real fight to the finish and a tough rally."
Gilles Panizzi said: "The team changed the suspension last night, I don't know what happened - yesterday the car was running okay, but then today it has some very strange handling. I don't know whether the suspension is broken or whether it is just the wrong set-up, whatever it is - it's not right. This combined with the brake problems we had earlier in the rally have made this a disappointing event."
Ford Motor Company
Technical: Markko Martin's Ford Focus RS WRC03 suffered problems with its transmission on this third and final leg of the event. The sister car of Francois Duval ran without fault, as did the 2002 specification Focus of Mikko Hirvonen.Sporting: Martin started the day in third place and on the crest of a wave after moving up from tenth through leg two. His efforts to close on the lead duo hit trouble mid-way through the second stage of the day, when a shaft snapped between the front and centre differentials, leaving the Estonian with only two-wheel-drive for the remainder of that stage and all of the 19 kilometres of St Wendeler Land. He dropped back to fifth, but pulled some time back with fastest time on each of the three remaining stages in the event. Martin's co-driver Michael Park was struggling with sickness throughout the final day. Duval lost out in his titanic battle with Carlos Sainz, finishing the event seventh, 9.5s behind Sainz. A stall on the start-line of the final test hadn't helped the Belgian's cause. Hirvonen's drama-free rally continued through the final leg of the event, with the young Finn finishing the event in 13th place.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I'm encouraged by the pace we've shown on the stages, but at the same time frustrated by the problems we have had. When everything was going right for us, we were untouchable on this rally, setting ten fastest times out of 22 shows that. The problem with the transmission this morning just happened, there was no warning or anything like that. One minute we had four-wheel-drive, the next it was only two."
Francois Duval said: "This has been a bit of a mixed weekend for us. We've set some good times and made some good tyre choices, but also there has been the odd mistake. I'm happy to have scored some points for the team, but at the same time it is disappointing to lose out to Carlos on the final stage."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "Driving the stages in the wet was harder than I thought it would be, but I have learned a lot from this event. The car was perfect for the whole rally - I'm even happier that I have finished the event without a mark on the car."
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: Petter Solberg's Subaru Impreza WRC2003 ran without fault through the final leg, while Tommi Makinen retired with an electrical fault on the opening leg.Sporting: Solberg returned to full fitness for the final leg of the event. He enjoyed the wet conditions throughout the final leg, moving past Peugeot pair Gilles Panizzi and Cedric Robert by setting top five times on five of the day's six stages.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I am a little disappointed with this rally. I think the times we have set on the dry asphalt have shown that we still have some work to do, but then again when it was dry I was really struggling with my fitness. Today I felt so much better than on the two days before, I was really struggling on those stages. I think people noticed that I wasn't my usual self."
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical: Armin Schwarz's Accent WRC was concerned a transmission problem early in leg one. Freddy Loix and Manfred Stohl's cars ran without problems through the final leg.Sporting: Loix guided his Accent home to collect one manufacturer point for the Korean marque. The Belgian enjoyed a largely trouble-free day. His team-mate Schwarz ended the event just one place behind him in 12th place.
Stohl's semi-works car finished further down the order in 18th place. The fourth works-specification Accent WRC on the event of Justin Dale finished the rally after a more mechanical maladies on this final leg. Dale's car stopped for five minutes on the second stage this morning. The British driver thought his event was all over, but after working on the ECU, the car finally fired up and allowed him to make it to the finish.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "This morning I was struggling a little bit in the long corners, the diff wasn't really working right - the car was understeering quite badly. The stages today have been very tricky."
Freddy Loix said: "The stages were okay this morning, except in the middle one where I stalled in a hairpin. I don't know why it happened, but we fired it up and carried on. We thought about trying to catch Roman Kresta who was not far ahead through the final loop - but the team didn't think this was such a good idea!"
Manfred Stohl said: "This event hasn't really gone that well for me. I dropped some time on the first day, but then yesterday and today - in the more difficult conditions - I felt I have been driving better - but it's hard to get the time back once it's gone. I have finished both of the rallies that I have started in this car, now I'm looking forward to my next outing where I want to keep that record going."
Other entries
Spain's Dani Sola took a comfortable win in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship. The Mitsubishi Lancer driver had controlled this event from the start. His only problem through the final day was a cracked exhaust manifold, which cost him some power from the Lancer's engine. Martin Rowe (Subaru Impreza) finished second, albeit four and a half minutes down. The British driver's cause wasn't helped when the gear lever snapped on his car on the opening loop of stages this morning.Cedric Robert was the top non-official driver, placing his works-specification, Bozian Racing-run Peugeot 206 WRC in ninth place.
27/07/2003 RALLY STATISTICSSTARTERS: 56 crews (28 Group A and 28 Group N) started this morning.
TOP RETIREMENTS: Kresta (CZ)
TODAY: Sunday 27 July
Leg 3 started from Trier at 05h00 and covered 557.83km, including 101.54km on six stages.LEADERS IN TRIER AFTER SS22
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 46m 50.4
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot +3.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot +19.7
4 McRae (GB) Citroen +31.4
5 Martin (EE) Ford +57.9
6 Sainz (E) Citroen +1m 38.6
7 Duval (B) Ford +1m 48.1
8 Solberg (N) Subaru +2m 30.2
9 Robert (F) Peugeot +3m 12.8
10 Panizzi (F) Peugeot +3m 39.6
FIA PWRC LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Sola (E) Mitsubishi 4h 11m 45.9
2 Rowe (GB) Subaru +4m 32.9
3 Kulig (PL) Mitsubishi +6m 47.4
4 Singh (MAL) Proton +9m 07.6
5 Blomqvist (S) Subaru +11m 37.4
6 Trivino (MEX) Mitsubishi +19m 32.3
7 Aur (RO) Mitsubishi +25m 38.0
8 Marrini (I) Mitsubishi +30m 48.5FINAL STATISTICS
EVENT: The rally covered 1737.58km, including 388.23km on 22 special stages (including ten run twice). All stages were on asphalt roads closed to other traffic.
STARTERS: 79 crews (37 Group A and 42 Group N) started the rally
FINISHERS: 44 crews (26 Group A and 18 Group N) finished the rally
STAGE WINNERS: Martin (SS3-4-9-10-11-13-15-20-21-22) Burns (SS1-2-5-7) Loeb (SS6-12) Gronholm (SS8-14) Sainz (SS19)
RALLY LEADERS: SS1-3 Burns SS4 Martin SS5-8 Burns SS9-12 Gronholm SS13-22 Loeb
FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 7 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers: Burns (GB) 43, Sainz (E) 39, Gronholm (FIN) 38, Loeb (F) 33, Solberg (N) 30, C. McRae (GB) 28, Martin (EE) 27, Rovanpera (FIN) 16, Makinen (FIN) 15, Duval (B) 11, Gardemeister (FIN) 9, Panizzi (F) 6, Auriol (F) 4, Robert (F) 3, A.McRae (GB) 3 Hirvonen (FIN) 3, Schwarz (D) 3, Ginley (GB) 1.FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers: Peugeot 95, Citroen 88, Ford 50, Subaru 49, Skoda 20, Hyundai 7.
FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 3 of 7 rounds), this event not counting): Tirabassi (F) 20, Canellas (E) 13, Aava (EE) 11, Katajamaki (FIN) 10, Wilks (GB) 9, Ligato (RA) 8, Carlsson (S) 8, Broccoli (RSM) 6, Teuronen (FIN) 5, Ceccato (I) 4, Cecchettini (I) 4, Svedlund (S) 4, others
FIA Production Car World Championship (after 5 of 7 rounds/how many rounds entered): Arai (J) 30/4, Rowe (GB) 27/4, Singh (MAL) 22/5, Blomqvist (S) 21/4, Sola (E) 18/4, Ligato (RA) 13/4, others.For more extensive results please consult the FIA Internet site at: www.fia.com
NEXT EVENT: August 7-10: Neste Rally Finland
Website: www.akk-motorsport.fi/nrf/en/
Rallye Deutschland - News and info after leg two
SS 8, mostly narrow country roads with fast curves and now, due to a few showers, had standing surface water in places, caught out many of the drivers on tyre choice. Armin Schwarz chose intermediates which he had no problems with, whilst Colin McRae, placed the blame firmly on Michelin for supplying the wrong tyres. Richard Burns however just blamed himself, saying "The tyres weren't the problem, I was too slow." Due to this and the fact that he won the stage, Marcus Gronholm was now within 0.7s of the overall leader. After being confident with intermediates on SS8, drivers decided that they were the wrong choice for SS9 (Peterberg 1) and slicks would have been more useful. Gronholm took the lead even though he too suffered from choosing the wrong tyre type.
Marcus Gronholm continued to put faster times in than Burns on SS10, Erzweiler 1 a stage that's surface is not like tarmac at all, but rough concrete, very slippy (dusty) and abrassive. Sebastien Loeb, currently in third position began to close the gap. Markko Martin overtook Philippe Bugalski who developed turbo charger problems just before the finish and set fastest time. SS 10, Erzweiler 2, saw no incidents of note. Sebastien Loeb gained 3 seconds on rally leader Marcus Gronholm over the tyre ripping surface.
SS 11, Panzerplatte West 1, was incident packed. Philippe Bugalski retired before the start of the stage with turbo charger problems causing engine failure, Armin Schwarz only had the use of his top 3 gears, Petter Solberg broke his right rear suspension after a jump and Toni Gardemeister also succumbed to broken suspension. Jani Paasonen's Co driver Arto kapanen was found to have minor back and shoulder injuries after being transfered to hospital as a result of an accident. All competitors not starting stage 11 received the identical time of 22:54.7.
Markko Martin set fastest time on SS 11 "Both stages were dry and quite dirty, with a lot of debris dragged onto the road but there was more grip in the dry and not so many slippery places," said Märtin. "We found all the junctions OK this time but it's difficult to judge the pace to ensure we get the best from our tyres and maybe I could have pushed harder. We've been quick on the Baumholder roads all rally. We've made many changes to our pace notes since last year. Almost every corner is one gear higher and that shows in our times.
"We're less than two seconds off a podium position and that's a lot better than it looked last night. We can't change what happened yesterday, that's done, so we have to try and get the best out of the situation, keep pushing and battle with Colin and Richard," he added.
The 27-year-old Estonian returned to the day's penultimate service park at Bostalsee still in fifth. But he is now only 0.9sec behind fourth-placed Colin McRae (Citroen) and just 1.7sec behind Richard Burns in third.
Special Stage 12 - Erzweiler 2 Marcus Gronholm suffered two front punctures on the stage,but was still third fastest through the stage and maintained the rally lead.
Special stage 13 - Panzerplatte West 2 Gronholm was forced to drive this stage with one puncture, allowing Sebastian Loeb to seize the overall rally lead in SS13 by 1.8 seconds. Toni Gardemeister's Skoda Fabia retired on this stage with a broken drive shaft which eventually blocked the rear
Special stage 14 - Peterberg 2 - At the start of this stage, heavy rain started to fall. Most drivers had opted for slicks, resulting in a difficult drive with many spins. Gronholm anxious to reclaim the rally lead lost to him when he suffered two punctures, equalled Sebastian Loeb's fastest time through the stage. Despite complaining of problems with his brakes, Gilles Panizzi was next quickest on the stage. Francois Duval stalled four times at the beginning of the stage costing him approximately twenty seconds.
Special stage 15 - Bosenberg 2 - Markko Martin was the fastest through the stage with no other driver able to complete the stage in under nine minutes.
Super Special Stage 16 - St Wendel 2 Roman Kresta was gifted his first fastest stage time of the rally, as many of the front running cars chose not to risk their positions on the slippery surface on this section of closed off motorway.
Peugeot: http://peugeot.wrc-online.net
Peugeot experienced a very mixed day today, that is in weather as well as in their stage times. But they ended in a nice position to fight for better results on the rally's last leg.
Skoda: http://skoda.wrc-online.net
The ·koda Motorsport World Rally Team has been forced to retire its second Fabia WRC from Rallye Deutschland. On SS13 Toni broke a driveshaft. It was not a major problem and he continued on the stage but the right rear wheel became blocked, and with only front wheel drive, it was not possible to complete the stage.
Bozian/Roman Kresta:
Winning his first ever World Rally Championship special stage in his career so far, the 27-year-old Roman Kresta has become the very first Czech rally pilot to have done a task many dreamed to accomplish before his times.
More at: http://peugeot.wrc-online.net/article.asp?stid=2285
Top ten after day two of Rallye Deutschland:
1. S. Loeb / D. Elena Citroën 2:46.20,8
2. M. Grönholm / T. Rautiainen Peugeot +0.05,5
3. M. Märtin / M. Park Ford +0.34,8
4. C. McRae / D. Ringer Citroën +0.45,3
5. 2 R. Burns / R. Reid Peugeot +0.48,8
6. 19 C. Sainz / M. Marti Citroën +1.54,6
7. 5 F. Duval / S. Prevot Ford +1.59,4
8. 3 G. Panizzi / H. Panizzi Peugeot +2.19,2
9. 21 C. Robert / G. Bedon Peugeot +2.51,4
10. 7 P. Solberg / P. Mills Subaru +2.54,2
FIA Rally News: http://www.fia.com
[WRC] Rallye Deutschland - Preview
Thursday, 24 July 2003
The second half of this year's FIA World Rally Championship starts with the all asphalt ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Richard Burns (Peugeot 206 WRC) still leads the race for the drivers' title, but Englishman's advantage is just one point over Spain's Carlos Sainz (Citroen Xsara WRC). Burns' team-mate and reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm is third, seven points off the lead - having won three rallies and failed to score any points on the other four events. The series has already managed five different winners in seven rallies this year - including a first ever WRC win for Markko Martin and Ford's Focus RS WRC03. The Estonian broke his duck on the Acropolis Rally. There's a new addition to the series on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, as this event marks the start of a new chapter in Skoda's motorsport history, with the Czech Republic team's Fabia WRC making its debut this week.The Trier-based eighth round of the series is not a typical asphalt rally in the WRC. The stages offer a wide variety of roads and surfaces. Tomorrow's action takes the crews into Mosel, where the super-fast straights - running through the vineyards - are linked by oft-deceiving hairpins and square corners. Then there are the Baumholder roads which have been used for tank-testing and finally the Saarland region, where the roads aren't unlike those found in Catalunya.
Marlboro Peugeot Total (1st - 81 points)
Technical: Many of the technical problems Peugeot suffered on the last rally in Cyprus have been attributed to the heat on that rally. The team is confident it won't encounter the same trouble on this rally. The three official 206 WRCs are in largely the same specification in which they started round seven, although Gronholm's is a newcar.Sporting: Richard Burns came close to winning here last year, eventually finishing second, while Marcus Gronholm also impressed scoring a string of fastest times after an early problem in the rally. Gronholm's run into this rally has not been ideal, the Finn suffering an infection in his elbow which meant he spent time in hospital a fortnight before the recce. This will be Gilles Panizzi's first run in a works car since Monte Carlo in January. The Frenchman has also been in the wars; a testing crash in the Baumholder region has left him nursing a broken rib. Panizzi missed this event last year after breaking his collar bone at home. Bozian Racing will run a 2003-specification for Cedric Robert, the privateer who finished sixth overall in Monte Carlo earlier in the year. Peugeot still lead the manufacturer's title race.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "As this is an asphalt rally, I won't be hampered by running first on the road - which has handicapped me on some of the earlier gravel events this year. Last year I was second here, a similar result would be nice - but one place higher up the leaderboard would be even better."
Marcus Gronholm said: "I was disappointed with this event last year - I thought I could have fought for the win, that's what I'm hoping for this time around. The problem with my elbow is okay. It is a little bit sore, but it won't give me any trouble during the rally."
Gilles Panizzi said: "For me to win this rally would be a very big result, given that my only experience is doing the recce for it two years ago. Not competing here last year is not good, but okay I am back in the official car and I have a big challenge ahead."
Citroen Total (2nd - 73 points)
Technical: The team has worked on the ride height of the Xsara WRC is its pre-even testing. There are also modifications to the car's engine and the rear brakes - which can now run on bigger discs.Sporting: Citroen has an enviable record on this event - having won it for the last two years. In 2002, Trier was the scene of Sebastien Loeb's first ever win in the FIA World Rally Championship, 12 months prior to that Frenchman Philippe Bugalski had guided an earlier evolution of the Xsara WRC to success. Bugalski, Citroen's test driver, returns to the team for this event, where he joins regulars Loeb, Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. Sainz has been the most consistent points-scorer over the last three rallies, bagging 20 from a possible 30 points to close within one point of the lead in the drivers' championship. Citroen has also closed the gap on Peugeot to eight points.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "This is the least asphalt-like rally of all the WRC's asphalt rallies and it's not my favourite, but the Citroen has a very good record on these surfaces so we'll see what happens. I will be doing everything I can to get the best result for myself and the team."
Colin McRae said: "I'm not too keen on asphalt rallies, but I don't mind this one. It's so different from rallies like Corsica or Catalunya, the stages are all quite different on each of the legs. The speeds are quite high here - and after Cyprus and Greece, it'll be nice to be going quickly again."
Sebastien Loeb said: "It's nice to be back where I won my first WRC rally, but at the same time there is a little more pressure to do it again - but that's what I've come here to do. The car felt very good in the tests, we found some good roads which are representative of the stages we'll have this week."
555 Subaru World Rally Team (3rd - 47 points)
Technical: The Subaru team has spent a lot of time enhancing the performance of the Impreza WRC 2003s of Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen. This has been centred on the engine and electronics, but this event will also be the team's first asphalt rally since it switched damper supplier, so the suspension is new as well.Sporting: Solberg won the last round of the championship in Cyprus and arrives in Germany with high hopes of a repeat of that ten-point performance. The Norwegian currently lies fourth in the drivers' standings. Tommi Makinen's efforts were one of the talking points of the Cyprus Rally. He dropped 28 minutes on the second leg, working on his car at the side of the stage, but recovered to set fastest time on the next stage. Unfortunately for the four-times world champion he was unable to continue in the event as he went over the time limit. Subaru moved into third place in the manufacturers' race in Cyprus and holds a four-point lead over fourth team, Ford.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I want the same result as last time! Our pre-event test has been really positive, everybody has worked well on the car, the Pirelli tyres work well on these type of abrasive stages, so it should be good."
Tommi Makinen said: "The car feels better than it ever has done following our tests. I'm not too sure what this rally will be like, it's earlier in the season than it was last year - but whatever the weather is like, I'm looking forward to getting back onto asphalt."
Ford Motor Company (4th - 43 points)
Technical: This will be the asphalt debut of the Ford Focus RS WRC03. Markko Martin's car is also the 50th Focus WRC ever to be built by M-Sport, the British-based team charged with running the Blue Oval's effort in the FIA World Rally Championship. The team has spent time re-working the hydraulics, which gave trouble on the last event - and the car also has a slightly different front spoiler.Sporting: Neither Martin or team-mate Francois Duval finished the last round of the championship. Martin did, however, find time to go back to his native Estonia to clinch a comfortable win on the EOS Rally at the wheel of a Focus RS WRC03. The third official Ford entry is the 2002-specification car of Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, who has never competed on this event before.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "The asphalt performance of this car is a big improvement over last year's Focus, especially the balance and handling. This is a very different rally. If it's wet, it's hard to find where the best grip is with all of the surface changes, but the vineyard stages are probably the hardest - with all of those hidden junctions."
Francois Duval said: "Some of these stages are quite like the ones I have at home in Belgium, I enjoy those roads, but all of the dirt and gravel can make the Baumholder roads quite tricky."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "It's going to be hard for me, never having been to this event before, but I will start to get a feel for what the stages are like on the recce - but it will be quite different when we're going through them in the rally car!"
Skoda Motorsport (5th - 20 points)
Technical: This is the competitive world debut of the Fabia WRC. Two examples of Skoda's second ever World Rally Car will be driven by Toni Gardemeister and Didier Auriol.Sporting: After a consistent run of four points-scoring finishes earlier in the year, Gardemeister has missed out on the final two events. His team-mate Auriol also non-scored in Cyprus and Greece, but both are in buoyant mood ahead of their first WRC outing in the new Fabia.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "This is a very exciting time. The Fabia has gone well in testing, it's just the sort of car we need to be fighting with in the future of the world championship The car has a lot of potential, but the first rally for a completely new car is never a straightforward event."
Toni Gardemeister said: "The Fabia is quite a different car to drive compared to the Octavia, but now I have done a lot of testing in it - I feel very comfortable at the wheel. It is a very nice car to drive. The car is coming out earlier than some people expected, but I think the time is right for us to test ourselves against our competition rather than keep on testing."
Hyundai World Rally Team (6th - 6 points)
Technical: The team's pre-rally testing has been centred on finalising the right set-up for Rallye Deutschland. The team has also found some improvements on the performance side.Sporting: Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix both drive the latest specification Accent WRCs - with the German's Accent WRC being brand new. Manfred Stohl and Justin Dale also drive current cars, with Stohl joining Schwarz and Loix as a registered points-scoring driver. Schwarz scored points on the last event, while Loix and Dale retired with overheating problems.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "I've never had much luck on this event, hopefully that will change this time around. The stages can be very slippery, but before our accident last year the times we were setting were competitive."
Freddy Loix said: "The stages around Saarland are similar to Belgium, so I know how to drive those - but this is not my most favourite event in the calendar."
Other entries
FIA Production Car World Rally Championship leader Toshi Arai will sit this event out, offering his fellow Subaru Impreza driver Martin Rowe a good chance to narrow the 11-point deficit the Briton has to the Japanese driver. Of the non-works cars, Jani Paasonen and Kristian Sohlberg drive two new Mitsubishi Lancer WRCs run by the Ralliart team.24/07/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: Deutschland Rally is the 8th of 14 events in the FIA World Rally Championship.ENTRIES: 81 (38 Group A, 43 Group N)
DRIVERS: Argentina 1, Belgium 7, Bulgaria 1, Canada 1, Czech Republic 4, Estonia 1, Finland 7, France 5, Germany 20, Great Britain 6, Hungary 1, Italy 4, Latvia 1, Monaco 1, Netherlands 1, Norway 1, Peru 1, Poland 3, Portugal 1, Romania 1, Slovakia 1, Spain 2, Sweden 3, Switzerland 1.
MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru
CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 6, Fiat 1, Ford 7, Honda 1, Hyundai 4, Mitsubishi 35, Peugeot 7, Proton 1, Renault 1, Skoda 4, Subaru 6, Toyota 2, Volkswagen 6.
TIMETABLE:
Thursday 24 July
Ceremonial start at 20h00, Porta Nigra, TrierFriday 25 July
Leg 1 starts from Trier at 08h00 and covers 606.74km, including 117.31km on seven stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Trier at 21h25.Saturday 26 July
Leg 2 starts from Trier at 06h30 and covers 573.01km, including 169.38km on nine stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Trier at 20h16.Sunday 27 July
Leg 3 starts from Trier at 05h00 and covers 557.83km, including 101.54km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Trier at 15h50.Total
The rally covers 1737.58km, including 388.23km on 22 special stages (including ten run twice). All stages are on asphalt roads closed to other traffic.TOMORROW:
Friday 25 July
Leg 1 starts from Trier at 08h00 and covers 606.74km, including 117.31km on seven stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Trier at 21h25.
WEATHER FORECAST: Overcast with possible showers.
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