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NESTE
RALLY FINLAND
8 - 10 August 2003
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[WRC] Neste Rally Finland 2003 - Final
Sunday, 10 August 2003
Ford driver Markko Martin has taken his second victory of the year on the ninth round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship - the Neste Rally Finland . He started the day with more than a minute's advantage over Peugeot driver Richard Burns, who was hit by a wheel-bearing failure in the closing stages of yesterday.
Just one second covered second, third and fourth places at the start of the day, and a furious battled raged right up until the final stage. At the last minute, Petter Solberg snatched second place from Richard Burns. Carlos Sainz finished fourth. Burns extends his lead over Sainz in the drivers' championship by one point. Peugeot maintains its lead of the manufacturers' series, although the gap to Citroen in second is reduced by four points.
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical : The Peugeot 206WRC of Richard Burns ran
without mechanical problems today. Both the other Peugeots retired
yesterday. Harri Rovanpera was out after going off the road on SS12.
Marcus Gronholm was forced to retire from the lead after SS14, as a
result of broken suspension and a lost front wheel.
Sporting : Burns started the day in second place, but dropped to third after the opening stage of the day when he was passed by Subaru driver Petter Solberg. He re-took second after setting fastest time on SS20, but Solberg took the place back off him on the final stage of the day, SS23.
Quotes : Richard Burns said: "It's been a good rally, and I was driving like crazy, but I didn't want to take too many risks today. To come away with six points and still leading the championship is superb. I was trying very hard to beat Petter today and he was trying very hard to beat me. It was a good fight!"
Citroen Total
Technical : The two remaining Citroens of Sebastien Loeb
and Carlos Sainz ran without major mechanical problems today. Colin
McRae retired yesterday in an accident on SS16.
Sporting : Carlos Sainz started the day in third place but dropped to fourth after being passed by the Subaru of Petter Solberg on today's first stage. He broke a left-rear damper on SS19, which caused him to drop time on the following stage as well. Sebastien Loeb's mission today was to keep the car on the road and secure a strong fifth-placed finish, which he succeeded in doing.
Quotes : Carlos Sainz said: "Today was very difficult for me with the broken damper. I tried my best, but I also wanted to get the car to the finish."
Sebastien Loeb said: "I did not find this rally easy, as I really did not have so much experience of all the stages. But we were still able to set some good times so I'm encouraged. The car felt good: I think we've definitely made some progress."
Ford Motor Company
Technical : Markko Martin's Ford Focus RS WRC03 ran
reliably all day to take the Estonian to his second career victory.
The other Focus RS WRC03 of Francois Duval retired 5.5 kms into SS19
after hitting a stone, while the 2002 specification Focus of Mikko
Hirvonen retired after SS11 yesterday following a turbo fire.
Sporting : Markko Martin started the day with an advantage of over a minute and controlled his pace all day in order to be sure of sealing the victory. He eventually ended up with a winning margin of just under a minute. Francois Duval was under instructions to finish the rally in order to learn the roads, but retired on SS19 after hitting a stone and damaging the left-front wheel beyond repair.
Quotes : Markko Martin said: "I've dreamed of winning here ever since I was a young boy. This is the Grand Prix of the rally world and it's so special to be successful here because so few non-Finns have won this rally. We have the fastest car in the championship, we've won the fastest event and this is more special to me than my first win in Greece ."
Francois Duval said: "We came over a crest and there was a big stone on the following left-hand corner which we hit. We weren't going too fast but it's not easy when the notes aren't perfect."
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical : Both Subaru Impreza WRC2003s of Tommi Makinen
and Petter Solberg have run reliably throughout the day.
Sporting : Solberg started the day fourth in a tight three-way battle for second place together with Richard Burns and Carlos Sainz. On the opening stage of the day he leapfrogged both his rivals to take second, but he was passed by Richard Burns on SS20. Solberg fought back to take the runner-up spot from Burns on the final stage of the day. Makinen has finished the rally sixth after a solid run, despite being hampered by tyre mousse vibration problems on the second day. He made small adjustments to the differential settings today but was otherwise happy with his car.
Quotes : Petter Solberg said: "On the final stage I just went mad: I was practically standing up in my car! I nearly went off on the first corner and bent the throttle pedal! There's no way I could have driven quicker. The final result is excellent and I'm so happy."
Tommi Makinen said: "It's not been a perfect weekend for us but at least we've finished in the points. I have to say that Petter drove absolutely magnificently - he did a tremendous job."
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical : The two Hyundai Accent WRC?s of Freddy Loix
and Armin Schwarz and were generally reliable throughout the day.
However, Jussi Valimaki retired 5.5kms into SS19 after hitting the
same stone as Francois Duval.
Sporting : All three cars had a steady run today, aimed firmly at getting to the finish. But Jussi Valimaki hit a rock and retired with suspension damage. Freddy Loix's 10th place and Armin Schwarz's 12 th place earned the team 3 manufacturers points.
Quotes : Freddy Loix said: "Although today wasn't such an exciting day as I had to protect my points, I'm very pleased to be in that position in Finland and this makes me more optimistic going to Australia that we can continue to move forward."
Armin Schwarz said: "We've had no major problems with the car throughout the event and to get to the finish here and get the extra manufacturers' point I consider to be a real success."
Jussi Valimaki said: "The first day was much better for me because I had a better feeling even though my times on the second day were quicker. On the final day the car felt great after changing the differential mapping a bit, although in the end we weren't able to take advantage of it."
Skoda Motorsport
Technical : Both Skoda Fabia WRCs were forced into
retirement before the final day. Didier Auriol did not start the
rally on Friday morning as a result of an old shoulder injury. The
other Fabia WRC of Toni Gardemeister retired at the start of SS13 as
a result of engine damage.
Sporting : Gardemeister started off yesterday in 12 th place, which he held up until his retirement. His engine stalled on the start of SS13, and he could not get it going again despite the advice from his team over the telephone.
Other entries
Daniel Carlsson has taken Suzuki's first-ever Junior World
Rally Championship win ahead of Renault driver Brice Tirabassi. Ford
driver Guy Wilks was third after an event that has been characterised
by punctures for the JWRC runners. Former World Champion Ari Vatanen
has had an excellent rally in his privateer Peugeot 206 WRC and has
finished 11th overall. Three local experts have filled out the top
10: Janne Tuohino (Ford Focus) in seventh, and the Peugeot 206 WRC of
Sebastien Lindholm and Juuso Pykalisto in eighth and ninth.
10/08/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 42 crews (31 Group A and 11 Group N) started this morning.
TOP RETIREMENTS: Duval (B), Valimaki (FIN)
TODAY:
Sunday 9 February
Leg 3 started from Jyvaskyla at 08h00 and covered 359.03km, including
100.90km on six stages.
SS18 PARKKOLA 1 (19.88km)
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
9m 53.0
2 Solberg
(N) Subaru
9m 54.3
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
9m 55.5
LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
2h 40m 52.0
2 Solberg
(N) Subaru
2h 42m 06.8
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
2h
42m 07.5
SS19 MOKKIPERA 1 (13.96km)
1 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
6m 56.0
2 Solberg
(N) Subaru
6m 56.3
3 Martin
(EE) Ford
6m 56.5
LEADERS AFTER SS19
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
2h 47m 48.5
2 Solberg
(N) Subaru
2h 49m 03.1
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
2h
49m 03.5
SS20 PALSANKYLA (25.46km)
1 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
13m 31.2
2 Solberg
(N) Subaru
13m 33.4
3 Martin
(EE) Ford
13m 42.5
LEADERS AFTER SS20
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
3h 01m 31.0
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
3h
02m 34.7
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
3h 02m 36.5
SS21 KUOHU (7,76km)
1 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
3m 45.3
2 Martin
(EE) Ford
3m 46.4
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
3m 46.6
LEADERS AFTER SS21
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
3h 05m 17.4
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
3h
06m 20.0
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
3h 06m 23.1
SS22 PARKKOLA 2 (19.88km)
1 Solberg
(N) Subaru
9m 39.7
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
9m 41.0
3 Martin
(EE) Ford
9m 41.9
LEADERS AFTER SS22
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
3h 14m 59.3
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
3h
16m 01.0
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
3h 16m 02.8
SS23 MOKKIPERA 2 (13.96km)
1 Solberg
(N) Subaru
6m 47.8
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
6m 50.8
3 Martin
(EE) Ford
6m 52.4
LEADERS IN JYVASKYLA AFTER SS23
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
3h 21m 51.7
2 Solberg
(N) Subaru
+58.9
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
+1m 00.1
4 Sainz
(E) Citroen
+1m 59.0
5 Loeb
(F) Citroen
+2m 48.7
6 Makinen
(FIN)
Subaru
+3m 25.2
7 Tuohino
(FIN) Ford
+4m 22.9
8 Lindholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
+4m 39.5
9 Pykalisto
(FIN)
Peugeot
+6m 23.4
10 Loix
(B) Hyundai
+8m 19.9
JUNIOR WRC LEADERS AFTER SS23
1 Carlsson
(S)
Suzuki
3h
52m 22.9
2 Tirabassi
(F)
Renault
+56.9
3 Wilks
(GB) Ford
+5m 43.0
4 Aava
(EE) Suzuki
+8m 41.7
5 Canellas
(E)
Suzuki
+8m 46.9
6 Broccoli
(RSM) Opel
+11m 08.4
7 Ligato
(RA) FIAT
+17m 06.6
8 Svedlund
(S)
Volkswagen
+20m 28.0
FINAL STATISTICS
EVENT: The rally covered 1727.60km, including 409.18km on 23 special stages (including SIX Run twice). All stages were on gravel roads closed to other traffic.
STARTERS: 71 crews (56 Group A and 15 Group N) started the rally
FINISHERS: 35 crews (27 Group A and 8 Group N) finished the rally
STAGE WINNERS:
Martin (SS1-3-6-8-9-16-18)
Gronholm (2-4-5-10-11-12)
Burns (7-13-15-19-20-21)
Solberg (17-22-23)
McRae (14)
RALLY LEADERS:
SS1-4 Martin
SS5-8 Gronholm
SS9-11 Martin
SS12-13 Gronholm
SS14-23 Martin
FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 9 of 14
rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers: Burns (GB) 49, Sainz (E)
44, Gronholm (FIN) 38, Solberg (N) 38, Loeb (F) 37, Martin (EE) 37,
C. McRae (GB) 28, Makinen (FIN) 18, Rovanpera (FIN) 16, 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, Tuohino (FIN) 2,
Ginley (GB) 1, Lindholm (FIN) 1.
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Peugeot 101, Citroen 97, Ford 60, Subaru 60, Skoda 20, Hyundai 10.
FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 4 of 7 rounds):
Tirabassi (F) 28, Carlsson (S) 18, Canellas (E) 17, Aava (EE) 16,
Wilks (GB) 15, Katajamaki (FIN) 10, Ligato (RA) 10, Broccoli
(RSM) 9, others
FIA Production Car World Championship (after 5 of 7 rounds/how
many rounds entered, this event not counting):
Arai (J) 30/4, Rowe (GB) 27/4, Singh (MAL) 22/5, Blomqvist (S) 21/4,
Sola (E) 18/4, Ligato (RA) 13/4, Kulig (PL) 6/4, Trivino (MEX) 6/5,
others.
NEXT EVENT:
September 4-7: Telstra Rally Australia Website:
www.rallyaustralia.com
[WRC] Rally Of Finland 2003 - End of Leg Two
Saturday, 9 August 2003
Ford driver Markko Martin leads the ninth round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship - the Neste Rally Finland - after a dramatic day that saw the retirement from the lead of Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm. His team mate Richard Burns moved up to second and Citroen driver Colin McRae tumbled down the order after incurring a minute's time penalty, before crashing out of the rally on SS16.More drama was added when Burns dropped time with a wheel-bearing failure on the final stage, but he got back to service safely. At the end of Leg 2, just one second covers second, third and fourth places!
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical: The Peugeot of Richard Burns ran without
mechanical problems today, until suffering a last-minute wheel
bearing failure on the final stage. Harri Rovanpera was forced to
retire after going off the road on SS12. Marcus Gronholm was forced
to retire from the lead after SS14, as a result of broken suspension
and a lost front wheel.
Sporting: Gronholm took the lead after SS12 this morning, but lost it in dramatic fashion during SS14. The first he knew of a problem was a soft brake pedal, then the right-front wheel and suspension came off 10 kilometres from the end of the stage. With a long road section and another stage in front of him, the Finn was forced into retirement. Richard Burns moved up to second following Gronholm's retirement, but Harri Rovanpera got no further than SS12 after setting a third-fastest time on the opening stage of the day.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "I was debating whether to push like hell to win, or think of the championship. Now I suppose the most important thing is to finish the event."
Marcus Gronholm said: "I'm very disappointed to retire, as I think I could have had four Rally Finland victories in a row here. I don't know what happened, but I didn't hit anything. The brake pedal went soft, then the wheel came off. Maybe a wheel bearing broke."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I'm not quite sure what happened. We came over a crest into a slight corner and I was careful not to cut the corner after what happened yesterday. But the car didn't turn into the corner properly and we ended up on the other side of the road and into a bank."
Citroen Total
Technical: The two Citroens of Sebastien Loeb and Carlos
Sainz ran without major mechanical problems today. Colin McRae
retired in an accident on SS16.
Sporting: McRae started the day in fourth place and was set to move up to third, following Marcus Gronholm's retirement. But he incurred a minute's penalty after checking in early to the time control before SS14, and tumbled down the order. His rally was over on SS16 when he crashed his Citroen Xsara. Carlos Sainz moved up to third place after benefiting from McRae's time penalty and passing the Subaru of Petter Solberg on SS15. Sebastien Loeb continued his learning process and ended up in fifth after another solid day. The only small problem he had was with his rear brakes on SS14.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "It's been a good day. I've been pleasantly surprised by some of the times I've been setting, especially as there's been quite a lot of gravel on the road in my starting position."
Carlos Sainz said: "Today has been a tough and unpredictable day for everybody. Tomorrow should be a very big fight."
Ford Motor Company
Technical: Markko Martin's Ford Focus RS WRC03 suffered an
electrical problem throughout the middle loop of three stages that
also affected the differentials. The other Focus RS WRC03 of Francois
Duval had intermittent brake problems throughout the day, but the
2002 specification Focus of Mikko Hirvonen retired after SS11
following a turbo fire.
Sporting: Markko Martin spearheaded the battle for the lead all day and ended up with over a minute's advantage following Richard Burns's problems on the final stage. Francois Duval remained under instructions to finish the rally in order to learn the roads, but he was blighted by brake problems that meant he finished 11th.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I'm really happy to be leading by so much tonight. It was scary this afternoon when we had the electrical problem because we really didn't know what had caused it. The team did a great job in sorting that out and now we just look forward to tomorrow."
Francois Duval said: "Running first on the road today has been very difficult. It's hard to learn on roads where you don't have a clean line to follow. It's difficult to discover where you should be on the road."
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical: Both Subaru Impreza WRC2003s have run reliably
throughout the day. But both cars have encountered problems with tyre
mousse vibrations on the middle loop of stages.
Sporting: Solberg is embroiled in a three-way battle for second place together with Richard Burns and Carlos Sainz. The Norwegian is currently fourth, just 0.2 seconds behind Sainz and 0.5 seconds behind Burns. If he finishes second, it would be his second consecutive podium finish here after finishing third last year. Makinen finishes the day sixth after a steady run and is looking forward to a solid points finish.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "It's one of the most exciting rallies I've ever driven on. Everybody will be trying hard tomorrow, but I want to be trying harder!"
Tommi Makinen said: "It's not been the easiest day for us but we are still here while several people have gone out and hopefully we can take away a good result."
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical: All three Hyundai Accent WRC©¯s of
Freddy Loix, Armin Schwarz and Jussi Valimaki were generally reliable
throughout the day. Schwarz lost his front brakes in the morning,
whereas Jussi Valimaki suffered from his brakes overheating in the
afternoon. Freddy Loix broke a spark plug on SS13 but changed it
before the following stage.
Sporting: All three cars had a steady run today, apart from the brake problems that affected Valimaki and Schwarz. Freddy Loix was pleased with his progress today, but brake problems dropped Schwarz and Valimaki behind former World Champion Ari Vatanen in the overall standings.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: " It was difficult with the misfire on the middle loop of stages but I really enjoyed the long stage today. Generally the car has been good today and I'm quite happy with my times. "
Armin Schwarz said: "The brakes have been giving us problems today but generally the handling is good and we've been able to set much better times."
Jussi Valimaki said: "So far I've been very happy with the way the Accent has been performing. You can always want to go faster but an all-round package is important and the Accent has been good so far for that."
Skoda Motorsport
Technical: Didier Auriol did not start the rally yesterday
morning as a result of an old shoulder injury. The remaining Fabia
WRC of Toni Gardemeister retired at the start of SS13 as a result of
engine damage.
Sporting: Gardemeister started off the day in 12th place, which he held up until his retirement. His engine stalled on the start of SS13, and he could not get it going again despite the advice from his team over the telephone.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: "I'm disappointed we had to retire because until then everything on the car was working well. We have learned a lot about transmission and suspension settings that will be good news for Rally Australia next month.
Other entries
Suzuki driver Daniel Carlsson leads the FIA Junior World
Rally Championship ahead of Renault driver Brice Tirabassi, who
suffered a puncture on SS13. Ford driver Guy Wilks was third after a
day that has been characterised by punctures for everyone. Former
World Champion Ari Vatanen has had another enjoyable day in his
privateer Peugeot 206 WRC and has climbed to 12th overall overnight.
Marcus Gronholm's protégé Juuso Pykalisto has ended the
day ninth after a trouble-free second day on his first rally in a
2003-specification Peugeot 206 WRC. Ahead of him is his
Peugeot-driving Finnish compatriot Sebastien Lindholm.
09/0802003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 59 crews (45 Group A and 14 Group N) started this morning.
TOP RETIREMENTS: Gronholm (FIN), Rovanpera (FIN), Hirvonen (FIN), Gardemeister (FIN), McRae (GB), Warmbold (D).
TODAY: Saturday 9 August
Leg 2 started from Jyvaskyla at 06h00 and covered
745.52km, including 167.92km on seven stages.
TOMORROW: Sunday 10 August
Leg 3 starts from Jyvaskyla at 08h00 and covers 359.03km,
including 100.90km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive
back in Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki Podium at 15h45.
WEATHER FORECAST: Partly cloudy, mainly dry, but chances of showers.
SS11 PAIJALA (21.95km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 11m 21.4
2 Martin (EE) Ford 11m 23.3
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 24.2
LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 19m 39.8
2 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 19m 40.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 20m 07.2
SS12 OUNINPOHJA 1 (33.24km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 15m 31.0
2 Martin (EE) Ford 15m 35.4
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 15m 39.8
LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 35m 11.5
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 35m 15.2
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 35m 49.0
SS13 URRIA (10.00km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 4m 48.4
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 4m 50.5
= Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 4m 50.5
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 4m 50.7
LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 40m 02.0
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 40m 06.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 40m 37.4
SS14 OUNINPOHJA 2 (33.24km)
1 McRae (GB) Citroen 15m 25.1
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 15m 31.5
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 15m 32.0
LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 55m 49.0
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1h 56m 08.9
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 56m 59.9
SS15 EHIKKI (14.91km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 6m 52.6
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 6m 54.4
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 6m 55.4
LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 02m 48.4
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 03m 01.5
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 03m 54.9
SS16 MOKSI-LEUSTU (40.96km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 20m 39.2
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 20m 41.2
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 20m 42.9
LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 23m 27.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 23m 44.4
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 2h 24m 38.4
SS17 HIMOS (13.62km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 7m 30.1
2 Martin (EE) Ford 7m 31.4
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 7m 33.9
LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 30m 59.0
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot +1m 13.0
3 Sainz (E) Citroen +1m 13.3
4 Solberg (N) Subaru +1m 13.5
5 Loeb (F) Citroen +2m 02.6
6 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +2m 37.4
7 Tuohino (FIN) Ford +3m 25.0
8 Lindholm (FIN) Peugeot +3m 35.6
9 Pykalisto (FIN) Peugeot +5m 12.6
10 Loix (B) Hyundai +5m 54.6
[WRC] Rally Finland - End of Leg One
FrIday , 8 August 2003
Ford driver Markko Martin leads the ninth round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship - the Neste Rally Finland - after an electrifying battle with the Peugeot 206 of Marcus Gronholm. Martin led after last night's superspecial but Gronholm grabbed the top spot on SS5 today. Yet Martin grabbed the lead back on the last proper stage of the day, before the spectator superspecial at Killeri . Gronholm won the final 2.06 kilometre test, but Martin, second, maintained a slender 2.6 seconds advantage over the reigning World Champion. Peugeot driver Richard Burns is now third, ahead of another tight battle between Citroen's Colin McRae, Subaru driver Petter Solberg, and the other Citroen of Carlos Sainz. Today's action was disputed over classic Rally Finland territory with intermittent rain that made driving conditions even more difficult.
Marlboro Peugeot Total
Technical : The Peugeots of Marcus Gronholm and Richard
Burns ran without mechanical problems today, but Harri Rovanpera lost
a lot of time after breaking his suspension on some rocks in SS2 and
subsequently hitting a tree.
Sporting : Gronholm was involved in a day long-battle for the lead, but was forced to give best to Ford's Markko Martin at the end of the day. Burns started the day in seventh position but moved up to third after taking advantage of the rain, which he said minimised the disadvantage of running first on the road. Rovanpera ruled himself out of contention after his SS2 indiscretion.
Quotes : Richard Burns said: "Considering our road position I'm quite happy with the way things have gone. The rain definitely helped us today and we're still in touch with the battle for the lead."
Marcus Gronholm said: "I wasn't very confident with my tyre choice in the middle loop of four stages. I was forced to miss the pre-event tyre test, so I was running on tyres I didn't really know for much of today. I always knew it would be a very close battle."
Harri Rovanpera said: "On SS2 the suspension broke on some rocks which put us into a spin. I could fix it, but from then on the game was over. Now the rally is all about trying to set some fast times to show what we can do."
Citroen Total
Technical : The three Citroens of Sebastien Loeb, Colin
McRae, and Carlos Sainz ran without major mechanical problems today.
Sporting : McRae held fourth place from SS3 onwards, with a fast and consistent drive. An incorrect tyre choice on the middle loop of stages put him within the clutches of Subaru's Petter Solberg, but McRae fought back to claim fourth back on the final forest stage of the day. Carlos Sainz also improved his pace after adjusting his roll bar settings to eliminate oversteer and ends the day sixth. Sebastien Loeb spent much of the day getting to grips with the event which he does not have so much experience of. He currently lies in seventh.
Quotes : Sebastien Loeb said: "I was trying to push but it's difficult. My team mates know this rally better than I do, so I'm aiming just to finish and score however many points I can."
Colin McRae said: "It's been a satisfactory start and the performance of the car has been good, as I expected. It's a pity we were on the wrong tyres during the middle loop of stages this afternoon, but these things happen."
Carlos Sainz said: "It's not been a bad start. I have been changing some things on the car and it's getting better."
Ford Motor Company
Technical : Markko Martin's Ford Focus RS WRC03 was
reliable throughout the day. The sister car of Francois Duval also
ran without trouble through leg one, as did the 2002 specification
Focus of Mikko Hirvonen.
Sporting : Markko Martin was at the forefront of the battle for the lead all day and held a slender advantage over Marcus Gronholm after the final spectator superspecial. Francois Duval was under instructions to finish the rally in order to learn the roads and had a cautious day which resulted in 15 th position after the spectator superspecial. Mikko Hirvonen felt he had an incorrect set-up this morning with oversteer and made some changes to improve the car. However, he thinks that further adjustments are still necessary.
Quotes : Markko Martin said : " I've been driving over the limit on one or two occasions but flat-out is the only way I'm going to win this rally. There are thousands of Estonian fans here to support me but I'm concentrating so hard in the stages that I don't have time to see all their flags."
Francois Duval said: "It's been a difficult day because some of the stages are new to me but on the second run through this afternoon I've improved my times so that's encouraging."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "We lost some time this morning through oversteer , but it's been better since then and I'm really enjoying these jumps!"
555 Subaru World Rally Team
Technical : Both Subaru Impreza WRC2003s have run reliably
throughout the day. Petter Solberg hit a rock on SS5 which bent his
car's front crossmember and anti-roll bar, forcing him to disconnect
it for the following two stages. Makinen's car had no mechanical
problems although the Finn reported several bad vibrations from the
anti-deflation mousse fitted to the tyres on several stages
throughout the day. He also hit a rock eight kilometres into SS2 and
lost a quarter of the wheel rim.
Sporting : Solberg is embroiled in a three-way battle for fourth place together with Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, but has had an incident-free day apart from the bent roll bar. Makinen changed his damper settings for the middle group of four stages but later decided to revert to the original settings after failing to find a significant improvement. Solberg ended the superspecial in fifth place while Makinen held eighth position.
Quotes : Petter Solberg said: "It's going well. I think tomorrow we'll have a good fight with Colin and Carlos. For a lot of the day it's been full throttle - I couldn't get the pedal any closer to the floor. "
Tommi Makinen said: "I think we went the wrong way with some dampers earlier on and we've had some bad luck with tyre mousse vibration, but it's been a reliable day and there's a long way to go."
Hyundai World Rally Team
Technical : All three Hyundai Accent WRC?s of Freddy Loix,
Armin Schwarz and Jussi Valimaki were reliable throughout the day.
Sporting : All three cars had a steady run today, but both Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix felt that the car was lacking stability in fast corners. Loix changed his suspension set-up after the opening group of stages and improved the car for the middle loop of stages. Schwarz had the same problems as his team mate and also found that his car's ride height was too low for the last group of stages which were a repeat of this morning's opening stages, causing his car to bottom out frequently. Jussi Valimaki had a good day and plans to attack tomorrow's stages which are more familiar to him.
Quotes : Freddy Loix said: "Now we are going to push to the edge because the suspension is much better and the car feels sharper. Today has been challenging. We made good progress and although the shocks were going soft at the very end we were expecting that and now we know how to deal with it. "
Armin Schwarz said: "I am happy with the suspension because it's given me more feel and although we couldn't gain a lot on the last group of stages, I am sure we have a better set-up for tomorrow."
Jussi Valimaki said: "The car has felt great today and I have enjoyed driving it."
Skoda Motorsport
Technical : Didier Auriol did not start this morning as a
result of an old shoulder injury. The remaining Fabia WRC of Toni
Gardemeister stayed reliable throughout the day.
Sporting : Gardemeister headed into the final spectator superspecial in 12 th position ,, having had a consistent day. He set an eighth-fastest time on SS8 but was unlucky to be caught in the middle of a strong rain shower on SS7. The Finn experimented with suspension settings throughout the day and improved the car for the last loop of stages.
Quotes : Toni Gardemeister said: "Generally I have been happy with the car today. When the roads were slippery it wasn't so easy to find traction because I didn't get my tyre choices absolutely correct but the balance of the car has been very good as usual."
Other entries
Former World Champion Ari Vatanen has had an enjoyable day
in his privateer Peugeot 206 WRC and has climbed to 19th overall
overnight. "I need to slow down now as I don't want to finish in the
top three and ruin my chances of a factory drive next year!" he
joked. Marcus Gronholm's protégé, Juuso Pykalisto has
ended the day 10th after a trouble-free opening day on his first
rally in a 2003-specification Peugeot 206 WRC. The FIA Junior World
Rally Championship is led by Renault Clio driver Brice Tirabassi,
ahead of Suzuki driver Ville- Pertti Teuronen.
08/08/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 71 crews (56 Group A and 15 Group N) started the event yesterday.
TOP RETIREMENTS : Auriol (F)
TODAY:
Friday 8 August
The second section of Leg 1 started from Jyvaskyla at 07h30 and
covered 585.36km, including 138.30km on nine stages.
TOMORROW:
Saturday 9 August
Leg 2 starts from Jyvaskyla at 06h00 and covers 745.52km, including
167.92km on seven stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Jyvaskyla ,Pavilijonki at 19h48.
WEATHER FORECAST: Partly cloudy but mainly dry.
SSS1 KILLERI 1 (2.06km)
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
1m 18.6
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
1m 19.0
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
1m 19.2
RUN YESTERDAY
SS2 JUKOJARVI 1 (22.31km)
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
10m 50.8
= Martin
(EE) Ford
10m 50.8
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
10m 56.7
LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
12m 09.4
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
12m 09.8
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
12m 15.9
SS3 KRUUNUNPERA 1 (20.17km)
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
9m 12.4
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
9m 16.1
3 McRae
(GB) Citroen
9m 19.8
LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
21m 21.8
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
21m 25.9
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
21m 40.3
SS4 VALKOLA (8.42km)
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
4m 25.4
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
4m 26.1
3 McRae
(GB) Citroen
4m 27.9
LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
25m 50.3
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
25m 51.3
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
26m 07.2
SS5 LANKAMAA (23.47km)
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
11m 26.0
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
11m 26.7
3 Martin
(EE) Ford
11m 29.7
LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
37m 17.3
2 Martin
(EE) Ford
37m 20.0
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
37m 33.9
SS6 LAUKAA (11.82km)
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
5m 46.1
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
5m 48.3
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
5m 50.8
LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
43m 05.6
2 Martin
(EE) Ford
43m 06.1
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
43m 24.7
SS7 RUUHIMAKI (7.57km)
1 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
4m 03.4
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
4m 06.2
3 Martin
(EE) Ford
4m 08.1
LEADERS AFTER SS7
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
47m 11.8
2 Martin
(EE) Ford
47m 14.2
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
47m 28.1
SS8 JUKOJARVI 2 (22.31km)
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
10m 40.1
2 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
10m 41.7
= Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
10m 41.7
4 Solberg
(N) Subaru
10m 44.8
LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
57m 53.5
2 Martin
(EE) Ford
57m 54.3
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
58m 09.8
SS9 KRUUNUNPERA 9 (20.17km)
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
9m 03.0
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
9m 06.5
3 McRae
(GB) Citroen
9m 08.6
LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
1h 06m 57.3
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot 1h
07m 00.0
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
1h 07m 21.0
SSS10 KILLERI 2 (2.06km)
1 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
1m 19.1
2 Martin
(EE) Ford
1m 19.2
3 Solberg
(N) Subaru
1m 19.4
LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Martin
(EE) Ford
1h 08m 16.5
2 Gronholm
(FIN)
Peugeot
+2.6
3 Burns
(GB) Peugeot
+24.2
4 McRae
(GB) Citroen
+49.3
5 Solberg
(N) Subaru
+50.2
6 Sainz
(E) Citroen
+56.7
7 Loeb
(F) Citroen
+1m 21.9
8 Makinen
(FIN)
Subaru
+1m 39.5
9 Tuohino
(FIN) Ford
+1m 48.7
10 Pykalisto (FIN)
Peugeot
+1m 51.3
[WRC] Neste Rally Finland - Event Preview
Thursday, 7 August 2003
The FIA World Rally Championship moves back to gravel for the ninth round of the series, the Neste Rally Finland. Richard Burns (Peugeot 206 WRC) still leads the race for the drivers' title, with an advantage of four points over Spain's Carlos Sainz (Citroen Xsara WRC). Burns' team-mate and reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm is third, five points off the lead - having come to within four seconds of depriving Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb of his Rallye Deutschland win two weeks ago. The series has already managed five different winners in eight rallies this year - including a first ever WRC win for Markko Martin and Ford's Focus RS WRC03. New faces for the Neste Rally Finland include former World Champion Ari Vatanen, who is driving a customer-specification Peugeot 206 WRC. Vatanen is driving on his 101st World Rally, while World Championship leader Richard Burns celebrates his 100th event.
The Neste Rally Finland is one of the classic events of the World Championship, characterised by flat-out crests that are taken at full speed. It is often nicknamed the "Grand Prix of gravel", and is a highly-specialised rally which has only been won twice by non-Scandinavians. Accurate pace notes are crucial because of the constant high speeds, and a good suspension set-up is vital to cope with the jumps. The rally gets underway tonight with a spectator superspecial over the trotting track at Killeri.
Marlboro Peugeot Total (1st - 95
points)
Technical: Team boss Corrado Provera is confident that all
the reliability problems that affected the cars on the rough gravel
rounds will not recur on the smoother flowing gravel in Finland. All
three cars are running similar set-ups perfected on the team's latest
Finland test. There are no technical changes.
Sporting: Peugeot has entered the Rally Finland seven times and won on six occasions, with reigning World Champion Marcus Gronholm winning for the last three years. Richard Burns led over the opening stages last year, before damaging his car after a heavy landing. Harri Rovanpera also led the event before hitting a rock and retiring. Juuso Pykalisto drives a 2003-specification car for the first time, having impressed in a customer 206 WRC last year. Former World Champion Ari Vatanen is driving the latest-specification customer 206 WRC, but says that his main aim is to finish and have fun. Peugeot still leads the manufacturers title race.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "I feel in the mood for winning this rally! But I think our biggest competitor will be Markko Martin - he's got a good car underneath him and he's always quick here."
Marcus Gronholm said: "I think we are in good shape but it is always difficult to say what will happen in the rally. I think this will be the most difficult ever Rally Finland for me as there is such strong opposition."
Harri Rovanpera said: "It's always nice to be driving your home rally. I've led the rally a lot of times and normally had good results but I've never won. To achieve that would be fantastic so I will try."
Citroen Total (2nd - 88 points)
Technical: The Citroen team have worked hard to ensure
that the cars are as well-prepared for Finland as possible. Chief
engineer Jean-Claude Vaucard says that the majority of the work has
concentrated on differential and suspension settings. Colin McRae has
a new car for the event.
Sporting: Citroen is contesting the Neste Rally Finland for only the second time. Sebastien Loeb finished 10th last year while Thomas Radstrom crashed out on the penultimate stage. However, Carlos Sainz is one of only two non-Scandinavians to have won in Finland in the past. A good result would boost Citroen's standing in the manufacturers' championship. Currently the French team lies only seven points behind PSA stablemate Peugeot.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "Finland is always a big challenge, but we are looking to consolidate our position in the championship so I need to get a good finish."
Colin McRae said: "I don't think we've got the car to deal with all the different changes in conditions on this rally, but we'll be trying our hardest. It's always an enjoyable rally to drive."
Sebastien Loeb said: "The car didn't feel so nice last year but we've done a lot of work to improve it and I hope it can be as competitive on gravel as it is on asphalt. I guess we'll only find out once the rally starts."
Ford Motor Company (3rd - 50 points)
Technical: Ford have four cars in Finland: two Focus RS
WRC03s for Markko Martin and Francois Duval, while Mikko Hirvonen and
Jari-Matti Latvala drive 2002-specification Focuses. The airbox on
the RS WRC03s has been redesigned in order to prevent problems with
ingesting dust that has blighted the team in the past. Martin drives
his Acropolis-winning car again here.
Sporting: Martin comfortably led the last round of the championship before being dogged by transmission problems. Duval also finished the German event and is determined to maintain this reliability record. Hirvonen drove a Focus on home territory last weekend for the first time as part of a sponsorship day.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "This is the closest I get to having a home rally and there are a lot of Estonian fans here. However, the Estonian who is most determined for me to win is me! I think the car will be very good here and I am also confident that it will remain reliable. We stand a good chance."
Francois Duval said: "My priority is to finish the rally. If I finish sixth, seventh or wherever that's fine - I'm just determined to see the end."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "To finish in the top 10 would be a great result for me. Although I'm a Finn I don't know these stages so well because they are not often used on national championship rounds and I've only ever competed on this rally once before."
Jari-Matti Latvala said: "This is my third rally in three weekends, but my first on gravel. I'm here to learn but on Monday I go back to school and have an exam on my first day behind a desk!"
555 Subaru World Rally Team (4th - 49
points)
Technical: There are no technical changes to the Impreza
WRC 2003 apart from a brand new car that has been built for Petter
Solberg.
Sporting: Solberg was feeling ill with flu-like symptoms during the Rallye Deutschland, but is now back to full health and looking for a top result. Before the rally, Subaru held a birthday party to commemorate 10 years of the Impreza in World Rallying. The Impreza made its debut on the 1993 Rally Finland and the original team of Markku Alen and Ari Vatanen were re-united in the service area. Also in attendance were Prodrive founder David Richards and the 1993 president of Subaru Tecnica International, Mr Kuze. The Impreza has to date won 35 World Championship Rallies and taken five World Championships. But now Subaru are fourth, having just a one-point gap to Ford in the manufacturers championship.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I'm going to be trying hard, but this is maybe the most difficult rally of the year to win. The local guys are going to be very quick, but I have a plan..."
Tommi Makinen said: "It would be fantastic to win my sixth Rally Finland so that is my objective. I think I know these roads quite well now, but so do many drivers!"
Skoda Motorsport (5th - 20 points)
Technical: This is only the second outing for the Fabia
WRC. Two examples of Skoda's second-ever World Rally Car will be
driven by Toni Gardemeister and Didier Auriol: the same cars that
made their debut in Germany. New top suspension mounts have been
installed after Toni Gardemeister suffered a failure in Finland, and
there are new gearshift command levers as well.
Sporting: The Skoda team are in an upbeat mood after a successful pre-Finland test that concentrated on suspension and damper settings. But Didier Auriol is battling an old shoulder injury that has left him partially incapacitated. Toni Gardemeister drove carefully through this morning's shakedown and made some last-minute setting changes.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I'm in quite a lot of pain so I've had an injection which should help. If it carries on like this I won't be able to drive the car so we'll see what happens tonight. At the moment, everything is being done one-handed!"
Toni Gardemeister said: "The Fabia is much easier to drive than the old Octavia and that means I can go flat out! If we have a good run, I think I can take the Fabia to its first points finish."
Hyundai World Rally Team (6th - 7
points)
Technical: The team have no major changes on the three
Accent WRC3s that are entered for this event. Finn Jussi Valimaki has
been nominated to score manufacturer points in the third car and has
a new co-driver.
Sporting: Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix both drive the latest specification Accent WRCs having been buoyed by the German's second consecutive points finish in Germany. The team has recently re-launched its testing programme that has led to improved form. Team principal David Whitehead misses this event, as he is away in Korea securing the budget for next season.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "I'm happy with the car. But this is such an unpredictable rally that I don't want to make any predictions."
Freddy Loix said: "We did a couple of runs in the shakedown and I think we found a good setting. Our car will be more suited to the narrower, more twisty parts of the event as I think we will probably lose out on the fast sections.
Other entries
Finland is also a round of the FIA Junior World Rally
Championship. Renault driver Brice Tirabassi leads the Suzuki duo of
Salvador Canellas and Urmo Aava in the points standings. Newcomers
include former World Champion Ari Vatanen, driving a privateer
Peugeot 206 WRC and Ford test driver Mark Higgins, who is making an
appearance in a Super 1600 Renault Clio. Sebastien Lindholm, in
another Peugeot 206 WRC, is starting his 20th Rally Finland, while
reigning Junior World Rally Champion Daniel Sola is out in a Group N
Mitsubishi.
07/08/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: The Neste Rally Finland is the ninth of 14 events
in the FIA World Rally Championship.
ENTRIES: 72 (57 Group A, 15 Group N)
DRIVERS: Argentina 1, Belgium 2, Bulgaria 1, Czech Republic 2, Estonia 2, Finland 27, France 5, Germany 3, Great Britain 8, Italy 7, Lebanon 1, Norway 4, San Marino 1, Spain 4, Sweden 4.
MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru
CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 4, FIAT 6, Ford 11, Honda 2, Hyundai 3, Mitsubishi 17, Opel 2, Peugeot 8, Renault 4, SEAT 1, Skoda 2, Subaru 4, Suzuki 4, Toyota 1, Volkswagen 3.
TIMETABLE:
Thursday 7 August
Leg 1 starts from Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki, at 18h00 and covers
37.69km, including 2.06km on one Superspecial stage. The first car is
expected to arrive back in Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki at 19h27.
Friday 8 August
The second section of Leg 1 starts from Jyvaskyla at 07h30 and covers
585.36km, including 138.30km on nine stages. The first car is
expected to arrive back in Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki at 21h02.
Saturday 9 August
Leg 2 starts from Jyvaskyla at 06h00 and covers 745.52km, including
167.92km on seven stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki at 19h48.
Sunday 10 August
Leg 3 starts from Jyvaskyla at 08h00 and covers 359.03km, including
100.90km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in
Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki Podium at 15h45.
Total
The rally covers 1727.60km, including 409.18km on 23 special stages
(including six run twice). All stages are on gravel roads closed to
other traffic.
TODAY:
Thursday 7 August
Leg 1 started from Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki, at 18h00 and covered
37.69km, including 2.06km on one Superspecial stage.
TOMORROW:
Friday 7 August The second section of Leg 1 starts from Jyvaskyla at
07h30 and covers 585.36km, including 138.30km on nine stages. The
first car is expected to arrive back in Jyvaskyla, Pavilijonki at
21h02.
WEATHER FORECAST: Overcast, with possible showers.
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