2002 FIA World Rally Championship
Network Q Rally Great Britain - http://buypower.vauxhall.co.uk/networkQ/
Fourteenth round out of 14 in the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship
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[WRC] Rally of Great Britain - Final report
FINAL RESULTS IN CARDIFF AFTER SS17
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 30m 36.4
2 Martin (EE) Ford 24.4
3 Sainz (E) Ford 1m 35.7
4 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 2m 37.5
5 C.McRae (GB) Ford +3m 01.5
6 Higgins (GB) Ford +5m 01.9
7 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +5m 15.8
8 Loix (B) Hyundai +5m 15.9
9 Kankkunen (FIN) Hyundai +5m 29.1
10 Gardemeister (FIN) Skoda +6m 02.9
Sunday, 17 November 2002
Subaru driver Petter Solberg has scored his first victory at FIA World Rally Championship level on the closing round of this year's series, the Rally of Great Britain. The Norwegian and his Welsh co-driver Philip Mills fought past their close rivals Markko Martin and Michael Park on this morning's first stage, and they fended off the Ford pairing thereafter to notch up their breakthrough victory. Ford's double world champion Carlos Sainz scored his fifth podium finish of the year in third overall. Yet again, the Welsh weather was kind to crews today, as clear blue skies remained over the south of the country until the finish in Cardiff this afternoon. But the slippery conditions underfoot still caught out a few of the competitors, including outgoing world champion Richard Burns, who slid off on the penultimate stage, and Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who was forced to retire with suspension damage on his Citroen.
Technical: Both Petter Solberg and Tommi Mäkinen enjoyed reliability from their Impreza WRC2002s today. Mäkinen did complain, however, about a switch to Pirelli's wider KM tyre for the day's opening (long) stage, Resolfen. Solberg also had to downtune his engine in the closing kilometres of the final stage after concerns about its health.
Sporting: Petter Solberg got his wish this morning, when some of the day's first and longest stage, Resolfen, was shrouded in fog. The Norwegian attacked overnight leader Markko Martin with a vengeance and it paid off, as he barged past the Estonian to claim a useful lead after just one stage. He admitted that he took things too easily on the next stage, where Martin recouped some of his lost time, but Solberg regrouped to score fastest time in the day's penultimate stage and at least allow himself a relatively comfortable run through the last test on his way to his and his Welsh co-driver Philip Mills' maiden WRC rally win. The 10 points also promoted Solberg to second in the drivers' championship. His team-mate Tommi Mäkinen claimed fourth at the finish, although he had benefited from Richard Burns' late retirement. Mäkinen himself had to fight off Colin McRae today and despite concerns about his tyre choice in Resolfen, the four-times world champion did enough to keep the Scot at bay and score three manufacturers' points for Subaru.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ãI just can't believe it! I have to thank everyone in the team - all the crew, mechanics and engineers - and also Phil, of course, who's been terrific. I had a late scare when I had to preserve the engine in the final few kilometres but in the end, we still set the fastest time! To get second in the championship after such a long year and so many hard events is terrific as well - I really just want to enjoy the moment.
Philip Mills said: ãIt's an incredible feeling. Any win is special but the first one is always extra sweet and to do it on home soil, only an hour and a half from my house, is pretty amazing. Petter's driven superbly on so much of this year's championship but he's had bad luck - I'm just glad it's all come good and we've broken the duck. And to finish second in the drivers' championship is fantastic.
Subaru World Rally Team Principal David Lapworth said: ãWe knew we had quite a good package for this event and once Marcus was out yesterday and it was between Petter and Markko, we were optimistic that he could come through for us. We're obviously pleased, but now we have to start really hard work to get Petter and Tommi (Mäkinen) as good a chance as possible to score more wins in 2003.
Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Markko Martin have been reliable today. Mark Higgins, meanwhile, complained of a faulty intercom that had squeaked badly during much of the day's first test, Resolfen.
Sporting: Markko Martin confessed to being too cautious in the foggier stretches of Resolfen this morning and his approach cost him dearly, since it allowed Petter Solberg to barge past and set up a useful lead for the last three stages. Martin retaliated strongly in Rheola to claim back seven seconds from his Norwegian rival but then in the penultimate stage, he failed to find the right rhythm again and handed the same margin back to the leader. Martin thus had to settle for second overall at the finish, narrowly missing out on his first WRC rally win. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, felt that he could wring no more performance from his car this morning and it looked as though the Spaniard was going to miss out on a fifth podium finish of the year when Richard Burns moved past him and into third. But when the Briton slid off on the penultimate stage, Sainz was handed back the place. Colin McRae tried to close in on Tommi Mäkinen this morning but the Finn held off the 1995 world champion, who thus finished fifth on his final outing for the Ford team. Ford's fourth entry, Mark Higgins, benefited from the retirements of Sebastien Loeb and Richard Burns as he finished in sixth. He'd spent much of the final day experimenting a little with his car's set-up in an attempt to find the same speed as yesterday.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: ãOf course I'm a little disappointed not to have won but I've learnt an awful lot in the last few days about how to deal with situations like this. We have to take the positive points out of here and we've set a really fast pace with Petter without making any real mistakes, on a rally where a lot of the top guys have gone off. Petter drove at 100 percent and I was at 99 percent - ultimately, that was the difference today.
Carlos Sainz said: ãIt's been a hard rally, as always, although I think the weather has maybe helped because we haven't had rain or fog like usual. I'm sure that Markko will win a rally in the near future. He and Petter both drove well here.
Peugeot
Technical: Richard Burns enjoyed good reliability from his 206 WRCs today, but team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Gilles Panizzi weren't so lucky. Rovanperä lost hydraulic pressure in his car's differentials towards the end of Rheola and had to complete all of Margam Park 1 with the same problem, and Panizzi lost his car's brakes halfway through this morning's first stage, Resolfen.
Sporting: Richard Burns looked as though he was going to at least score a podium place on his home round of the championship after he set second-fastest time in Resolfen this morning. That pace was enough to move him past Carlos Sainz and into third overall. But in Margam Park 1, the penultimate stage of the rally, the outgoing world champion was caught out by a slippery braking area and he put the rear end of his 206 off the road and down a bank. He was unable to regain the stage and was forced to retire. Team-mate Harri Rovanperä lost time this morning with a loss of hydraulic pressure in his 206's differentials, but he still managed to inch past Juha Kankkunen and Freddy Loix in the last stage to finish seventh and score a manufacturers' point for Peugeot.. Gilles Panizzi had brake problems this morning but still finished in 11th.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: ãIt was my mistake. I was trying pretty hard and I just got caught out under braking. It's been really quite slippery on the roads, despite the fact that it's sunny overhead. Of course I'm disappointed, but it looks like I'll be fourth in the championship instead of second and maybe that's a better reflection of our season, because it hasn't been the best one. However, I'm already looking forward to getting back in the car for testing and challenging in 2003.
Harri Rovanpera said: ãThis has been such a hard rally. We've had so many little problems that have cost us time - even this morning, when we were making progress, the hydraulics went so we were left with rear-wheel drive and rear braking only. So after everything that's happened, I'm glad just to get points for the team.
Hyundai
Technical: The two remaining Accent WRC3s of Freddy Loix and Juha Kankkunen have enjoyed a troublefree final leg.
Sporting: Freddy Loix and Juha Kankkunen knew they would struggle to keep Harri Rovanperä at bay today but when the Finn's Peugeot hit problems, it gave the Belgian and his Finnish team-mate a fighting chance. Ultimately, however, the 206 was just slightly too quick for the Accents - Kankkunen finished ninth, with Loix claiming eighth, just one tenth of a second behind Rovanperä. But his result still earned Hyundai a manufacturers' point, lifting the Korean marque to fourth in the makes' series.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: ãToday was all about keeping position and making sure we got to the finish, because I've retired from too many rallies this year. I'm glad that we had a good, clean run on this event and once we made a few changes to the suspension yesterday, I've been happy with the car as well. It gives us some encouragement for next season, because it's clear that we're making progress in terms of speed and reliability. It's great to get the result for Hyundai that lifts us up to fourth in the manufacturers' championship - all of the guys in the team deserve it.
Skoda
Technical: The Octavia WRCs of Toni Gardemeister, Kenneth Eriksson and Roman Kresta have all been reliable today.
Sporting: Skoda's three drivers started today determined just to reach the finish, and they all achieved their goals. Toni Gardemeister benefited from the retirements of Sebastien Loeb and Richard Burns as he bagged tenth, while Kenneth Eriksson and Roman Kresta finished 13th and 15th respectively.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: ãI don't think there was much more speed in the car than we showed this weekend. For today, we softened the suspension a little bit to try to get more grip, because that's been our biggest problem all rally. It did improve things, but then I had to take some of the rougher sections quite steadily when we were driving through stages for the second time. I would have liked to have got a top-10 finish at the end of the year but there just hasn't been a big enough retirement rate for that.
Citroen
Technical: Citroen's sole remaining Xsara WRC driver Sebastien Loeb had not reported any significant mechanical problems today, but in the penultimate stage of the event he was forced to retire after a front-left wishbone gave way due to impacts with rocks.
Sporting: Sebastien Loeb had hoped to keep hold of a points finish today, even though he was passed by Colin McRae on this morning's first stage. But with just one stage remaining, the Frenchman suffered a late retirement when the left-front wishbone broke on his Xsara WRC.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãWe did some good work with the car on this event and I think we have made it much easier to handle on conditions like we have seen in Wales. I'm disappointed not to finish, of course, but I know I can look forward now to working with Colin (McRae) next year to improve the car and make it more efficient.
FIA World Junior Championship News
Spanish driver Daniel Sola has claimed the FIA World Junior Championship in the best possible style, by winning the category outright on the final round, the Rally of Great Britain. Sola and his co-driver Alex Romani reached the Cardiff podium this afternoon almost three minutes clear of their nearest rivals after three days of intense competition that slashed through the Junior WRC field to leave only six finishers.
Sola entered the event a single point behind Andrea Dallavilla in the championship standings, and only one of these two drivers would be able to lift the title. But that didn't stop their rivals from getting involved in the final battle. Briton Gwyndaf Evans claimed first blood at the opening superspecial in Cardiff on Thursday evening, then Janne Tuohino grabbed the initiative once the crews hit the forests on Friday morning.
That first day saw three changes of lead: Sola moved clear of Tuohino in SS3, but then a puncture in the very next stage handed the top spot back to the young Finn, who held it as far as the overnight halt. Dallavilla, meanwhile, had hit problems with two punctures on two separate stages. Saturday started with the monster Resolfen stage - the longest of the rally - and its 57km were all that Sola required to take back the lead, after Tuohino had to stop and change a puncture. Indeed, the long distance proved a problem for many of the S1600-based Junior WRC crews; British hopefuls Niall McShea and Gwyndaf Evans each had to perform similar maintenance to Tuohino, while Dallavilla did the same and then discovered that he actually had two flat tyres.
By Sunday morning, then, Sola had already amassed a useful advantage and he kept a cool head as he threaded his Saxo through the worst of the conditions in the closing four stages to score his third Junior WRC win of the year in comfortable fashion. He and Romani had just shy of three minutes in hand over Ulsterman McShea by the finish, while Italian Giandomenico Basso lost time with a late puncture but still brought his Fiat Punto home in third to make it three different manufacturers on the podium. Fourth-placed Janne Tuohino was satisfied with his finish, meanwhile, since it guaranteed him third in the title race, behind Sola and Dallavilla. The Italian came home sixth and last of the Junior WRC finishers.
Sola said: ãI'm really happy with this result. This has been a difficult event for me with some slippery conditions, and remember that I had not won on gravel before this rally. There were many problems for the Junior WRC drivers in the conditions but we have finished with a good advantage, so I'm pleased. Next year, I hope to maybe take a World Rally Car to three or four world championship rallies, or maybe try to learn more of the events with a Group N car.
Despite the unseasonably clear weather, the slippery and occasionally rough Welsh stages resulted in a high rate of attrition among the Junior WRC competitors. All three Suzuki Ignis entries crashed out on the opening morning, Kosti Katajamaki rolled his VW Polo out of contention, Sven Haaf's Opel refused to restart on the second day and Evans' MG succumbed to rear wheel hub failure in the closing stages.
Next year, the FIA Junior World Rally Championship will expand to seven events. The action starts again with the famous Monte Carlo Rally on January 22-26
17/11/2002 TODAY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 53 crews (41 Group A and 12 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: Loeb (F), Burns (GB) and 12 other drivers
TODAY: Sunday 17 November
Leg 3 started from Cardiff at 05h30 and covered 489.09km, including 138.50km on four special stages.
SS14 RESOLFEN 2 (54.69km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 28m 49.4
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 28m 52.2
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 29m 08.7
LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 42m 20.9
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 42m 41.2
3 Sainz (E) Ford 2h 43m 12.9
SS15 RHEOLA 2 (27.95km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 15m 49.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 15m 54.1
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 15m 57.1
LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 58m 18.0
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 58m 30.8
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 2h 59m 13.9
SS16 MARGAM 1 (27.93km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 12.3
2 Martin (EE) Ford 16m 20.8
3 Mäkinen (FIN) Subaru 16m 21.2
LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 14m 30.3
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 14m 51.6
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 3h 15m 49.9
SS17 MARGAM 2 (27.93km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 06.1
2 Martin (EE) Ford 16m 09.2
3 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 16m 11.6
JUNIOR WRC LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Sola (E) Citroen 4h 03m 06.6
2 McShea (GB) Opel +2m 59.3
3 Basso (I) Fiat +3m 19.6
4 Tuohino (FIN) Citroen +4m 07.6
5 Valimaki (FIN) Citroen +5m 27.8
6 Dallavilla (I) Citroen +6m 20.2
FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: The rally covered 1636.14km, including 390.57km on 17 special stages (including seven run twice and one used three times). All stages were on gravel roads closed to other traffic.
STARTERS: 85 crews (65 Group A and 20 Group N) started the rally
FINISHERS: 38 crews (28 Group A and 10 Group N) finished the rally
STAGE WINNERS:
Gronholm (SS2-3-5-6-8)
Martin (SS1-15)
Solberg (SS7-9-11-12-13-14-16-17)
Burns (SS10)
SS4 was cancelled due to spectator congestion.
RALLY LEADERS:
SS1 Martin
SS2-SS9 Grönholm
SS10-SS13 Martin
SS14-17 Solberg
FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 14 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers
Grönholm (FIN) 77, Solberg (N) 37, Sainz (E) 36, C. McRae (GB) 35, Burns (GB) 34, Panizzi (F) 31, Rovanperä (FIN) 30, Mäkinen (FIN) 22, Martin (EE) 20, Loeb (F) 18, others.
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Peugeot 165, Ford 104, Subaru 67, Hyundai 10, Skoda 9, Mitsubishi 9.
FIA Junior World Rally Championship (after 6 of 6 rounds):
Sola (E) 37,Dallavilla (I) 29, Tuohino (FIN) 15, Basso (I) 14, Caldani (I) 13, Duval (B) 12, McShea (GB) 6, Schelle (D) 5, Galli (I) 5, Feghali (RL) 4, Rowe (GB) 4, others.
FIA Production Car World Championship (after 8 of 8 rounds, this event not counting)
Singh (MAL) 28, Sohlberg (FIN) 26, Ferreyros (PE) 20, Fiorio (I) 16, Arai (J) 12, Trelles (ROU) 12, Iliev (BG) 9, Rowe (GB) 11, others.
[WRC] Rally of Great Britain - Leg two
LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 11m 21.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru +1.8
3 Sainz (E) Ford +27.4
4 Burns (GB) Peugeot +56.5
5 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +1m 37.8
6 C.McRae (GB) Ford +1m 39.2
7 Loeb (F) Citroen +2m 01.9
8 Higgins (GB) Ford +2m 59.6
9 Loix (B) Hyundai +3m 08.9
10 Kankkunen (FIN) Hyundai +3m 26.6
Saturday, 16 November 2002
The final round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship is poised for a grandstand finish tomorrow, after a second leg filled with drama on the Rally of Great Britain. Newly-crowned world champion Marcus Grönholm crashed out of the event this morning, opening up a close fight for the lead between Ford's Markko Martin and Subaru driver Petter Solberg. Neither of these drivers, part of the sport's younger generation, has won a world championship event before. They entered this evening's superspecial in host city Cardiff separated by just under two seconds, so a close finish to the season looks likely.
Grönholm was one of the several drivers to be caught out by a stretch of asphalt road on the day's third stage, "Halfway 1". His retirement means that he cannot now match Didier Auriol's record of six victories in one season. But Peugeot still has an outside chance of matching Lancia's record of nine wins in a year - outgoing world champion Richard Burns moved up to fourth today, behind Carlos Sainz and ahead of Tommi Mäkinen and Colin McRae.
Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRC02s of Markko Martin, Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Mark Higgins have all been reliable today, although the Spaniard and the Scot broke windscreens in Crychan 1. Higgins' only worry occurred when he suffered a gearbox glitch and was unable to select neutral before the start of a stage with the paddle-shift system. Using the regular gear stick solved the problem, though, and the paddle system worked fine once he'd started the test.
Sporting: Markko Martin attacked hard in Resolfen this morning and it was enough to catapult him back past Petter Solberg into second overall. But the Norwegian fought back in the next two stages as Martin was left dissatisfied with his choice of tyres. Their battle turned into one for the lead on the second of those tests, Halfway, when leader Marcus Grönholm crashed out, so Estonian Martin now has a chance to claim his first world rally victory. He ended the day's last forest stage just 1.8 seconds ahead of Solberg. Carlos Sainz felt that his tyre choice for the long Resolfen test this morning was not perfect, but the Spaniard has kept in touch with the leaders throughout this afternoon. He returned to Cardiff tonight in third, less than half a minute off the lead. Colin McRae, meanwhile, inched closer to Tommi Mäkinen today and he arrived in Cardiff for the final run over the superspecial this evening less than two seconds behind his Finnish rival. Ford's fourth driver, Mark Higgins, has been satisfied with an improvement in his pace today as he moved up to eighth as he returned to Cardiff.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: ãI don't really feel any pressure - we can only try our best, after all. If we make a spin and lose the rally because of that tomorrow, then I'll be disappointed. But if we do our best and Petter wins just because he's been that bit quicker, then fair enough.
Colin McRae said: ãIt's clearly going to be pretty close between the two guys at the finish. I'm not sure that both of them will get to the end without having a problem of some kind - maybe a mechanical problem or a mistake.
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg and Tommi Mäkinen have experienced no real problems with their Impreza WRC2002s today, although like many, the Finn broke a windscreen in Crychan 1.
Sporting: Petter Solberg lost time to overnight rival Markko Martin on this morning's opening stage, when the Subaru driver had a half-spin. But thereafter, he inched closer and closer to the Ford driver as the afternoon progressed, taking even more risks after Marcus Grönholm crashed out and promoted their tussle from a scrap to second to the fight for the lead. Solberg ended the day's last forest stage just 1.8 seconds behind his Estonian rival. His team-mate Tommi Mäkinen has not been able to match Solberg's pace today and the Finn also ceded a position to the recovering Richard Burns, but he did manage to fend off Colin McRae for the forest stages to return to Cardiff's final superspecial run this evening 1.4 seconds clear of the Scot.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ãI've been taking even more risks this afternoon than I was yesterday. If I want to have a chance to win then I've got no choice - I have to try. It's going to be a good fight - I think the first, long stage of the day will be crucial.
Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRCs of Richard Burns and Gilles Panizzi have been reliable today. Marcus Grönholm's car suffered hydraulic problems on the stage before he crashed out, however. Harri Rovanperä also hit trouble - his car broke a left-rear wheel bearing in the day's third stage, forcing Rovanperä to disconnect the rear brakes and limp through both Crychan and Halfway before he reached service.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm set fastest time on today's opening, long stage but then his car was hit by hydraulic problems in SS9, forcing him to resort to the manual gearshift. On the next stage, he was caught out by a stretch of asphalt road and rolled into retirement. His team-mate Richard Burns has continued his recovery after his first-day accident; the Englishman has moved up to fourth overall, albeit still nearly a minute behind leaders Markko Martin and Petter Solberg. The third 206 WRC driver, Harri Rovanperä, was slowed by a broken wheel bearing in today's third stage and he had to disconnect the rear brakes to stand any chance of limping back to service this evening. He did so, but the Finn had dropped out of the top 10 as a result. Peugeot's fourth entry, Gilles Panizzi, holds 13th overnight after another steady day's driving.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: ãI was just too fast for the corner and for the jump, and we went off. I'm disappointed, because it hadn't felt like we were really pushing or taking risks.
Richard Burns said: ãThe gap looks too big to the leaders but of course we'll try. Between Petter and Markko, it's really too close to call.
Citroen
Technical: Sebastien Loeb lost time this morning when his Xsara WRC's dashboard failed in the opening stage, forcing him to drive for more than 40km with no indication of what gear he was in. Team-mate Thomas Radstrom retired in the same stage when his car holed its sump and lost its engine oil.
Sporting: Sebastien Loeb looked in danger of being swallowed up by the recovering Colin McRae and Richard Burns this morning, especially after his car's dashboard failed in the long Resolfen stage, forcing him to drive without any gear indicator. The young Frenchman halted his slide this afternoon, however, posting third fastest time in the last run over Halfway to secure ninth overall, less than half a minute behind Mark Higgins. The second Xsara driver Thomas Radstrom retired in Resolfen this morning - he cut a corner too tight and holed his car's sump, causing a terminal loss of engine oil.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãIt was hard in Resolfen without the gear indicator, because that's a really long stage and you need as much confidence as possible. But this afternoon has been going better, because I've found quite a good setting for the car and I'm getting more confident.
Hyundai
Technical: The Accent WRCs Armin Schwarz's Accent, meanwhile, caught fire in this morning's opening stage. The car could be repaired for the following tests, but the German was told not to continue because he was clearly ill with smoke and fumes inhalation. The cars of Freddy Loix and Juha Kankkunen have been reliable, though.
Sporting: Juha Kankkunen and Freddy Loix have maintained their steady progress up the leaderboard. Kankkunen did lose time in Resolfen, however, when he stopped to give team-mate Armin Schwarz a fire extinguisher to put out the flames on his burning Accent. Organisers allocated the four-times world champion a better time later in the day, though. He ended the last forest stage in 10th but under pressure from Peugeot's Harri Rovanperä. Loix felt his car wasn't handling perfectly in Resolfen but a switch to softer springs restored his confidence in the Accent. E holds ninth overnight, less than 20 seconds clear of Kankkunen. The third Accent of Armin Schwarz was halted this morning - an exhaust-related problem caused a fire at the rear of the car and although the former European champion was able to extinguish the flames and return to service, Hyundai's team doctor believed that the German had inhaled too much smoke for him to continue.
Quotes: Freddy Loix said: ãI've got quite good confidence in the car now, especially after that suspension change. There's not much more we can do except try to keep the same speed tomorrow. It looks like Harri will charge back past us but as we've seen today, anything can happen.
Skoda
Technical: The Octavia WRCs of Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta have been generally reliable today, although both drivers felt that they were experiencing minor differential problems (centre and rear respectively) in the day's closing forest stages. Gardemeister also broke his windscreen on the same branch that caught out many of the top drivers. In a contrast to yesterday, meanwhile, Kenneth Eriksson's car performed without any major problems today.
Sporting: Young Finn Toni Gardemeister believes that he cannot extract much more performance from his Octavia WRC, but the young Finn ended today's forest stages unsure of his car's handling on hard, slippery surfaces. He started the final Cardiff superspecial in 12th. Kenneth Eriksson enjoyed a troublefree day after his glitches yesterday, and the veteran Swede used his improved reliability to move into 15th. His young team-mate Roman Kresta is less than half minute behind in 16th.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: ãWhen there is some gravel it's fine but as soon as the surface gets polished or greasy and hard, we just lose grip and the car starts to go all over the road. Maybe it's the front or centre differentials - I think we need to look at them closely. Of course I'm just trying flat out and we've had a few moments, but I'm reasonably happy.
Mitsubishi
Technical: The Lancer Evo WRCs of Francois Delecour and Jani Paasonen were reliable this morning, but both were ultimately forced to retire with accident damage in SS10.
Sporting: Mitsubishi lost both of its cars in the space of a few miles on today's third stage, Halfway. First, Finn Jani Paasonen was distracted by spectators flagging him down at the scene of Marcus Grönholm's accident and he slid off and rolled out at exactly the same place. Paasonen then complained of neck pains and he was taken to hospital as a precaution. Francois Delecour got through the same asphalt stretch without problems, but then he, too, slid off after his stand-in navigator Dominique Savignoni called a pacenote slightly too late over a crest. He clouted some rocks, damaging the front suspension of his car beyond repair.
Quotes: Francois Delecour said: ãThere was no way I could possibly make the corner, because the note came just at the crest and we were in sixth gear at the time. There was a big, big rock on the outside of the corner and it hit the front suspension very hard. To be honest, I was waiting for another impact but it never came. It's disappointing, obviously, but I know this event hasn't been easy for Dominique.
Other entries
Spanish driver Daniel Sola is on course to win the FIA Junior World Championship, since he held a comfortable category lead after today's last forest stage. The Citroen Saxo driver's title rival, Andrea Dallavilla, lost time with two punctures. The Italian wasn't alone in suffering deflations - challengers Niall McShea, Janne Tuohino and Gwyndaf Evans all suffered a similar fate.
16/11/2002 TODAY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 73 crews (55 Group A and 18 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: Schwarz (D), Radstrom (S), Gronholm (FIN), Delecour (F), Paasonen (FIN), and 13 other drivers
TODAY:
Saturday 16 November Leg 2 started from Cardiff at 06h00 and covered 508.39km, including 117.04km on six special stages.
TOMORROW:
Sunday 17 November Leg 3 starts from Cardiff at 05h30 and covers 489.09km, including 138.50km on four special stages. The first car is expected to arrive at the finish ramp in Cardiff at 16h40.
WEATHER FORECAST: Scattered cloud and occasional heavy showers.
SS7 CARDIFF SUPER 2 (2.45km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 2m 07.2
2 Martin (EE) Ford 2m 07.7
3 Sainz (E) Ford 2m 08.4
This Superspecial Stage was run yesterday night
SS8 RESOLFEN 1 (54.69km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 28m 56.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 29m 01.7
3 Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot 29m 08.4
LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 36m 03.1
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 37m 10.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 37m 19.1
SS9 CRYCHAN 1 (12.67km)
1 Solberg (N) Peugeot 7m 03.6
2 Burns (GB) Subaru 7m 04.7
3 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 7m 06,7
LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 43m 09.8
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 44m 17.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 44m 22.7
SS10 HALFWAY 1 (17.28km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 9m 50.8
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 9m 52.7
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 53.9
LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Martin (EE) Ford 1h 54m 13.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 54m 16.6
3 Sainz (E) Ford 1h 54m 29.8
SS11 CRYCHAN 2 (12.67km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 7m 07.1
2 Martin (EE) Ford 7m 07.7
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 7m 09.1
LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2h 01m 20.8
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 01m 23.7
3 Sainz (E) Ford 2h 01m 41.8
SS12 HALFWAY 2 (17.28km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 59.9
2 Martin (EE) Ford 10m 01.1
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 10m 01.5
SS13 CARDIFF SUPER 3 (2.45km)
This Superspecial stage will be run tonight after 19h30 local time.
[WRC] Rally of Great Britain - Leg one
Friday, 15 November 2002
Peugeot driver Marcus Grönholm has assumed a strong position in the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally of Great Britain, which began in earnest from its host city, Cardiff, this morning. The Finn's 206 WRC set fastest times on all of today's forest stages to build up a lead of almost 50 seconds, although Grönholm's cause was helped when his close rival and team-mate Richard Burns slid off and damaged his similar Peugeot's exhaust on only the second stage this morning.
The opening day of the event has been held in a strange blend of weather conditions, with clear blue skies overhead and soaking-wet, muddy and slippery roads in the Welsh forests. As a result, Burns was not the only top driver to be caught out - his fellow countryman Colin McRae slid off on this morning's opening stage, while MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi retired in the same test after he was unsighted by the sun (low in the sky in Wales at this time of year) and slid down a bank.
Peugeot
Technical: Marcus Grönholm's 206 WRC has been reliable today. Harri Rovanperä's car suffered from a suspected clutch problem on this morning's second stage, but Peugeot mechanics changed the offending unit at the following service. The Finn then suffered a jump-start penalty on SS5, when a small piece of the handbrake lever came loose and he nudged the car forwards as he was trying to prevent it from falling into his footwell. Richard Burns' car has been reliable in general, but he lost power when he slid off on the day's second stage and flattened 206's exhaust. He also suffered a loss of differential pressure on the road section immediately after SS5.
Sporting: Marcus Grönholm set fastest time on this morning's first stage, just half a second clear of his team-mate Richard Burns as the expected battle between the pair began to take shape. But it suffered a setback on the next stage, as Burns slid off under braking and flattened his car's exhaust. The Englishman lost well over a minute because of the resulting lack of power but he still fought his way back up the field to arrive in Cardiff this evening in eighth. Grönholm, meanwhile, continued to set the pace and he set fastest times on all of the day's forest stages to build up an advantage of almost 50 seconds. The third Peugeot driver, Harri Rovanperä, lost time with a small clutch problem and then a 10-second jump-start penalty, caused when a piece of his handbrake came loose at the start line of SS5. The Finn also spun in the day's last forest stage but he started the Cardiff superspecial in fifth overall. Peugeot's fourth entry, Gilles Panizzi, lies outside the top 10 after a steady drive today.
Quotes: Marcus Grönholm said: ãI've been driving at a normal level of attack today, so I'm quite pleased that we've ended up with such a good advantage. Obviously this morning it was quite close between us and Richard and then he had his problem, so now we look quite comfortable up front. But there's a long way to go yet and as we've seen today, this is the sort of rally where you can slide off very easily, so we have to keep concentration.
Richard Burns said: ãI just braked a little too late for a corner after a fast approach. We put all four wheels off the road and the car ended up on top of a bank. The exhaust was damaged so we'd no power - in fact, even getting back onto the road was a struggle. Then we lost a lot more time going through the rest of the stage.
Ford
Technical: None of the three nominated Focus RS WRC02s have encountered any serious mechanical problems today.
Sporting: Colin McRae's hopes of securing a fourth win on this event took a serious blow on this morning's first stage, when the Scot slid wide at junction and got stuck in mud. He dropped to 10th as a result, but recovered to arrive in Cardiff this evening in seventh, closely-matched with his local rival Burns. The Ford challenge has been spearheaded by Markko Martin for much of today - after his fastest time in last night's superspecial, the young Estonian has held a top three position throughout today's forest stages and he ended the serious mileage in third overall, battling with Subaru's Petter Solberg. Ford veteran Carlos Sainz has maintained a watching brief behind his younger team-mate today, and despite concerns about one of his tyre choices for SS5, the double world champion kept his Focus in fourth this afternoon. Ford's fourth entry, former British champion Mark Higgins, holds a top-10 placing overnight despite suffering from poor road conditions thanks to his lower starting position.
Quotes: Colin McRae said: ãWe can keep pushing but unless Marcus has a problem, I don't think anyone's going to stop him from winning here. For us, it's more a question of just trying to keep the car on the road.
Markko Martin said: ãI've been a bit surprised that some of the other guys haven't gone quicker, but we're obviously setting reasonable times and the car has been completely reliable for me.
Subaru
Technical: The Impreza WRC2002 of Petter Solberg has been reliable today. The similar car of Tommi Mäkinen showed a smoking turbocharger after the day's first two stages, although Subaru estimated that this had not cost him performance. However, the turbo was changed at the first available service as a precaution.
Sporting: Petter Solberg hasn't been entirely satisfied with all of his tyre choices today but the Norwegian has, once again, been the top non-Peugeot on the timesheets. He's enjoyed a fight with fellow young star Markko Martin for second overall and Solberg made the position his by a handful of seconds as they arrived at this evening's superspecial in Cardiff. Team-mate Tommi Mäkinen had a spin and a half-spin on the day's first stage, but recovered to hold sixth on his return this evening.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ãWe can't touch Marcus but the best we can do is try to hold onto second overall and hope that in the tricky conditions, something might happen to him. It can certainly be that way on this event.
Citroen
Technical: The Xsara WRCs of Sebastien Loeb and Thomas Radstrom have been reliable today,
Sporting: Citroen came to the Rally GB to gain experience for next year, and both Thomas Radstrom and Sebastien Loeb have adopted cautious approaches today. That didn't stop Loeb from clouting the rear of his car on this morning's first stage, but the young Frenchman still arrived back in Cardiff this evening in ninth. Team-mate Thomas Radstrom has been slower, and he lies on the edge of the top 20.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: ãThe biggest problem I'm finding is that the road conditions change from corner to corner. You can have good grip at one section and then come over a crest and there's nothing - you could just slide straight off. My aim here is to get experience and try settings for the team, so I'm determined to get round.
Hyundai
Technical: The Accents of Freddy Loix and Juha Kankkunen have enjoyed good reliability today, although the windscreen washer on the Belgian's car failed during this morning's opening stages. Their team-mate Armin Schwarz has also been happy with the mechanical strength of his car, but he has suffered intercom failure on two different stages.
Sporting: Four-times world champion Juha Kankkunen and Freddy Loix have upheld Hyundai honour today, although neither has managed to break into the top 10. The pair were separated by just a handful of seconds (in the Belgian's favour) entering tonight's closing stage in Cardiff. Their team-mate Armin Schwarz lost time with intercom failures but he is less than half a minute further adrift.
Quotes: Juha Kankkunen said: ãIt's been going fine for me today. The conditions are quite difficult when we're having second runs through the stages, because the loose gravel gets cleared off the road and you get a mixture of ruts and polished hard rock, which is very slippery.
Skoda
Technical: The Octavia WRCs of Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta have been reliable today. Kenneth Eriksson, however, suffered differential problems on this morning's opening pair of stages and then he lost his brakes completely in SS6.
Sporting: All three Skoda drivers have reported a lack of grip in the slippery conditions today, particularly on the second run through Trawscoed this afternoon, Kenneth Eriksson lost time with differential problems but he and team-mate Toni Gardemeister entered the closing forest test separated by just a second, albeit outside of the top 10. Brake problems in that stage dropped Eriksson back, however. Young Czech driver Roman Kresta has found the Welsh terrain especially challenging, and he lies on the fringes of the top 20.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: ãIt's been really hard work today because the roads have been so slippery that you just feel you've got no grip at all. I don't know if everyone else is having the same problems but when Kenneth and I have had clean runs, the gap between us has been very small so I don't think the package can go much quicker than this.
Mitsubishi
Technical: The Lancer Evo WRC of Francois Delecour has been reliable today. However, his team-mate Jani Paasonen suffered a broken clutch on the road section from SS5 to service. The Finn was able to reach his Ralliart mechanics without penalties, though. Mitsubishi's last-minute replacement for Alister McRae, Justin Dale, was forced to retire after the second stage this morning when accident damage was found to have kinked his Lancer's roll cage.
Sporting: Mitsubishi lost its last-minute replacement for Alister McRae this morning, when Justin Dale was caught out by the low sun in the sky and rolled his Lancer. He reached service, despite having to stop and fill a damaged radiator with water at every opportunity in SS3, but when Ralliart mechanics examined his car they discovered too much damage to the roll cage for him to continue. Francois Delecour has competed with heavy strapping across his chest - a legacy of his Rally Australia accident - but the Frenchman has kept his Lancer in the top 20. Team-mate Jani Paasonen has had a couple of overshoots and one two-wheel moment but he entered this evening's superspecial less than 20 seconds behind Delecour.
Quotes: Justin Dale said: ãI'm totally gutted. I just came to a fairly slow left-hander after a long straight and the sun appeared through the trees and totally blinded me. Obviously we knew the bodyshell was quite badly damaged but we did everything we could to overcome the broken radiator - we stopped at every stream possible in the second stage to top up the water. To make it back to service in time and then realise that the cage is too badly damaged is really disappointing.
Other entries
There has been plenty of thrilling competition in the Junior World Rally Championship category of the event, with four different leaders in the first four stages. MG driver Gwyndaf Evans led after last night's superspecial, but Finn Janne Tuohino charged in his Saxo to grab the advantage on this morning's first forest stage. Junior WRC title hopeful Daniel Sola then claimed the top spot in SS3, before suffering a puncture and dropping nearly a minute. That allowed Tuohino back into the top spot, ahead of the other title aspirant Andrea Dallavilla, who has survived punctures on two separate stages. British challengers Evans and Niall McShea remain in contention, however, and Sola has already started to fight back.
World MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi failed to complete a single forest stage, meanwhile. On his debut in the FIA World Rally Championship, the Italian put the back wheels of his Peugeot 206 WRC off the road in the opening stage this morning and even after he managed to find some spectators, he was unable to regain the stage. His car was totally undamaged in the incident and once it had been towed onto the road, navigator Carlo Cassina was able to drive it back to service.
15/11/2002 TODAY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 85 crews (65 Group A and 20 Group N) started this morning.
RETIREMENTS: Dale (GB), and 10 other drivers
TODAY: Friday 15 November The second part of Leg 1 started from Cardiff at 05h15 and covered
622.54km, including 132.58km on six special stages.
TOMORROW: Saturday 16 November Leg 2 starts from Cardiff at 06h00 and covers 508.39km, including 117.04km on six special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Cardiff at 20h30.
WEATHER FORECAST: More cloudy with heavy showers.
SS1 CARDIFF SUPERSPECIAL 1 (2.45km)
1 Martin (EE) Ford 2m 07.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 2m 08.3
3 C. McRae (GB) Ford 2m 08.8
This stage took place yesterday evening.
SS2 BRECHFA 1 (23.12km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 13m 24.2
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 13m 24.7
3 Sainz (E) Ford 13m 36.2
LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 15m 33.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 15m 35.5
3 Martin (EE) Ford 15m 44.7
SS3 TRAWSCOED 1 (27.97km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 16m 36.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 50.3
3 Martin (EE) Ford 16m 54.8
LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 32m 10.0
2 Martin (EE) Subaru 32m 39.5
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 32m 40.3
SS4 BRECHFA 2 (23.12km)
Stage cancelled due to spectator congestion.
SS5 TRAWSCOED 2 (27.97km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 16m 52.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 17m 00.8
3 C. McRae (GB) Ford 17m 02.4
LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 49m 02.6
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 49m 41.1
3 Martin (EE) Ford 49m 43.1
SS6 RHEOLA 1 (27.95km)
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 15m 55.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 16m 01.3
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 06.6
LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 04m 58.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru +49.6
3 Martin (EE) Ford +51.8
4 Sainz (E) Ford +1m 05.0
5 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +1m 43.2
6 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +1m 46.4
7 C.McRae (GB) Ford +1m 58.7
8 Burns (GB) Peugeot +2m 00.3
9 Loeb (F) Citroen +2m 10.5
10 Higgins (GB) Ford +2m 43.4
SS7 CARDIFF SUPERSPECIAL 2 (2.45km) To be run tonight after 19h30 local time
[WRC] Rally of Great Britain: Preview
NETWORK Q RALLY GREAT BRITAIN - Thursday, 14 November 2002
Marcus Grönholm and his Peugeot team will both be aiming for records on the final round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally of Great Britain, which starts with a superspecial in host city Cardiff this evening. Grönholm can equal Didier Auriol's record of six victories in a single season, while Peugeot is aiming to match Lancia's benchmark of nine successes in the one year.
Grönholm will face stiff opposition in his quest - not least from Britain's top two drivers, Richard Burns and Colin McRae, each of whom is aiming for his fourth victory on home soil. And with Subaru youngster Petter Solberg looking increasingly close to his first win at WRC level, and Grönholm's Peugeot team-mate Harri Rovanperä aiming for his first victory of this season in Welsh forests he knows well, there remains plenty of scope for competition in the closing miles of the season. They are likely to be held in extremely difficult conditions, with the normally-slippery Welsh forests made even more treacherous by heavy rain.
Peugeot (1st - 163 points)
Technical: Peugeot has made no significant changes to its 206 WRCs for this event.
Sporting: Peugeot sends three cars to this event, for Marcus Grönholm, Richard Burns and Harri Rovanperä. A fourth 206 has also been entered for asphalt expert Gilles Panizzi but unlike the others, he will not be nominated for manufacturers' points. Rovanperä will be reunited with co-driver Risto Pietilainen on this event, since his old navigator has now made a full recovery from an aneurism.
Marcus Grönholm said: ãI won here last year but of course Richard was thinking about the championship then. It'll be interesting this time to see how we compare. The car felt good at shakedown this morning, so all we can do is wait until the Welsh forests and see how it is. I'm expecting Richard to push really hard, so we'll have to see how our own speed is compared to his before we decide whether to really attack or not.
Richard Burns said: ãI don't really think there's any more hype now - people know who's going to be quick here and who's going to be fighting for victory. I've felt good with the car in testing and obviously there's going to be a fight - probably between myself and Marcus, with Colin trying pretty hard as well. I'm feeling pretty confident.
Ford (2nd - 94 points)
Technical: Ford's three regular Focus RS WRC02s - driven by Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Markko Martin - will all run in essentially-unchanged specification in Great Britain. The team's fourth entry for Mark Higgins, however, will use revised electronics that will eventually be installed in the 2003 model. The most visible illustration of these modifications on the Welsh-domiciled Manxman's car will be a different dashboard and gearchange indicator.
Sporting: Ford has entered its three usual drivers - Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Markko Martin - for the final round of the season, and all three will be registered for manufacturers' points. This will be McRae's last outing for the team before he switches to Citroen for 2003, and it could also be Sainz's last appearance in the Focus as well - he currently has no deal in place with any team for next season. Ford will also field a fourth Focus RS WRC02 for former British champion Mark Higgins. The Welsh-domiciled Manxman ran in the top six for the team on this event last year, before his entry was withdrawn following an accident involving Carlos Sainz.
Colin McRae said: ãIt's going to be tough for us - as we've seen in the last few rallies, it's hard to stop the Peugeots when they're working well. If I was to put on a bet I'd go for Richard - he's due a win and if he gets a clean run, he'll be very strong. But we also have a decent package and I'd like to finish my Ford career with a win, of course.
Markko Martin said: ãTesting didn't go quite as planned for me - we seemed to have a lot of small niggles. But this is still one of the events in the world championship that I've got the most experience of, so I'm looking forward to it. I don't mind the rain and a bit of mud this weekend, but I'm really hoping that there's no fog.
Subaru (3rd - 54 points)
Technical: Subaru has made no major revisions to its Imprezas for this event. The team has already started testing its 2003-specification car and it looks likely to be the only manufacturer introducing a new model on next year's season-opener in Monte Carlo.
Sporting: Subaru has entered its two usual Impreza WRC2002 drivers for this event - Tommi Mäkinen and Petter Solberg.
Petter Solberg said: ãI've got a good feeling about this rally. We did a good test and the car felt very good at shakedown this morning. I know people keep asking when my first win will come but to be honest, I'm just concentrating on doing my best and I know it will happen eventually. We've been the best non-Peugeot on a quite a few rallies recently and sooner or later, it's going to come good. I expect conditions to be difficult here this weekend and some of the stages have some very fast sections.
Tommi Mäkinen said: ãThis hasn't been the best rally for me in the past but when the conditions are really difficult, it seems we have quite a good tyre and car combination. Everyone expects Marcus and Richard to fight for the win and of course they'll be hard to beat, but I know from the past that here anything can happen.
Skoda (4th - 9 points)
Technical: Skoda's Octavia WRCs are unchanged from the specification that was used in New Zealand and Australia. The Czech manufacturer has concentrated on strengthening its cars, in anticipation of a high rate of attrition caused by multi-use of stages in the Welsh forests.
Sporting: Skoda has entered three Octavia WRCs for this event, for regular drivers Toni Gardemeister and Kenneth Eriksson, as well as young Czech driver Roman Kresta.
Toni Gardemeister said: ãI think we only have one real option on this rally - to push totally flat out from the start and see where that takes us. We showed in some stages in Australia that we can have quite a good speed.
Mitsubishi (5th - 9 points)
Technical: Mitsubishi has made no major changes to the Lancer for this event, although the team has worked hard to make the car easier and more predictable to drive in the slippery conditions.
Sporting: Mitsubishi Ralliart had entered three cars on this event, but there is still no return for injured driver Alister McRae. He has been told by doctors in Australia to continue his recuperation from a liver injury for at least a few more weeks. Mitsubishi has drafted in British Super 1600 champion Justin Dale as a last-minute replacement, although he has little experience of four-wheel drive machinery and has only tackled his home round of the world championship once before, in 1996. The other two Mitsubishis will be driven by Francois Delecour and Jani Paasonen, although the Frenchman describes his own physical condition as no more than '80 percent' after his Rally Australia accident. He will be navigated by Dominique Savignoni in the Welsh forests, since his regular co-driver Daniel Grataloup will be out of action for several months after their first-day accident in Australia.
Francois Delecour said: ãI have quite a lot of pain in my back and it's not nice. It's frustrating because there's no problem with Dominique but I am not feeling at my best. We'll just have to try as hard as is possible.
Justin Dale said: ãThe team have told me that they really want a 'banker' who can bring the car home in case others hit trouble and maybe sneak a manufacturers' point. So that's what I'm going to do. I really want to take advantage of the opportunity, take it all in and enjoy myself, without putting myself under too much pressure.
Hyundai (6th - 9 points)
Technical: Hyundai has introduced no major changes to its Accent WRC3s for Great Britain. The team has yet to fully trace the problems which hit its engines in Australia, but it is believed to be related to spark plugs and ignition.
Sporting: Hyundai sends three Accent WRC3s to Great Britain - for regular drivers Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix, and four-times world champion Juha Kankkunen. The team recently confirmed that it will enter two Accents on next year's world championship, for Schwarz and Loix. The decision potentially leaves Kankkunen without any full-time drive, and also appears to have ruled out a chance of a Hyundai seat for Carlos Sainz.
Armin Schwarz said: ãWe didn't do a test for here but even at the shakedown this morning, I had quite a good feeling. The Accent handles very well and in the slippery conditions, that's ideal. Total horsepower isn't quite so important in these conditions either. This is a rally that I really like - it's difficult, tricky and hard to finish here, but that's a good challenge for the final round of the season.
Citroen
Technical: Citroen's Xsara WRCs will run in their regular 2002 specification on this event, with fine-tuning to the suspension and differentials for the Welsh conditions. The team is planning to introduce a 2003 homologation in April next year, featuring major revisions to the car's engine.
Sporting: Citroen has entered two Xsara WRCs for this event, to be driven by Thomas Radstrom and Sebastien Loeb. The French manufacturer has yet to confirm if it will commit to two or three cars in next year's world championship - Loeb is already confirmed, alongside former world champion Colin McRae.
Thomas Radstrom said: ãWe had a good test in Wales when we found a lot of improvements with the car but as has always been the case this year, we just won't know how well we've done until the first few stages. Even this morning we were playing with the suspension and differentials and making quite a good feeling but we don't know if that's going to show on the timesheets or not. Only time will tell!
Other entries
The Rally of Great Britain is the final round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, and two drivers can still claim the spoils. Italian Andrea Dallavilla will start with a one-point advantage over Spaniard Daniel Sola, so either of the drivers (both of whom use Citroen Saxos) will be guaranteed the title if they win the category this weekend.
Beyond the factory World Rally Cars, much media attention will be focused on World MotoGP motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi. He has been granted dispensation from his bike manufacturer Honda to enter a Peugeot 206 WRC. It will be his first rally drive at world championship level, although he has impressed at the end-of-season Race of Champions in previous years
Rally Statistics - 14/11/2002 Thursday
EVENT: The 58th Rally of Great Britain is the 14th of 14 events in the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship.
ENTRIES: 95 (74 Group A and 21 Group N)
DRIVERS: Austria 2, Belgium 3, Czech Republic 1, Estonia 1, Finland 13, France 4, Germany 6, Great Britain 35, Greece 1, Holland 1, Ireland 2, Italy 7, Japan 1, Lebanon 1, Norway 2, Paraguay 1, Poland 1, San Marino 1, Spain 3, Sweden 8.
MANUFACTURERS TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru.
CARS (including the manufacturers cars): Citroen 7, Fiat 5, Ford 17, Hyundai 5, MG 4, Mitsubishi 22, Opel 2, Peugeot 7, Proton 1, Renault 2, Skoda 3, Subaru 13, Suzuki 3, Toyota 3, Volkswagen 1.
Event Timetable:
Thursday 14 November - The first part of Leg 1 starts in Cardiff at 18h30 and covers 16.12km, including 2.20km on one superspecial stage. The first car is expected to arrive in parc ferme in Cardiff at 20h30.
Friday 15 November - The second part of Leg 1 starts from Cardiff at 05h15 and covers 622.54km, including 132.58km on six special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Cardiff at 20h35.
Saturday 16 November - Leg 2 starts from Cardiff at 06h00 and covers 508.39km, including 117.04km on six special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in Cardiff at 20h30.
Sunday 17 November - Leg 3 starts from Cardiff at 05h30 and covers 489.09km, including 138.50km on four special stages. The first car is expected to arrive in at the finish control in Cardiff at 16h40.
Total - The rally covers 1636.14km, including 390.57km on 17 special stages (including seven run twice and one used three times). All stages are on gravel roads closed to other traffic.
WEATHER FORECAST:
Cold and overcast, with a strong chance of prolonged showers.
FIA Rally Preview - 8th November 2002 - http://fia.com
COMING EVENT : NETWORK Q RALLY of GREAT BRITAIN 14-17 November 2002
Fourteenth, and final round of the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship.
Sixth, and final round of the 2002 FIA Junior Car World Rally Championship.
CHARACTER OF THE EVENT
A smooth gravel event, the traditional challenge of which is the uncertainty of weather conditions, though this year the event is being run one week earlier than before. The event will be run with a full entry (of 90 cars) plus a line up of reserves.
NOVELTIES THIS YEAR
For the top crews, all the stages will be run in daylight, the stages this year are concentrated a little further westwards than last year and the Service Park at Felindre (north of Swansea) has been resurfaced. The spectator ticketing system has been revised to guarantee the chance to park close to specified spectating areas. A kilometre of new roads have been built at a location called Waltersâ Arena (in Rheola, stages 6 and 15) to provide for a mid-stage range of spectator opportunities. Before the start, cars will be on display at St Maryâs Street in Cardiff. From there the first car will proceed to the start ramp nearby, progressively triggering off sensors which will then light up Cardiffâs seasonal illuminations.
WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS
Both the FIA World Championship for Rallies (manufacturers) and the FIA World Championship for Drivers were settled at the Propecia Rally New Zealand, but the FIA Junior Car World Championship will be settled here. No fewer than six drivers can finish the season as runner-up driver. All three smaller World Championship teams, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Skoda, start the rally equal on points.
NEWS FROM THE MANUFACTURERS' TEAMS
TEAM PEUGEOT TOTAL (Champions - 163points)
Richard Burns (car no. 1), Marcus Gronholm (car no. 2) and Harri Rovanpera (car no.3).
Marcus Gronholm goes for a record attempt, to equal the number of wins in the same season. Peugeot also have a record to pursue. The current record number of wins in the World Championship in a season for a manufacturer is nine for Lancia in 1987. For far this year they have won eight. Didier Auriol holds the record in 1992 with six: the new World Champion has so far won five. ãI would have won six already but for a servicing problem which affected another member of our team in Argentina...ä The new World Champion is the only foreigner to have won a full World Championship Rally Great Britain since 1993. Co-driver Risto Pietilainen is expected to make a comeback after missing five rounds of the series with his brother in law driver Harri Rovanpera. Risto fell ill just before Neste Rally Finland, and Voitto Silander has stood in for him since then.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY (2nd - 94 points)
Carlos Sainz (car no. 4), Colin McRae (car no 5) and Markko Martin (car no. 6), Mark Higgins (car no. 24).
Last rally with Ford for Colin McRae. In addition to the four official cars, M-Sport are responsible for running no fewer than five Focus World Rally Cars for independent team drivers. This is Higginsâ second drive for the Ford World Rally Championship team, but he also won the 2002 national championship Pirelli Rally in a borrowed works Focus.
MARLBORO MITSUBISHI RALLIART (5th - 9 points)
Francois Delecour (car no. 7), and Jani Paasonen (car no. 8)
A decision is expected by this Friday as to whether Alister McRae will be fit enough to take part, following his pre-Sanremo Rally mountain bike accident. It has already been decided that Dominique Savignoni will replace the injured Daniel Grataloup on this event. Savignoni was Delecourâs co-driver in the 1999 Monte Carlo Rally when they finished 4th, and since then has regularly worked as his gravel crew. This will be the final appearance of the Mitsubishi Ralliart cars in Marlboro colours.
555 SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM (3rd - 54 points)
Tommi Makinen (car no. 10) and Petter Solberg (car no. 11).
No third entry on this event. Team Principal David Lapworth: ãFor Subaru the Network Q is home ground. We have won the event five times in the last eight years. Our car is what gives the drivers an advantage! Our opposition will be the effects of the weather. The weather in Wales can change dramatically in the space of only a few weeks.
SKODA MOTORSPORT (4th - 9 points)
Kenneth Eriksson (car no. 14) and Toni Gardemeister (car no. 15) and Roman Kresta (car no. 16).
The team hopes to continue the legend of the companyâs remarkable successes in past years, when over the space of 26 years the team won their class on the event 24 times. Last planned rally with Skoda for Eriksson. New co-driver for Kresta will be Milos Hulka, who has been previously been seen on seven World Rallies in 2 wheel drive days with Emil Triner.
HYUNDAI CASTROL WORLD RALLY TEAM (6th - 9 points)
Armin Schwarz (car no. 17), Freddy Loix (car no. 18) and Juha Kankkunen (car no. 19).
Team Manager Nmark Busfield: ãThe team were tremendously elated by Freddy Loixâs fastest time at the start of Rally Australia. It created a fantastic spirit within the team. The spark plug problem suffered later by Juha Kankkunen was different to the plug troubles we have suffered before, and we donât yet know if this caused the retirement for Juha and Armin Schwarz.
AUTOMOBILES CITROEN (not eligible for points in 2002)
Thomas Radstrom (car no. 20) and Sebastien Loeb (car no. 21).
No third entry on this event. It was a late decision to enter this event as an official team. This is all part of the Citroenâs plan to amass as much hands-on experience of individual events as possible this year, ready for a full championship attack in 2003. Altogether they have been represented on 11 of the 14 events in 2002, either directly or through their Spanish partners Piedrafita. This is expected to be the final appearance in the team for co-driver Denis Giraudet before he moves to Skoda to join Didier Auriol.
NEWS FROM THE JUNIOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
The final round of the Championship sees two drivers able to win the title, Andrea Dallavilla from Italy and Daniel Sola from Spain. Andrea leads Daniel by one point, while if it comes to a tie-decider Daniel so far has two wins against one for Andrea. Dallavillaâs co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini: ãItâs now or never for us! Andrea will be too old for the Junior World Rally Championship in future... Solaâs codriver Alex Romani: ãWe reckon we have the psychological advantage over Andrea. Coming up from behind is always best! Citroenâs customer department chief Jean-Francois Lienere: ãOur cars are already assured of a 1-2 placing in the series. We now hope that Janne Tuohino will finish the series in third position as well. Two championship drivers are expected not to start: Albert Llovera from Spain and Roger Feghali from Lebanon. This is only the second gravel round of the season. This weekend Sola has entered the Vaucluse Rally in France, to gain extra gravel experience. Rowe and Carlsson, whose Pumas are run by Astra, are using French championship cars with more update equipment on this event. News from Suzuki: Juha Kangas has been testing in Finland to establish optimum ride height settings, while Japanese driver Niwa is accompanied by his fourth different codriver in six events! Kosti Katajamaki plans to make the final appearance of the current version VW Polo before the new version appears next season. Two Opels were again be entered: the RML car for Niall McShea and the Team Palmer car for the German Sven Haaf, both in identical specification. This will be the final Junior World Rally Championship entry for 42 year old veteran Gwyndaf Evans because new minimum age rules apply in 2003. Evansâ recent suspension development work will help MG Îs official entry in a second S1600 car for Blundell.
OTHER TOP RUNNERS IN BRITAIN
Special guest competitor on the event will be four times world motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi, who drives a Peugeot 206WRC with support from Michelin and run by HF Grifone. To honour his success on the track the organisers have awarded him his cherished competition number 46. Another personality entry is a MG ZR Super 1600 car for the former Formula One driver Mark Blundell. In the works supported category, Peugeot for Gilles Panizzi and Juuso Pykalisto have been prepared by Bozian Racing, while Polish driver Tomasz Kuchar will be the only driver on the event to have used the same car two weeks ago in Australia. ãI am expecting this will be my final rally with a Toyota.
Otherwise there are fewer non-works foreign drivers than usual on this event. The 17 year old Jari Matti Latvala enters his first World Rally after several entries on British championship events. He rallies in Britain because he is too young to drive on the roads in his native Finland. Latvalaâs mentor is Pentti Airikkala, RAC Rally winner in 1989.
Other major career steps forward on this event come for Justin Dale, David Higgins and Mikko Hirvonen, all of whom drive their first important rallies in World Rally Cars, in Subarus run respectively by Prodrive, 22 Motorsport and World Rally Hire. David is running a Î99 spec car: ãJudging by the weather we have had in our region, I think the rally will be wet, foggy and muddy, who wants the latest spec car in those conditions?!ä David won Group N on last yearâs Rally Great Britain. Alister Ginley is also driving a World Rally Car for the first time on a major rally, this time a Focus from M-Sport.
SPECIAL FACTS
Reigning champion drivers to appear include Patrick Richard from Canada, David Higgins who is Group N British champion and also outright SCCA champion in the USA and the Spanish gravel rally champion Txus Jaio, but non starters are expected to include the new Norwegian Group N champion Jonas Kruse (from Sweden!). Reigning champion in another discipline is BTCC racing driver James Thompson who drives Group N Mitsubishi while Hirvonen is Finlandâs F2 rally champion.
ATTENTION
There is an unusual gap of six hours on the Saturday between visits to the Service Park, while the rally goes north in the middle of the day to the Regrouping control at Sennybridge. Certain press facilities will operate at Sennybridge.
TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
Three times Rally Great Britain winner and the World Championshipâs most successful driver Colin McRae: ãThe main thing about the Network Q Rally is the weather. You really do not know what to expect, anything from dust to ice and snow. There is no other rally in the World Championship where you can expect such extremes before the event, but once the event starts the prevailing conditions normally continue through the event. Most years it is wet and cold with a lot of muddy stretches. The route is very fast, which makes it very tricky when you come up to muddy sections unexpectedly. This is the event on which gravel note crews really earn their money.
2002 FIA WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1st (and already champion) Marcus Gronholm 77 points; 2nd Richard Burns 34p; 3rd Colin McRae 33p; 4th Carlos Sainz 32p; 5th Gilles Panizzi 31p; 6th Harri Rovanpera 30p; 7th Petter Solberg 27p; 8th Tommi Makinen 19p; 9th Sebastien Loeb 18p; 10th Markko Martin 14p etc. 19 drivers have scored so far this season
2002 FIA JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
1st Andrea Dallavilla 28 points; 2nd Daniel Sola 27p; 3rd Nicola Caldani 13p; 4th Janne Tuohino 12p; 5th Francois Duval 12p; 6th Giandomenico Basso 10p; 7th Nikolaus Schelle 5p; 8th Gianluigi Galli 5p; 9th Roger Feghali 4p; 10th Martin Rowe 4p etc. 15 drivers have scored so far this season.
NOTE: Ex-aequo points scores are resolved by considering firstly who has the higher placings.
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