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Uddeholm Swedish Rally, 7-9 February 2003


Monte Carlo 2003 photographs featuring top crews in action on various stages, also on site photos of WRC events from 1995 to present date featuring top cars Celica GT4,Corolla,Focus WRC,Evo4,5,6 &7 and Escort WRC. If you can't find relevant cars please e-mail and I will gladly help. Small selection of 2002 British Superbike photos. Order reprints or enlargements online from http://www.worldrallyphotos.com/

Wrc-Online Photos from Rally of Sweden ( Keep checking for additions ) : http://www.wrc-online.net/default.asp?sid=0&pid=14&galleryid=83

FIA RALLY NEWS - http://www.fia.com
UDDEHOLM SWEDISH RALLY -
http://www.swerally.se/

Rally Of Sweden 2003 - Final Report
Sunday, 9 February 2003
Peugeot driver and reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm emerged from the final leg of the Uddeholm Swedish Rally to win the event by 50.8 seconds from Subaru driver Tommi Makinen. Gronholm controlled the rally from the second stage and made it to the finish without suffering any mechanical troubles aboard his 206 WRC.  This was Gronholm's third win on the Karlstad-based round of the FIA World Rally Champion in four years. Makinen took his best result since winning the Monte Carlo Rally last year &endash; and the new Impreza WRC2003's first podium finish. Richard Burns took his best result in Sweden, finishing third &endash; one place higher than in 2002. Burns had been troubled by a set-up problem with his 206 WRC which made it difficult for the Briton to get a feeling for the car under braking.

Markko Martin turned in an impressive performance to fend off his fourth position from Colin McRae. The Ford driver's only fastest time of the rally &endash; on SS16 &endash; was enough to secure the place for him.

Citroen had reason to celebrate, with Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae joint leaders of the driver's championship, while Citroen heads Peugeot by two points in the manufacturer's race.

Janus Kullig of Poland won the opening round of this year's FIA Production Cars World Rally Championship in his Mitsubishi.

Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRCs of Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns were mechanically untroubled today. Harri Rovanpera crashed out yesterday.

Sporting: Marcus Gronholm made it safely through the final day, setting eight fastest times on his way to ten points and his first win of 2003. The Finn said he'd dropped his pace a little over the closing stages, ensuring that he made no mistakes which might have given second-placed Tommi Makinen a glimpse of the number one spot. Gronholm'sm only minor drama on the final day was his studs going off for the final ten kilometres of the Brunnberg stage. Richard Burns changed the dampers on his car at first service this morning, but the Briton admitted the new set-up hadn't helped that much.

Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "In Brunnberg I backed off a little, it felt like all of the studs had come out of the front tyres, but I think it was just the tread moving around."

Richard Burns said: "It's good to get to the finish and I'm reasonably happy with the result. We made no mistakes, but it was hard without much feeling today."

Subaru
Technical: The two Impreza WRCs ran without any mechanical trouble today.

Sporting: Tommi Makinen continued an ultimately fruitless pursuit of Marcus Gronholm throughout the day. The Finn made one final alteration to the set-up in service after SS14, but it wasn't enough. Makinen was disappointed to have missed out on the win he said the speed of the car had given him great confidence for the remainder of the this year's rallies. Petter Solberg closed in on Colin McRae's fifth place through the first two stages of the day, and missed out by just 3.3s after a last gasp effort through the final stage, where he set fastest time.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "It was so hard to try and catch Colin, but we had to try. I think the problem for me in Sweden is experience &endash; the drivers ahead have done a lot more competitive driving in these conditions, but then that fastest time was great for my confidence."

Tommi Makinen said: "We have shown how good the car is here. I took a little gamble on the final stage, using snow tyres, but it didn't work, we couldn't catch Marcus. I am happy with this result. I didn't expect it when we came here."

Ford
Technical: Both Ford Focus RS WRCs ran faultlessly today. Francois Duval crashed out on the opening leg.

Sporting: Markko Martin knew he'd have his work cut out keeping Colin McRae behind him today, but the Estonian proved that he was up for the job, stretching his advantage over the Scot on the day's first two stages and then set his first fastest time of the rally on SS16 to pull ten seconds out of McRae, clinching the position. Mikko Hirvonen's progress to the end of the event was without drama. The 22-year-old Finn admitted he was relieved to get to the end after crashing out of the first round.

Quotes: Markko Martin said: "I had never done SS15 before, so it took me a while to remember it from the recce. When Colin took some time out of me in there, I knew I had to respond. I attacked the next stage hard and everything worked. At the last split I saw I was already nine seconds up on everybody, so I backed off a little."

Mikko Hirvonen said: "The car has been perfect all of the way through the rally, and I've got some good experience of this event, which is what I set out to do."

Citroen
Technical: All three cars ran without any problems today.

Sporting: Colin McRae maintained his fifth place to the end of the event. The Scot admitted that he'd been too steady through the day's opening stage. He clawed some time back on fourth-placed Marko Martin through SS15, but said his chance of snatching the extra point disappeared when the Ford driver put in a blistering time through the next test.

Sebastien Loeb brought his Xsara WRC home in seventh position, despite being slowed down too early for privateer driver Janne Tuohino's accident on SS14. He moved past Freddy Loix on SS15 and then battled through the final stage with team-mate Carlos Sainz and Skoda's Toni Gardemeister, leap-frogging them both to make seventh.

Sainz hadn't had any problems during the day and was still working on the set-up of his car.

Quotes: Colin McRae said: "It was tricky this morning. We had to push to try and catch Markko, but any mistake from us would have meant that we might have let Petter past. After where we'd been running on the first day, this is a pretty good result."

Sebastien Loeb said: "This morning everybody was waving at me to slow down for two kilometres before the place where Tuohino's car was off the road. After what happened to Harri (Rovanpera) yesterday, I was worried so I slow down to 50kph and then we got there and his car was not even in the road. Stupid. It cost me at least ten seconds. I had a really big push through the last stage and it worked, we got the places."

Skoda
Technical: Didier Auriol's Ocatvia WRC suffered a hydraulic problem on the final stage. The sister car of Toni Gardemeister ran without any mechanical problems.

Sporting: Toni Gardemeister said he couldn't have driven any faster than he did through the first two stages of the day. He wasn't quite so quick through Hara, however. The narrow nature of the stage didn't suit the Skoda as much as the earlier tests. Despite his best efforts, Gardemeister slipped behind Sebastien Loeb, but he held off Carlos Sainz and ended the rally in eighth place. Didier Auriol admitted he'd lost confidence in the car during this rally. The former world champion didn't put a scratch on his Octavia and added that he and the team had learned a lot for the next season.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I really didn't have the feeling for the car and without that it's very difficult for me to push as hard as I want. We have lots of experience from this rally, now we must go away and get it right for next year."

Toni Gardemeister said: "We have gone so hard today, there's been nothing left in the car. It was a little disappointing that Sebastien passed me, but I am really happy to have held Carlos off and got the team and myself a point."

Hyundai,
Technical: Freddy Loix's Accent WRC ran without trouble today, but Armin Schwarz's car suffered a misfire on SS16.

Sporting: Freddy Loix slipped back behind the Citroen Xsara WRC of Sebastien Loeb, but still made the top ten, comfortably ahead of Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. Loix also dropped time when he was slowed down too early for the Janne Tuohino's accident. Schwarz held 13th despite a penultimate-stage misfire. The car was dropping on to three then two cylinders every time the engine went onto boost. The German had to drive the car for 25km in this condition.

Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "The team has worked so hard on the reliability of the cars for this event, they have done a good job, it was just frustrating to get this misfire today. Yesterday's change of turbo made a bit of a difference for us and gave us a little more power, but I am happy to get to the finish."

Freddy Loix said: "There's not much to say. Everybody knows the engine's not so strong and that showed here, but it's good that we got to the finish, it's a shame that we just missed out on a point for the team."

Other entries
Janus Kullig won the Production Cars WRC category after turbo failure on SS15 forced Subaru driver &endash; and category leader &endash; Toshi Arai into retirement. Stig Blomqvist (Subaru) was second after a trouble-free event, while Karamjit Singh overcame the differences between his native Malaysia and Sweden to bring his Proton home third. The outright Group N award went to local Mitsubishi driver Kenneth Backlund. Of the non-works World Rally Cars, Kristian Sohlberg was the first privateer finisher in his Mitsubishi Lancer WRC. Janne Tuohino had been lying inside the top ten when he slid off the road on SS14, spending six minutes in a ditch.

09/02/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS:                59 crews (26 Group A and 33 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS:                             
5 drivers

TODAY: Sunday 9 February
Leg 3 started from Karlstad at 06h00 and covered 568.2km, including 120.75km on five stages.

SS13 SAGEN 2 (14.17km)
1   Makinen      (FIN)     Subaru              7m     19.1
2   Loeb      (F)      Citroen              7m     19.5
3   Gronholm        (FIN)     Peugeot            7m      20.6

LEADERS AFTER SS13
1   Gronholm       (FIN)     Peugeot            2h 10m     49.7
2   Makinen       (FIN)     Subaru              2h 11m     27.0           
3   Burns       (GB)     Peugeot            2h 11m     51.4

SS14 RAMMEN 2 (23.16km)
1   Gronholm       (FIN)     Peugeot            11m     41.4
2   Makinen      (FIN)     Subaru              11m     43.1
3   McRae     (GB)     Citroen              11m     45.7

LEADERS AFTER SS14
1   Gronholm       (FIN)     Peugeot            2h 22m     31.1
2   Makinen     (FIN)     Subaru              2h 23m     10.1
3   Burns     (GB)     Peugeot            2h 23m     38.8

SS15 HARA (11.91km)
1   C.McRae      (GB)     Citroen              5m     55.4
2   Gronholm     (FIN)     Peugeot            5m     56.4
3   Makinen     (FIN)      Subaru              5m     57.1

LEADERS AFTER SS15
1   Gronholm       (FIN)     Peugeot            2h 28m     27.5
2   Makinen     (FIN)      Subaru              2h 29m     07.2  
3   Burns     (GB)     Peugeot            2h 29m     38.4

SS16 BRUNNBERG 2 (31,66km)
1   Martin     (EE)     Ford                  15m     08.7
2   Gronholm        (FIN)     Peugeot            15m      11.7
3   Loeb     (F)     Citroen              15m     15.5

LEADERS AFTER SS16
1   Gronholm       (FIN)     Peugeot            2h 43m     39.2
2   Makinen     (FIN)      Subaru              2h 44m     26.0            
3   Burns     (GB)     Peugeot            2h 44m     59.7

SS17 HAGFORS (39.85km)
1   Solberg     (N)     Subaru              19m     40.0
2   Martin     (EE)     Ford                  19m      42.1
3   Loeb     (F)     Citroen              19m     45.7

LEADERS AFTER SS17
1   Grönholm       (FIN)     Peugeot     3h     03m     28.1
2   Makinen     (FIN)     Subaru                   +50.8
3   Burns      (GB)      Peugeot            +1m     17.9
4   Martin     (EE)     Ford                  +1m     45.8
5   C.McRae     (GB)     Citroen              +2m     15.8
6   Solberg     (N)     Subaru              +2m     19.1
7   Loeb     (F)     Citroen              +3m     14.7
8     Gardemeister    (FIN)     Skoda               +3m     19.2
9   Sainz     (E)     Citroen              +3m     24.2
10 Loix     (B)     Hyundai            +3m     36.4

PROD. CARS WRC LEADERS AFTER SS17
1   Kulig     (PL)     Mitsubishi     3h     22m     24.9
2   Blomqvist       (S)     Subaru                   +03.3
3   Singh     (MAL)     Proton                    +35.1
4   Rowe     (GB)     Subaru              +1m     56.0
5   Bourne      (NZ)     Subaru              +2m     03.8
6   Holowczyc     (PL)     Mitsubishi         +6m     13.1
7   Roman     (S)     Mitsubishi         +10m     41.1
8   Sztuka     (PL)     Mitsubishi         +11m     42.0

FINAL RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT:
The rally covered 1935.13, including 386.91km on 17 special stages (including five run twice). All stages were on snow-covered roads closed to other traffic.

STARTERS:                       
75 crews (34 Group A and 41 Group N) started the rally

FINISHERS:                       
54 crews (25 Group A and 29 Group N) finished the rally

STAGE WINNERS:                       
Gronholm (SS2-3-4-8-9-10-11-14)
Makinen (SS8-12-13)
Burns (SS6-8)
McRae (SS15)
Loeb (SS1)
Rovanpera (SS7)
Sainz (SS8)
Martin (SS16)
Solberg (SS17)
SS5 was cancelled

RALLY LEADERS:                       
SS1 Loeb
SS2-SS17 Gronholm

FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (provisional standings after 2 of 14 rounds):     
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers:
Loeb (F) 12, C. McRae (GB) 12, Gronholm (FIN) 10, Burns (GB) 10, Martin (EE) 10, Makinen (FIN) 8, Sainz (E) 6, Solberg (N) 3, Robert (F) 3, Duval (B) 2, Schwarz (D) 1, Gardemeister (FIN) 1.

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers: Citroen 24, Peugeot 22, Ford 15, Subaru 11, Hyundai 3, Skoda 3.

FIA Junior World Rally Championship
(after 1 of 7 rounds, this event not counting): Tirabassi (F) 10, Katajamaki (FIN) 8, Ligato (I) 6, Broccoli (RSM) 5, Aava (EE) 4, Ceccato (I) 3, Sebalj (HR) 2, Baldacci (RSM) 1.

FIA Production Car World Championship (after 1 of 7 rounds): Kulig (PL) 10, Blomqvist (S) 8, Singh (MAL) 6, Rowe (GB) 5, Bourne (NZ) 4, Holowczyc (PL) 3, Roman (S) 2, Sztuka (PL) 1.

For more extensive results please consult the FIA Internet site at: http://www.fia.com/

NEXT EVENT:                        February 27 &endash; March 2:                        Rally of Turkey, Antalya, Turkey


[WRC] Rally of Sweden - Leg 2
Saturday, 8 February 2003
Marcus Gronholm maintained his grip on the Uddeholm Swedish Rally through day two of the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The reigning world champion enjoyed a largely uneventful run in the stages around Hagfors, north of the rally's base in Karlstad. Gronholm's biggest problem came in the first stage of the day, when he clouted a rock buried in one of the ruts early in Granberget. The impact knocked studs out of his front-right tyre and put the steering out of line. Despite that problem Gronholm managed to set third fastest time &endash; and then increase his advantage over second-placed driver Tommi Makinen to 38.8s at the close of play.

Subaru driver Makinen reported a similarly uneventful day, save for a heavy landing on the penultimate test, which damaged the exhaust on his Impreza WRC2003. Makinen pulled time out of Peugeot driver Richard Burns who maintains third place ahead of fourth-placed Ford man Markko Martin.

The eighth stage of the rally was stopped when Juuso Pykalisto rolled blocking the road. Harri Rovanpera collided with his car. Both retired from the event.

Peugeot
Technical: Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns' 206 WRCs ran reliably. Harri Rovanpera crashed on SS8.

Sporting: Gronholm continued to lead this event through the second leg, although he suffered the loss of studs on his right front tyre just two kilometres into the long Granberget stage first thing this morning. The Finn missed out on his chance to drive one of his favourite stages &endash; Fredriksberg &endash; after his team-mate Harri Rovanpera crashed into Juuso Pykalisto's already rolled 206. The stage was blocked and the leader was given the best competitive time through the test. Richard Burns lost time to second-placed Tommi Makinen and was frustrated by his progress on the middle loop, the Briton candidly admitted his driving wasn't as good as it could have been.

Rovanpera had closed on Burns through the opening stage, posting fastest time in the process, but it all went wrong for the 2001 Swedish Rally winner when he collided with Pykalisto's 206 on SS8.

Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "I must have hit a stone or something near the start of Granberget to knock the studs out. After that it became harder and harder to steer the cars in left-handers, near the end I was almost stopping to go through the corners. I haven't been pushing any harder than yesterday today, but the last stages of the day &endash; when it was dark &endash; weren't so nice."

Richard Burns said: "I don't know what was wrong with my driving in stages nine and ten, it just didn't feel right. My entry speed was too slow into the corners. I'm not going to stop trying to catch Tommi."

Corrado Provera said: "I am incredibly disappointed about the accident. Juuso Pykalisto rolled and stayed in the car believing that he would be able to carry on once the spectators had got his car back on the wheels. Unfortunately Harri received no warning about the crash and he then went into Juuso's car. The stage was stopped and an ambulance sent in to take Juuso to hospital as a precaution."

Subaru
Technical: Both Subaru Impreza WRC2003s ran without problems today.

Sporting: Tommi Makinen complained about the time it was taking for his Pirelli tyres to heat up through the day's stages. Apart from that Makinen was delighted with the way his Subaru was working. He acknowledged, however, that it would need Gronholm to have a problem for him to make further progress. The Finn eased his way clear of Burns through the day's stages. Petter Solberg was happier today, the engineers had made some changes to the differentials on his car overnight and the Norwegian spent the day progressing up the leaderboard to hold and overnight sixth.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "I've got more feeling in the car today, but it's still not quite right and I'm still not going at 100 per cent until the feeling comes. I manage to do well on rallies all around the world, but I don't know what it is about Sweden, I never seem to go that well here.

Tommi Makinen said: "The car is fantastic. This rally has been very encouraging for the team, it shows what a good step forward we have made. Today I've had no problems except for the tyres at the start of stages. If you look at the split times, you cane see for the first four minutes of the stages we are about five seconds down - then the gap stays the same after that. When the tyres aren't up to temperature, the car feels quite nervous."

Ford
Technical: The two remaining Ford Focus RS WRCs of Markko Martin and Mikko Hirvonen ran without any mechanical trouble today. Francois Duval retired with broken suspension yesterday.

Sporting: Markko Martin made up three places &endash; passing Toni Gardemeister and benefiting from the retirement of Harri Rovanpera and Juuso Pykalisto &endash; to end the leg in fourth place after a drama-free run through Saturday. The Estonian is 16 seconds ahead of Scot Colin McRae . Mikko Hirvonen closed in on Armin Schwarz, despite feeling he'd made a wrong tyre choice for the middle loop of stages.

Quotes: Markko Martin said: "A very boring day today! We were just driving, nothing special. We are having to push hard to keep people behind us, which is never easy &endash; but we will keep going. I have found it hard to get excited about the stages today, they're a little too fast."

Mikko Hirvonen said: "I took the snow tyre and I should have been on the ice tyre. I was surprised that there was so much ice coming through in some of those stages. I've made a few changes to the settings on the front differential, but really my car is running in a pretty similar specification to Markko's."

Hyundai
Technical: Jussi Valimaki retired on the first stage this morning with transmission problems. The other two Accent WRCs were largely reliable, save for a cracked exhaust manifold on Schwarz's car which dropped some power.

Sporting: Hyundai altered the transmission and suspension set-up on the Accents WRCs of Loix and Schwarz for today's six stages. Loix wasn't happy with the changes made to his Accent and reverted to the settings which he'd used on the previous evening. The Belgian moved up one place through the day to finish leg two in ninth place. Schwarz felt this helped the car's handling, but his biggest problem was his position on the road for leg two. The German was running first, cutting a track through the five out of six stages which hadn't been used yesterday. He eventually lost his battle to keep Ford's Mikko Hirvonen behind him and lost 12th place to the Finn.

Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "I don't understand how come I was first on the road. I finished 16th last night, so I shouldn't be first. It is frustrating.

Freddy Loix said: "I felt the car was too nervous and twitchy the way it was set up this morning and then for the last three stages I certainly had the wrong tyre. I should have stayed on the snow tyre."

Skoda
Technical: Both Octavia WRCs ran without fault today.

Sporting: Toni Gardemeister dropped back behind Markko Martin and Petter Solberg, but then came back up the leaderboard when the two Peugeots crashed on the eighth stage. Gardemeister continued to push hard, but there was little he could do to maintain his position ahead of Martin and Solberg. Didier Auriol continued to try and make up time that he'd lost when he went off the road yesterday. A change of springs late on the first leg made the car more driveable and the Frenchman admitted he was feeling more and more at home in the Octavia.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I chose the wrong tyre for the first stage this morning, it stopped working near the end and cost us some time. The car feels better today, we changed the springs yesterday and that has helped."

Toni Gardemeister said: "Having Juuso and Harri go off and out of the rally is not the best way for me to gain two places, but it has helped me get closer towards scoring some points for myself and for Skoda."

Citroen
Technical: All three Xsara WRCs ran reliably today.

Sporting: Colin McRae spent the day altering the settings on all three differentials on his Xsara WRC. By the end of the day the Scot was happier with the set-up of his car. The times reflected his increased comfort behind the wheel, he was never out of the top six fastest times through the second leg and pulled his way up to fifth place at the end of the day. Carlos Sainz moved into the top ten overall, but admitted that he still wasn't completely at home in the Xsara. Sebastien Loeb enjoyed leg two far more than yesterday, the Frenchman was also altering the set-up of his car, but he reported that the best thing about today was not running as first car on the road. Loeb was second quickest on SS11 and moved to the fringes of the top ten.

Quotes: Colin McRae said: "Things are looking a lot brighter than they did this morning. I wouldn't say that every change we've made to the car has been an improvement, but now the car is better. We've been pushing hard all day and it's just been a couple of seconds here and there that we've pulled out of Markko (Martin), but we'll keep trying."

Sebastien Loeb said: "The times have got better and better as the day went on. Driving is much more fun today &endash; especially SS11 &endash; that is one of my favourites now."

Carlos Sainz said: "I'm slowly understanding the car. This is a rally where you have to be very confident to push. I don't really have that right now."

Other entries
Toshi Arai continues to lead the Production Cup, despite this being his first attempt at the event. Arai pulled time out of second-placed Stig Blomqvist consistently throughout the day, to end leg two with a 1m17.2s cushion over his fellow Subaru Impreza driver. Both Arai and Blomqvist enjoyed trouble-free days. Janus Kulig (Mitsubishi) moved ahead of Karamjit Singh (Proton) to go third, although just 24.2 seconds separates the reigning Production Cup champion &endash; another first timer in Sweden &endash; from second place.

Among the non-works cars, Juuso Pykalisto crashed out of a top six placing on SS8, while Janne Tuohino dropped back to 11th, not helped when the Focus driver came across an elk running down the road on SS9.

08/02/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS:                            
70 crews (30 Group A and 40 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS:                       
Valimaki (FIN), Rovanpera (FIN) and 7 other drivers

TODAY: 
Saturday 8 February
Leg 2 started from Karlstad at 05h30 and covered 706.76km, including 140.37km on six stages.

TOMORROW: 
Sunday 9 February
Leg 3 starts from Karlstad at 06h00 and covers 706.76km, including 120.75km on five stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Karlstad at 17h05.

WEATHER FORECAST:            Temperatures hovering around freezing and occasional rain/sleet.

SS7 GRANBERGET 2 (43.69km)
1   Rovanpera         (FIN)   Peugeot               21m   28.0
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 21m   30.6
3   Gronholm          (FIN)   Ford                     21m   32.1

LEADERS AFTER SS7
1   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot            1h 10m  26.2
2   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot            1h 10m  51.7   
3   Martin               (EE)   Ford                 1h 10m  57.8

SS8 FREDRIKSBERG (18.14km)
1   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot               10m   47.5
2   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot               10m   47.5
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 10m   47.5

LEADERS AFTER SS8
1   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot            1h 21m  12.7
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              1h 21m  39.2
3   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot            1h 21m  45.3

SS9 LEJEN (25.04km)
1   Grönholm          (FIN)   Peugeot               11m   56.2
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 12m   01.9
3   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 12m   05.3

LEADERS AFTER SS9
1   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot            1h 33m  09.9
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              1h 33m  41.1
3   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot            1h 33m  55.2

SS10 VARGASEN (32.43km)
1   Grönholm          (FIN)   Peugeot               18m   08.7
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 18m   12.7
3   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 18m   14.5

LEADERS AFTER SS10
1   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot            1h 51m  18.6
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              1h 51m  53.8
3   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot            1h 52m  11.8

SS11 TORNTORP (19.21km)
1   Grönholm          (FIN)   Peugeot               10m   12.7
2   Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 10m   14.6
3   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 10m   17.3
=   C.McRae          (GB)   Citroen                 10m   17.3

LEADERS AFTER SS11
1   Gronholm          (FIN)   Peugeot            2h 01m  31.3
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru              2h 02m  11.1
3   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot            2h 02m  33.1

SS12 HAGFORS SPRINT 2 (1.86km)
1   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                 15m   55.5
2   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot               16m   01.3
3   Martin               (EE)   Ford                     16m   06.6

LEADERS AFTER SS12
1   Grönholm          (FIN)   Peugeot            2h 03m  29.1
2   Makinen           (FIN)   Subaru                        +38.8   
3   Burns               (GB)   Peugeot               +1m   00.9
4   Martin               (EE)   Ford                    +1m   46.0
5   C.McRae          (GB)   Citroen                 +2m   02.5
6   Solberg             (N)     Subaru                 +2m   12.1
7   Gardemeister    (FIN)   Skoda                  +2m   25.8
8   Sainz               (E)     Citroen                 +2m   30.1
9   Loix                  (B)     Hyundai               +2m   40.8
10 Loeb                 (F)      Citroen                 +2m   51.4

[WRC] Rally of Sweden - Leg 1
Friday, 7 February 2003
Just as he did on the opening round in Monte Carlo two weeks ago, reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm led the Uddeholm Swedish Rally on the first day. As the snow started to fall on the second stage, it became clear that Monte Carlo-winner Sebastien Loeb would struggle to maintain the pace which carried him to fastest time on the opening test this morning. Sure enough, Loeb slipped backed down the leaderboard while Gronholm and his Peugeot colleagues Harri Rovanpera and Richard Burns hit the front on this second round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Gronholm acknowledged that running first on the road was a big disadvantage, but maintained he hadnāt been taking any risks to place his 206 WRC at the top of the pile at the end of leg one. The driver spoiling the Peugeot party for most of the day was Tommi Makinen. The Finn eased his Subaru Impreza WRC2003 into second place, despite a broken mousse insert on one of his tyres on the third stage of the day.

There was more reason to celebrate for Gronholm, as his protégé Juuso Pykalisto was running as top privateer in his Peugeot 206 WRC.

Peugeot
Technical: Richard Burnsā 206 required a new gearbox at the lunchtime service halt after the centre differential started to give trouble in SS3. The other two official Peugeots ran without fault.

Sporting: Gronholm moved into the lead of the event on SS2 and then built up an even bigger cushion on the ensuing stages. Gronholm felt his tyres were starting to go off for the final 15km of the third stage, but that was about the Finnās only gripe on the opening day. Burns suffered problems with the centre diff on the longest stage of the day. The transmission was locking all four wheels when he pulled the handbrake and was then causing the handbrake to stick on. That problem aside, the Englishman was happy with his dayās work. Rovanpera stalled his Peugeot just before the finish of the third stage and admitted he was pushing harder through the afternoon.

Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: ćI couldnāt find the rhythm in the first stage this morning, but after that everything has been fine. I wouldnāt say I was pushing harder in any of the stages, just sensible.

Richard Burns said: ćI wasnāt sure what was wrong with the car in SS3. It felt like it was pushing on too much and giving me lost of understeer, so I was fiddling with the anti-lag-system towards the end of the stage.

Harri Rovanpera said: ćItās been quite a long time since my last rally, so it took a little while to get into the groove. The stall cost me about five seconds, but it felt a lot longer. I need to attack more to get closer to Marcus.

Subaru
Technical: Petter Solbergās Impreza required a different mapping for the centre differential mid-way through the opening leg, while Tommi Makinenās car has run without mechanical trouble.

Sporting: Tommi Makinen was the faster of the two Impreza drivers for the most part of the day, despite the four-times world champion feeling his pace notes were too slow for the ultra-fast Swedish stages. He admitted heād braked too early for many of the early corners. A puncture and stall cost him time through the long stage. Solberg described his car as nervous through the opening brace of stages, but he thought that was down to his decision to run a narrow rim in order to gain more traction. When he switched to wider rims and the third stage was just as bad he knew the problem was more serious. With that problem solved, the Norwegianās times tumbled through the afternoon.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ćWhen changing the width of the rim didnāt make any difference for me, I knew it was the centre diff. I couldnāt get any feeling when I was braking. This morning I was just surviving, I went off the road four times.

Tommi Makinen said: ćI didnāt hit anything to get the left-rear puncture, I just felt the vibration start; it was really bad and we still had more than half of the stage to do like this. Not getting the speed of my notes right is annoying, but things are much faster than last year.

Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeisterās Octavia suffered an electrical problem on the way out of Karlstad this morning. The car cut out four times on the road section. Gardemeister fixed the fault and was untroubled through SS1 and 2.

Sporting: Gardemeister was consistently the quickest Octavia through the opening day despite his rather unsettling start. The Finn admitted there was nothing left to come out of the Skoda as he pushed as hard as he dared through the fast stages which are among his favourites in the championship. With only limited testing time ahead of the event, Didier Auriol wasnāt comfortable in the sister car. He then went off the road on the third stage.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: ćI havenāt got that much confidence. The car felt okay to start with this morning, but then on the long stage we had quite a bad vibration ö and then we went off. It cost about 30 seconds.

Toni Gardemeister said: ćIt was pretty hectic this morning. There was some wire had come lose in the back, it took ages for me to find it. Then we got to the control with only 20 seconds to spare. It was a real rush to get our helmets on. The first part of the stage was a bit crazy. Iām loving these stages, itās fantastic to be going so fast and leaning on the snow banks.

Ford
Technical: The Focus RS WRCs of Markko Martin and Mikko Hirvonen ran reliably today. Francois Duval retired on SS5 with broken suspension.

Sporting: Markko Martin leads the Ford charge with his younger team mate Mikko Hirvonen not far behind. Martin and Hirvonen have enjoyed clean runs through the opening leg, although Martin felt a snow tyre might have helped him in SS3. Duval hit a snow bank on the second stage and then retired three stages later with damaged suspension. As his car blocked the road for following competitors, the Stewards decided to cancel the stage.

Quotes: Markko Martin said: ćI have been trying to find a way to get more traction out of the car. The team has made some adjustments throughout the day and itās getting better, but really there are no massive changes which we can make to the car.

Mikko Hirvonen said: ćThis is my first time in Sweden, so Iām concentrating on learning the roads. I didnāt get much chance to test the car, but now I have three days to test it. Itās a fantastic car to drive.

Hyundai
Technical: All three Accent WRCs ran without any problems.

Sporting: Both Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix complained of a lack of power through todayās fast stages, but neither had any significant problems. Loix felt his car was oversteering too much, but a change of differential settings eased that problem, while Schwarz said his neat and tidy approach to the stages was helping bring his times down. Jussi Valimaki was impressing the Hyundai team on his first official outing. Despite his inexperience at the wheel of the Accent he was setting competitive times and beating Schwarz.

Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: ćItās the same problem with the car, we need more power low down. In some corners we should be in fourth gear, but we are having to stay on the rev limiter in third just to make sure weāve got the pull to get through the bend.

Freddy Loix said: ćThe car is not great, but thatās the trouble with not having any testing. Itās not catastrophic, but things could be better. Our first test was at the shakedown, and our base settings were from Australia last year, this doesnāt help. Taking that into consideration, I pleased with the times which we are settings. There are people behind me who have spent a lot of time testing.

Jussi Valimaki said: ćThe first two stages were quite tricky. It took me a while to get my confidence, but itās coming now. Wherever I can see the ice coming through on the stages I am taking it easy, itās so easy to go off here.

Citroen
Technical: All three Xsara WRCs ran without any problems today.

Sporting: Loeb made a great start to the day, leading the rally after the first stage. Unfortunately for the Frenchman it started to snow at the start of the second stage and running first on the road became increasingly hazardous. Loeb dropped one and a half minutes to the fastest time on the long Granberget stage. Colin McRae spun his Xsara three kilometres into the second stage, dropping 20 seconds. Running second on the road was only marginally better than first, although both McRae and Carlos Sainz had elected to use a snow ö rather than ice ö tyre which worked better in Granberget. Sainz hit a snow bank and spun 18km into the stage and was forced to make a three-point-turn to get the car facing in the right direction.

Quotes: Colin McRae said: ćIt was a late pace-note call which caused me to spin. I came into a fourth-gear corner way too quick. Then I had to spin the car around and get going. The snow in the air intake caused the engine to drop a bit of power. Itās not a great start and I reckon a win is out of the question for me now.

Sebastien Loeb said: ćThe first stage was great, but I was afraid the snow would be coming and it did. On the long stage I took an ice tyre, which was the wrong choice. Okay, there wasnāt a lot of snow, but there was enough to slow me down ö I was wiping it clear for everybody else.

Carlos Sainz said: ćThe spin cost me quite a lot of time, but I am learning ö still learning about the car in these conditions.

Other entries
Japanās Toshi Arai set a blistering pace in the FIA Production Cars WRC throughout leg one. The Subaru Impreza driver enjoyed a trouble-free opening day to head off the challenge of Swedish legend Stig Blomqvist (Impreza) and Janusz Kulig (Mitsubishi Lancer). Kulig dropped to seventh after a first-stage spin, but he fought back over the dayās remain ing five stages. Among the non-works entries, Juuso Pykalisto (206 WRC) and Janne Tuohino (Focus RS WRC) managed to humble some of the official cars throughout the day, both of the young Finns ran without problems and held top ten placings with some ease.

STARTERS: 75 crews (34 Group A and 41 Group N) started this morning.

RETIREMENTS: Duval (B) and 4 other drivers

TODAY: Friday 7 February - The opening leg started from Karlstad at 06h00 and covered 660.17km, including 125.79km on six stages.

TOMORROW: Saturday 2 November - Leg 2 starts from Karlstad at 05h30 and covers 706.76km, including 140.37km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Karlstad at 19h04.

WEATHER FORECAST: Temperatures expected to rise with the possibility of further snow showers.

SS1 SAGEN 1 (14.17km)
1 Loeb (F) Citroen 7m 25.6
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 7m 26.2
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 7m 26.7

SS2 RAMMEN 1 (23.16km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 12m 05.5
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 12m 14.2
3 Sainz (E) Ford 12m 23.4

LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 19m 32.2
2 Burns (GB) Peugeot 19m 40.4
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 19m 46.8

SS3 GRANBERGET 1 (43.69km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 21m 43.9
2 Makinen (N) Subaru 21m 52.2
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 21m 59.8

LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 41m 16.1
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 41m 40.3
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 41m 41.4

SS4 MALTA (11.25km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 5m 39.1
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 5m 41.2
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 5m 42.7

LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 46m 55.2
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 47m 21.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 47m 26.9

SS5 BRUNNBERG 1 (31.66km)
STAGE CANCELLED

LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 46m 55.2
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 47m 21.5
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot 47m 26.9

SS6 HAGFORS SPRINT 1 (1.86km)
1 Burns (GB) Peugeot 1m 58.0
2 Martin (EE) Ford 1m 58.4
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 1m 58.8

LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 48m 54.1
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru +27.0
3 Burns (GB) Peugeot +30.8
4 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +36.2
5 Pykalisto (FIN) Peugeot +59.3
6 Gardemeister(FIN) Skoda +1m 03.9
7 Martin (EE) Ford +1m 05.0
8 Solberg (N) Subaru +1m 09.4
9 Loix (B) Hyundai +1m 09.8
9= Tuohino (FIN) Ford +1m 09.8
11 Sohlberg (FIN) Mitsubishi +1m 15.1
[WRC] Rally of Sweden - Preview
Event Preview
Citroen made the perfect start to its first assault on the entire FIA World Rally Championship, winning the Monte Carlo Rally just under two weeks ago. Sebastien Loeb brought his Xsara WRC home first, with team-mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz in close attendance. Team boss Guy Frequelin knows that the largely asphalt stages crossing the French Alps bear little resemblance to the frozen Swedish tracks which lie in wait for his drivers over the next three days.

While none of the Citroen drivers have won the Swedish, Sainz has an enviable points-scoring record here, having made the podium on each of the six occasions that heās finished.

Peugeot has monopolised the top step of the podium in Sweden for the last three years, with Marcus Gronholm taking two wins and Harri Rovanpera one. The 206 WRCs are highly likely to feature at the front of the field this time around, with Briton Richard Burns keen to end the Scandinavian dominance of this rally.

Fordās 2003 season got off to a promising start in Monte Carlo, with the Blue Oval being rewarded for its efforts with an early second place in the manufacturerās standings. Markko Martin was fourth on round one, but admits he feels more at home among the snowfields of Sweden.

The Uddeholm Swedish Rally is also the first round of this yearās FIA Production Cup. Reigning champion Karamjit Singh begins his title defence at the wheel of his Proton Pert.

Citroen Total (1st ö 18 points)
Technical: Citroen has redesigned the air intake system on the Xsara WRC following problems with snow clogging the intake on last yearās event. Otherwise the three cars are the same as in Monte Carlo.

Sporting: Citroen arrives in Karlstad on a real high after taking a clean sweep in Monte Carlo. Despite the experience of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae, Citroen remains short of mileage on this highly specialised rally. The Xsara WRC was used for the first time in Sweden last year and Thomas Radstrom did manage one fastest time for the French team. Sebastien Loeb will run first on the road tomorrow courtesy of the Frenchmanās status as leader of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Quotes: Colin McRae said: ćMonte Carlo was a fantastic result for the team, but it would be unrealistic to expect the same here. The weather turning cold is really good news. Sweden like this can be the best rally in the world, but if the snow melts it can be among the worst.

Sebastien Loeb said: ćIām hoping to be able to compete against Colin and Carlos, but with their experience thatās going to be tough. Iāve got a good feeling with the car, so weāll just have to see what I can do.

Carlos Sainz said: ćThis is my first time in Sweden with this car, so all of the time I am learning about what it can do. I have a good record here, though and itās an event I enjoy, so letās see what I can get.

Ford Motor Company (2nd ö 10 points)
Technical: All three Focus RS WRC02s remain in similar specification to last monthās Monte Carlo Rally. At the pre-rally shakedown Markko Martin tested a different set-up aimed at dealing with the ruts which will appear on the second run at the stages. Because of its switch from Pirelli to Michelin tyres, Ford has spent a total of ten days testing for this rally.

Sporting: Markko Martin will be looking to build on his fourth place in Monte Carlo and eclipse the Estonianās miserable Swedish Rally of 12 months ago, when he failed to take the start of the rally after crashing at the pre-event shakedown. Martin is backed up by Belgian François Duval, who tackled the Swedish Rally in a Ford Focus RS WRC for the first time in 2002. He finished tenth last season. Mikko Hirvonen starts his second FIA World Rally Championship round for Ford. The 22-year-old Finn rolled on round one, but says heās looking forward to Sweden where he will be more familiar with conditions.

Quotes: Markko Martin said: ćWhat happened on the shakedown here last year will not affect me at all. Okay there are a couple of stages which will be new for me, but thatās not going to be a big problem.

François Duval said: ćThere will be more drivers in Sweden in World Rally Cars than there were in Monte Carlo, so the competition will be much tougher. The local drivers here have a big advantage, if I could match my result in Monte Carlo, I would be happy.

Mikko Hirvonen said: ćThere are three winter rallies in the Finnish Championship, so I am used to these conditions. Iāve been given a free choice to drive on how I drive this rally, but after my accident on the first round I just want to finish.

Marlboro Peugeot Total (3rd ö 6 points)
Technical: None of the Peugeot 206 WRCs will be running the active anti-roll bar system on this event, otherwise they are similar to Monte Carlo. All three 206 WRCs are brand new.

Sporting: Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera start among the favourites for this rally, both having won it in the last two years ö and indeed ended the rally first and second 12 months ago. This will be Rovanperaās first outing of the season as the Finn missed Monte Carlo. Gronholm led throughout the opening leg of round one, only to damage his suspension mid-way through the second day. Richard Burns was the top Peugeot finisher in Monte Carlo, taking fifth. The 2001 world champion admitted he could have made the podium had it not been for a disastrous tyre choice on leg two. Burns was fourth here last season.

Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: ćIām running further back on the road for the first day here, that could be an advantage for me ö especially if it snows. I feel quite confident for this rally, but thereās so much that can happen.

Richard Burns said: ćI like this rally significantly more than I liked Monte Carlo; itās such a nice feeling drifting the car in top gear. I could win this rally, but to do that I will have to be driving at my best on every stage.

Harri Rovanpera said: ćI doesnāt bother me that I havenāt driven competitively this year. I did a day and a half testing last month for this rally and that was enough for me to get the feeling in the car.

Hyundai World Rally Team (4th ö 3 points)
Technical: The three Accents remain unchanged from the first round, save for a set-up more compatible with the snowy stages. The team has done no local testing for this event and is relying on data logged last year when it was using a previous evolution of the car.

Sporting: This is the first round on which Hyundai World Rally Team has entered three cars. Finnish driver Jussi Valimaki joins regular pilots Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix. Valimaki tackled the Arctic Rally in northern Finland last month, driving the same Accent he uses in the world championship for the first time here in Sweden. Valimakiās run on the Arctic was ended when he collided with a reindeer three stages from the end.

Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: ćMonte Carlo was difficult for us at times, but we ran well and scored points. I would like to do the same here. This is an amazing rally, the speeds you can carry through the corners is astonishing.

Freddy Loix said: ćLast year this rally was fantastic for me, I was in fourth position for a long time ö despite my broken foot. I would love to have a similar event this year. This is a very special rally and one that I love driving on.

Jussi Valimaki said: ćThe car is running in the same specification as I had it on the Arctic Rally. The roads we used on that even are pretty similar to those here, so that was very good experience for me.

Skoda Motorsport (5th ö 2 points)
Technical: The Skoda team has traced the problem, which sidelined Toni Gardemeisterās Skoda Ovctavia WRC in Monte Carlo, to a blocked fuel injector. The specification of both cars (which weāre both used on last yearās Rally New Zealand) remains largely unchanged from round one.

Sporting: Didier Auriol and Toni Gardemeister both rate this event among their favourites and the two Octavia WRC drivers see this event as a good opportunity to score points. Gardemeister is a little short on competitive action, as the Finnās season had barely got underway before the engine on his Skoda failed on the second stage in Monte Carlo.

Quotes: Didier Auriol said: ćIāve changed a few things on the car at shakedown and it feels okay. We have to remember that we are here to fight with Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix, weāre not here to battle for the win.

Toni Gardemeister said: ćMy car feels very good, weāve had no problems in testing or at the shakedown. Weāve gone well here in the past and I hope we can do again this weekend.

555 Subaru World Rally Team(6th ö0 points)
Technical: This is the first Uddeholm Swedish Rally for the new shape Subaru Impreza WRC2003. Both Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen spent time finalising their transmission set-up at the shakedown, before moving on to stud-retention work. Both drivers have brand new Impreza WRC2003s.

Sporting: Neither Solberg or Makinen made it through the opening leg of the Monte Carlo Rally, both sliding off the road on the fifth stage. Makinen has won this event three times before, while Solbergās best result is a sixth place in 2001.

Quotes: Petter Solberg said: ćI have so many fans here, itās going to be fantastic to see all of the flags flying!

Tommi Makinen said: ćThe problem with going out quite early in Monte Carlo was that we didnāt see just how good the car could be. Everybody in the team feels this is a good step forward from last season, but tomorrow we will try top find out again.

Other entries
This event has attracted a whole host of top privateer drivers, with Finlandās Janne Tuohino leading the charge in his 2002-specification Ford Focus RS WRC. Tomasz Kuchar, Jari Viita and Anton Warmbold are also in similar machinery, while Roman Kresta and Juuso Pykalisto will drive 206 WRCs.

Karamjit Singh (Proton), Toshi Arai (Subaru) and Martin Rowe (Subaru) lead the Production Cup field away.

Sweden Pre-Event RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: The Uddeholm Swedish Rally is the 2nd of 14 events in the FIA World Rally Championship.

ENTRIES: 78 (37 Group A, 41 Group N)

DRIVERS: Belgium 4, Bulgaria 1, Canada 1, Czech Republic 1, Estonia 1, Finland 13, France 5, Germany 3, Great Britain 4, Greece 1, Ireland 1, Italy 6, Japan 1, Malaysia 1, Mexico 1, New Zealand 1, Norway 8, Poland 5, Romania 1, Russia 1, Spain 3, Sweden 14, Slovakia 1.

MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru

CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 5, Ford 9, Hyundai 6 Mitsubishi 34, Peugeot 6, Proton 1, Renault 1, Skoda 2, Subaru 10, Toyota 4

Swedish Rally TIMETABLE:
Thursday 6 February - Ceremonial start at 19h00, Karlstad

Friday 7 February - Leg 1 starts from Karlstad at 06h00 and covers 660.17km, including 125.79km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Karlstad at 18h50.

Saturday 8 February - Leg 2 starts from Karlstad at 05h30 and covers 706.76km, including 140.37km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Karlstad at 19h04.

Sunday 9 February - Leg 3 starts from Karlstad at 06h00 and covers 568.20km, including 120.75km on five stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Karlstad at 17h05.

Total - The rally covers 1935.13km, including 386.91km on 17 special stages (including five run twice). All stages are on snow-covered roads closed to other traffic.

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