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http://www.wrc-online.netCyprus Rally 2003 - 20-22nd June
7th round of 14 in the 2003 World Rally Championship
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[WRC] Cyprus Rally 2003 - Leg 3
Sunday, 22 June 2003
Petter Solberg guided his Subaru Impreza WRC2003 to victory on the Cyprus Rally, which finished in Limassol this afternoon. The final loop of six stages once again took crews north of the rally's base and into the Troodos mountains. Solberg started the day with a 25.3-second lead over Peugeot's Harri Rovanpera. By lunchtime service, that gap had mushroomed to 47.6 seconds with Solberg fastest on two of the three stages. The fight was effectively over from then. Solberg throttled back over the rerun tests - where Rovanpera suffered a broken driveshaft - to win his second round of the FIA World Rally Championship by more than four minutes. Rovanpera's problem almost dropped him back into the grasp of third-placed Sebastien Loeb. After the 18th and final stage of the event, the Citroen driver was just 2.8 seconds behind. Loeb led a Xsara WRC trio, with Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz claiming fourth and fifth respectively. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen rounded out the top six in his 2002-specification Ford Focus RS WRC.Toshi Arai took his third straight win in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, beating fellow Subaru Impreza driver Martin Rowe by 3m43s.
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg's car ran without any problems through today. Tommi Makinen retired yesterday after SS10, out of time after stopping for 28 minutes to fix his car in the sixth stage.Sporting: Solberg was delighted to take his second win in the FIA World Rally Championship (his first came on Rally Great Britain last November). He had taken time out of Rovanpera on the first loop of three stages this morning, building his lead to almost 50 seconds. From then on he was happy to stroke the Impreza WRC 2003 home through the rally's last three stages to claim the team's first win of the season.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "This is brilliant! It's a fantastic result for everybody involved. Everything has gone to plan for the last two days. We had this plan for Greece, it didn't work there, but it did work here. I drove pretty carefully through those final three stages, listening for any noises on the car. It was perfect, like it has been all weekend. Everybody has been working so hard for this result, I would like to thank everybody involved in this victory."
David Lapworth said: "We've worked very hard for 12 months now and have focused on being strong on this type of event. Here we've been able to combine the reliability and speed of the car and Petter and Phil's performance has been one of the coolest that I can remember. We've brought the car forward now and have more things planned for the second half of the season. We feel very well prepared."
Peugeot
Technical: Harri Rovanpera's car broke a front-left driveshaft in SS16. Marcus Gronholm retired with transmission trouble on SS6, while Richard Burns' car overheated and stopped on the road section following the tenth stage.Sporting: Rovanpera decided against risking his second place in an all-out effort to beat Solberg. The Finn drove sensibly to get the car to the finish, his best result of the year to date - and collecting eight points for the Peugeot team at the same time.
Quotes: Harri Rovanpera said: "I wanted to get second place, so there was no big attack today. This has been a very hard rallyand we've had some problems going right up until the finish. When the driveshaft broke with two stages still to go, I thought we weren't going to make the finish, but we are here. I feel unlucky and lucky at the same time. We had two wheel-drive for the last couple of stages and we were dropping a lot of time. It was hard work to the finish, but it's good to get second."
Jean-Pierre Nicolas said: "The problems we had with the transmission this weekend were not the same as the trouble we had in Greece. Here it was linked to the temperature; this is the hottest rally we have ever done and heated up the lubricants in the engine and transmission and caused the problems for Richard (Burns) and Harri. We still do not know what the problem was with Marcus Gronholm's car, but we are looking into it."
Citroen
Technical: Sebastien Loeb suffered an electrical fault on SS15. The other two Citroen Xsara WRCs made it to the finish without any problems.Sporting: Loeb's electrical glitch cost him approximately 15 seconds, but he remained ahead of team-mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. Loeb had also clipped a rock on the stage previously, knocking the steering on his Xsara slightly out of line. With 27 seconds separating McRae from Loeb and 1m14s separating the Scot from fifth-placed Sainz, none of the Citroen drivers had any reason to drive flat out. They arrived at the finish in that order, picking up more points for the French firm.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "I was lucky to get into service after the morning stages, the car kept cutting out through the last stage of that loop. I don't know what the problem was, maybe it was heat-related, but it just wouldn't pull. I had to keep stopping and resetting everything. After that scare, and hitting the rock on the stage before, I just wanted to make the finish. We weren't going to risk anything through the final loop."
Colin McRae said: "There was nothing to push for this morning, we just driving sensibly. We were testing some various transmission settings on the car, which are good for the car's gravel set-up. It's been good for me to get another full event in and get more time in the car on this sort of surface."
Carlos Sainz said: "There was no reason for us to fight today, we just wanted the finish. We've got some good points from this rally, now we have to look ahead to the next round."
Ford
Technical: Mikko Hirvonen's Focus RS WRC02 suffered a throttle problem on the final stage, while the two 2003 cars of Markko Martin and Francois Duval retired on the first stage yesterday with dust-related engine problems.Sporting: Hirvonen's progress through the final day's six stages was undramatic. The Finn enjoyed the wider stages more thanmost on this event. He was very happy to make it to the finish in the points to maintain Ford's record which now extends to 21 rallies in the points.
Quotes: Mikko Hirvonen said: "This morning was good, we were very sideways in lots of places, we had a good time on the stages. There were quite a lot of rocks on road, which had come down between the recce and the rally, but our gravel note crew did a good job for us and we had all of the information in our pace notes. The fly-by-wire throttle broke on the last stage, which meant it was sticking a little bit, but nothing too bad - it doesn't really matter now, we've made the finish."
Christian Loriaux said: "The problem with the dust was that it was fine enough to get through the filters on the car and get into the engine, but then it was thick enough to cause a problem between the pistons and the cylinders."
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz's overheating problems continued into the final day, but there were no new problems on the German's Accent WRC. His team-mates Freddy Loix and Justin Dale retired earlier in the rally, with Dale the first to go when his engine overheated terminally on the second stages. Loix lasted until the first test on leg two, when the engine on his car suffered dust-related engine failure.Sporting: Schwarz's priority today was points. For the first time since the Monte Carlo Rally in January, he made it to the end of a round of the FIA World Rally Championship in a points-scoring position.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "I am very happy to be here, for me and for the team. This has been a very difficult rally. The conditions make it hard enough, but then not having the car running right has made it harder for us. We have driven the last two days at about the same speed we do on the recce, but it's worth it to get here."
Other entries
Toshi Arai won this round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, leading from the first leg to the finish in his Subaru Impreza. The Japanese driver's trouble-free run continued through today, allowing him to open a three-minute gap on second-placed driver Martin Rowe. Rowe was backed up by his team-mate Stig Blomqvist, the former world champion taking third. Top non-works crew were Alistair Ginley and Rory Kennedy in their Ford Focus RS WRC01. They finished eighth overall, despite driving the final loop of stages with broken power steering and in torrential rain.22/06/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 18 crews (8 Group A and 10 Group N) started this morning.RETIREMENTS: one
TODAY: Sunday 22 June
Leg 3 starts from Limassol at 07h30 and covers 305.30km, including 82.86km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol at 15h20.SS13 VAVATSINIA-KAMBIOU 1 (19.00km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 17m 00.3
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 17m 04.1
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 17m 18.5LEADERS AFTER SS13
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 12m 21.9
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 4h 12m 51.0
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 4h 15m 25.1SS14 MACHERAS-VAVATSINIAS 1 (12.94km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 26.5
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 34.6
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 11m 44.7LEADERS AFTER SS14
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 23m 48.4
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 4h 24m 25.6
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 4h 27m 13.1SS15 KELLAKI-FOINIKARIA (9.49km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 8m 29.2
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 8m 38.6
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 8m 39.6LEADERS AFTER SS15
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 32m 17.6
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 4h 33m 05.2
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 4h 36m 09.9SS16 VAVATSINIA-KAMBIOU 1 (19.00km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 16m 45.3
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 17m 00.1
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 17m 05.2LEADERS AFTER SS16
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 4h 49m 02.9
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 4h 51m 15.6
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 4h 53m 15.1SS17 MACHERAS-VAVATSINIAS 1 (12.94km)
1 Sainz (E) Subaru 11m 32.8
2 McRae (GB) Citroen 11m 37.1
3 Loeb (F) Peugeot 11m 38.8LEADERS AFTER SS17
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 5h 00m 43.9
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 5h 03m 47.3
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 5h 04m 53.9SS18 KELLAKI-FOINIKARIA (9.49km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 8m 28.7
2 Sainz (E) Citroen 8m 30.3
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 8m 35.5LEADERS IN LIMASSOL AFTER SS18
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 5h 00m 43.9
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +4m 14.0
3 Loeb (F) Citroen +4m 16.8
4 C.McRae (GB) Citroen +4m 45.3
5 Sainz (E) Citroen +5m 42.2
6 Hirvonen (FIN) Ford +8m 58.7
7 Schwarz (D) Hyundai +13m 29.0
8 Ginley (GB) Ford +23m 57.3
9 Arai (J) Subaru +30m 01.1
10 Rowe (GB) Subaru +33m 44.1FIA PWRC LEADERS AFTER SS18
1 Arai (J) Subaru 5h 30m 05.6
2 Rowe (GB) Subaru +3m 21.7
3 Blomqvist (S) Subaru +5m 41.5
4 Ligato (RA) Mitsubishi +20m 44.4
5 Colsoul (B) Mitsubishi +30m 54.7
6 Errani (I) Mitsubishi +1 05m 53.1
[WRC] Cyprus Rally 2003 - Leg 2
Saturday, 21 June 2003
Subaru driver Petter Solberg lead the Cyprus Rally, round seven of the FIA World Rally Championship, after an astonishing day's action on the Limassol-based event. The Norwegian started the day in third place, but immediately overhauled Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera on the opening stage of the day. Gronholm retired on the next test with transmission trouble, while Rovanpera kept the lead Subaru in his sights, holding second place as the cars arrived back on the coast this evening. Solberg controlled the rally from the front, promising that he wasn't taking any risks and saving his attack for the final leg. Rovanpera was hobbled by an overheating Peugeot for the first loop of stages, but from then on his 206 WRC ran largely without fault. Citroen's Sebastien Loeb was third after a trouble-free run in his Xsara WRC, with team-mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz backing the Frenchman up in fourth and fifth.The rocky stages in the Troodos mountains proved too much for Markko Martin and Francois Duval, however. They both retired their Focus RS WRC03s on the opening stage. Today was also the final world championship action for the Octavia WRC - both cars retired on the middle loop of stages.
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg's Impreza WRC2003 ran without fault today, while Tommi Makinen retired after SS10, having exceeded the time allowance while repairing a broken wheel in stage six.Sporting: Solberg's plan of a measured drive through the second leg paid off: he kept out of trouble and brought his car home at the head of the field. His team-mate Makinen's day was ruined when he broke a rear wheel on the Subaru on the second stage of the day. The wheel wouldn't come off, so he and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom removed the whole suspension to get it off. The suspension was then reassembled, dropping the crew 28 minutes in the process. With the suspension sorted, Makinen set fastest time on the next stage. Of the six stages Makinen completed today, he was fastest on four of them.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "The car has been fine today. I am making some minor changes to the differentials, but that's what I always do, if I wasn't doing that I wouldn't be doing the rally properly! I'm happy with the position, I'm happy that I have more to give tomorrow."
David Lapworth said: "What Tommi did was very impressive, given the heat and the limited number of tools he had to work with."
Peugeot
Technical: Marcus Gronholm retired with transmission problems on the second stage this morning, while Richard Burns joined him on the retirements' list after SS10. Harri Rovanpera suffered overheating problems but continued through to the end of the leg.Sporting: Rovanpera ended the day in second position, despite the car losing power on the first loop of stages this morning. Following his transmission problems of yesterday, the team has re-fitted the gearbox which he started the rally with, feeling this was in better condition than the spare. The Finn didn't suffer any transmission trouble on leg two. Gronholm's problems started on the first stage today, when his 206 WRC suffered rear differential and then propshaft trouble. He ended the stage in front-wheel-drive and down in fourth position. The number one Peugeot then broke the front differential on the following stage, forcing Gronholm to stop with no drive. Burns suffered further transmission problems on the first loop of stages, but it was an overheating engine which forced his retirement.
Quotes: Harri Rovanpera said: "This morning the car went on to a safe map to get through the stages. I don't know how much power this cost us, but it felt like 50bhp. This afternoon it has been better. There's still a long way to go in this event and we've seen just how tough it can be - today has been a difficult day for the team."
Richard Burns said: "This morning I went for the manual shift early in the first stage; using the wheel-mounted shift wasn't working, the car was searching for gears - sometimes it would get them, sometimes not. The manual shift was working okay, but it all came to nothing when the engine temperature went up on the road section after stage eight. It went up more in the next stage, we stopped after it to try and get some water into the radiator. We went through SS10 in road mode, but about a kilometre out of service the engine died. It went to three cylinders to two to one and then stopped completely."
Citroen
Technical: All three Citroean Xsara WRCs ran reliably through the second leg.Sporting: Sebastien Loeb continued to spearhead the Citroen attack on this event, ending the day in third place. Loeb was making minor adjustments to his car throughout the leg, but admitted he was more concerned with staving off a possible attack from his team-mate Colin McRae who was in fourth place. The Scot's car had run with extremely high engine temperatures through the morning, which had cost some power, but McRae's bigger problem on day two was breaking the rear suspension on SS10. The Scot hit the rock one kilometre from the end of the stage, dropping 20 seconds. When he came out of the stage he was forced to make roadside repairs to get the Xsara back to service. Carlos Sainz wasn't happy with his suspension settings this morning and decided to return to the set-up he'd used yesterday. The Spaniard remained fifth.
Quotes: Sebastien Loeb said: "We are always looking for more speed, so we need to keep trying different settings. Today has been okay for me though. I want to push to try and stay ahead of Colin, but at the same time I don't want to break the car."
Colin McRae said: "We've made some more changes this morning and I was a bit happier, now we have to leave it for a while and see how the car feels. We've got to give the changes a chance. Luckily the suspension problem was quite close to the end of stage ten, so we didn't have far to go. We did go off the road and hit the front of the car because of this problem, but the damage to the front isn't bad."
Ford
Technical: Markko Martin and Francois Duval both retired on the first stage this morning. Both Focus RS WRC03s suffered the same problem: low oil pressure. Mikko Hirvonen's 2002 specification Focus ran without mechanical fault.Sporting: Both Martin and Duval retired approximately six kilometres from the start of the day's opening test. After inspecting the cars, team director Malcolm Wilson said the problem was caused by dust getting into the car's engines. Martin had been seventh and Duval 11th going into the stage. Mikko Hirvonen's only problem on leg two was stalling on the line of SS10.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "A win wasn't likely after our troubles yesterday, but we wanted to score good points here. The attack we planned for this morning hasn't come off."
Francois Duval said: "There was really thick dust on the road and in the ruts, this caused the problem. The car wasn't broken but when the oil-warning light flicked on, we switched the engine off."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "We've had a good day today, no problems and more experience. It's been really hot in the car again - maybe hotter than yesterday. When I did the recce, I drove the stages without the air conditioning on to try and get used to the temperatures, but there's not much that can prepare you for what it's like during the rally."
Malcolm Wilson said: "The dust was like dry cement, it's gone into the engine and blocked things up. This isn't a problem with the engine itself, but it is similar to the problems we had with Markko's car in Argentina. We have to look at things again, this will be addressed immediately."
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz's car suffered continued overheating trouble and a gearbox problem on the opening loop of stages. Freddy Loix retired with no compression after dust clogged the air filter at the end of stage six. Justin Dale retired yesterday with an overheating problem after SS2.Sporting: Schwarz lost third gear not far after the start of SS6. Forced to rev the car harder in second gear before trying to pull fourth, he was concerned that this was going to force the engine temperature even higher. He made it through the day, however, making it clear that he was just driving for points. Loix's car inhaled dust through the sixth test, forcing him into retirement with no power in the engine.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "We are just driving slowly, that's all we can do in this situation. I may push a little bit on the stage, but as soon as I have a moment, I am slowing right down. The gearbox problem was bad, third gear is one which you use quite a lot on these stages. All we can do is take it steady - recce speed - and wait for the finish."
Freddy Loix said: "The car didn't feel right when we left service this morning and it became progressively more difficult to drive. The temperature warning light came on and we eventually stopped."
Skoda
Technical: Toni Gardemeister slid off the road and into retirement on SS9, while Didier Auriol's car went out two stages later with an electrical problem.Sporting: Gardemeister had moved into the top ten despite continued fuel vapourisation problems on his car. He went out of the rally damaging his engine when he went off the road. Auriol was still close behind the seventh-placed Ford of Mikko Hirvonen when his car stopped with no electrical charge after the tenth stage. This is the first time in 22 rallies that Skoda hasn't managed to get an Octavia to the finish. It also happens to be the last time Skoda will have an opportunity to get an Octavia to the finish, with the Fabia WRC coming into play at the next rally in Germany.
Quotes: Toni Gardemeister said: "The problem came after a crest, where the car jumped a little further than I thought it would. Unfortunately t a lot of trees have been felled in the area, and we landed right on top of a tree stump - which broke something in the engine."
Other entries
Toshi Arai continues to lead the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship. The Japanese driver heads up a Subaru Impreza one-two-three, with Martin Rowe in the runners-up spot after Stig Blomqvist suffered brake problems on his car and dropped back to third. Of the non-factory cars, Gilles Panizzi retired from third place when the engine on his 206 WRC failed. Britain's Alistair Ginley is now top non-works driver making the top ten in his Ford Focus RS WRC02.21/06/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 42 crews (20 Group A and 22 Group N) started this morning.TOP RETIREMENTS: Gronholm (FIN), Burns (GB), Martin (EE), Duval (B), Makinen (FIN), Loix (B), (FIN).
TODAY: Saturday 21 June
Leg 2 started from Limassol at 06h00 and covered 549.61km, including 158.35km on eight stages. The first car arrived back in Limassol at 19h35.TOMORROW: Sunday 22 June
Leg 3 starts from Limassol at 07h30 and covers 305.30km, including 82.86km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol, Promenade, at 15h20.WEATHER FORECAST: Remain hot and sunny.
SS5 KOURDALI-ASINOU (15.00km)
1 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 15m 48.5
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 15m 56.8
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 16m 03.3LEADERS AFTER SS5
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 1h 44m 56.9
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 1h 44m 59.9
3 Panizzi (F) Peugeot 1h 45m 26.5SS6 ASINOU-NIKITARI (25.61km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 26m 28.3
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 26m 34.1
3 Sainz (E) Citroen 26m 54.1LEADERS AFTER SS6
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 11m 25.2
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 2h 11m 34.0
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 12m 40.4SS7 ORKONDAS-STAVROULIA (17.99km)
1 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 19m 02.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 19m 11.0
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 19m 15.6LEADERS AFTER SS7
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 30m 36.2
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 2h 30m 49.6
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 32m 13.7SS8 AKROUNDA-APSIOU (7.99km)
1 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 8m 01.4
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 8m 03.5
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 8m 06.6LEADERS AFTER SS8
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 2h 38m 42.8
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 2h 38m 53.1
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 2h 40m 28.9SS9 FOINI-KOILINIA 1 (30.33km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 27m 23.4
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 27m 25.4
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 27m 28.9LEADERS AFTER SS9
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 06m 11.7
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 3h 06m 16.5
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 08m 20.5SS10 GALATAREIA-NATA 1 (15.55km)
1 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 11m 14.7
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 11m 15.8
3 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 25.3LEADERS AFTER SS10
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 17m 27.4
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 3h 17m 41.8
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 19m 46.2SS11 FOINI-KOILINIA 2 (30.33km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 26m 54.4
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 26m 55.6
3 McRae (GB) Citroen 27m 07.1LEADERS AFTER SS11
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 44m 23.0
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 3h 44m 36.2
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 3h 46m 54.6SS12 GALATAREIA-NATA 2 (15.55km)
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 10m 58.6
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 10.7
3 Loeb (F) Citroen 11m 11.6LEADERS AFTER SS12
1 Solberg (N) Subaru 3h 55m 21.6
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +25.3
3 Loeb (F) Citroen +2m 44.6
4 McRae (GB) Citroen +3m 29.0
5 Sainz (E) Citroen +4m 32.9
6 Hirvonen (FIN) Ford +6m 49.4
7 Schwarz (D) Hyundai +10m 03.3
8 Ginley (GB) Ford +16m 24.7
9 Arai (J) Subaru +23m 13.9
10 Rowe (GB) Subaru +25m 19.5
[WRC] Cyprus - End of leg one
Friday, 20 June 2003
Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm moved into the lead of the Cyprus Rally on the final stage of the opening leg. The Peugeot driver had struggled to keep up with the pace-setters on the first loop of stages north of the rally's base in Limassol. Running third on the road, he was forced to sweep the surface clean of the small stones, which improved the condition for those behind him. His fellow 206 WRC driver Harri Rovanpera held the initial advantage, only to slip back on the final test when he was hit by gearbox problems. On the second run at the 38-kilometre Lagoudera-Spilia stage, Gronholm pulled 28.4 seconds out of his countryman to move to the top of the table.Behind the two Finns, Petter Solberg leads the chase in his Subaru. He is 3.5 seconds off Rovanpera and just 10.3 off the lead of the rally after today's four stages. Gilles Panizzi had run as high as second earlier in the day, but dropped down the order to fourth, ahead of fellow Frenchman Sebastien Loeb of Citroen.
Peugeot
Technical: The 206 WRC of Marcus Gronholm ran without mechanical fault today, while Richard Burns and Harri Rovanpera's cars suffered transmission problems on the fourth and final stage of the day.Sporting: Harri Rovanpera hit the front of the rally with fastest time on the opening stage, but felt he pushed too hard through the first half of the second test, causing his front tyres to loose some of their grip. Richard Burns and Marcus Gronholm were running first and third on the road, and both struggled as they swept the loose gravel off the surface. Burns' car lost hydraulic pressure, which takes away the steering-mounted paddle shift, but more importantly stops the differentials from working. Burns ended the day eighth. Gronholm moved into the lead of the rally, with Rovanpera second after his car jammed itself in one gear for most of the long final stage.
Quotes: Richard Burns said: "This is nothing new, we knew what it was going to be like and we've lost about the amount of time we expected to. The anti-lag system was losing some of its efficiency towards the end of the long stage, but that was caused just through the heat. The hydraulic problem came with about ten kilometres left, which isn't a lot, but it's enough to cause trouble."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I wasn't able to push as hard as I would have liked this morning; it was down to the tyres a little bit, but also because of the nature of the stages. The roads are quite narrow in places, which means you can't really push hard and work the car. The gearbox problem was really frustrating, but okay we are still second which isn't so bad."
Marcus Gronholm said: "Through the first part of the long stage, everything was good this morning. The split times showed that we were quickest for the first ten kilometres, but then the loose stones were terrible; we just couldn't push."
Subaru
Technical: Petter Solberg's Impreza WRC2003 ran without problems, while Tommi Makinen's car was hit with turbo anti-lag and power steering problems in the second loop of stages.Sporting: Petter Solberg was happier on the wider roads through this opening leg, feeling they suited his car better. The Norwegian driver said he still had some speed in reserve. Tommi Makinen was delighted with the changes he made to the timing on the differentials of his Impreza between the Acropolis Rally and this one. The four-times world champion's day started out well, he was third overall until steering problems slowed him on the last stage of the day.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "In the narrow sections of the stages I was playing with the differential settings, the car's handling is good, but still not perfect on those roads. Third is good for me, but there is still more to come."
Tommi Makinen said: "I was thinking for a long time about what was wrong with the car in Greece, then it came to me that we should try these changes to the differential. The car felt better at shakedown yesterday, and has been very good today. I'm much happier with the way it's running, except for the ALS trouble in the last two stages. We clipped a rock about eight kilometres into the last stage which broke the steering - it felt like the longest stage of my life."
Citroen
Technical: All three drivers felt there was something amiss with the handling of their Citroen Xsara WRCs through the opening leg. Alterations were made to the mapping of the differentials at the service park between the two loops of stages.Sporting: Sebastien Loeb led the Citroen attack, but admitted he had been too cautious in SS1. He stepped his pace up through the remaining three stages and ended the leg in fifth place. Colin McRae said his car was understeering into corners and then oversteering on the exit. The Scot was also concerned at how rutted the roads had become this morning. Carlos Sainz was 15th after the first loop of stages, but managed to pull some time back through the afternoon.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "The car feels a little bit wild when I get on the throttle. There's something not right with the differential settings, we'll work on it - but it was very important to get some time back so we could get a better position on the road for tomorrow."
Colin McRae said: "On a rally like this you really need a neutral car, ours isn't right now. We made some changes which helped a little, but there's some more work to do. The ruts have been terrible, the only way to get through the stages is just to stick in them. If you come out of the ruts then the car's sliding and you're losing time. It's not a great way to drive a rally."
Sebastien Loeb said: "When the grip is good, the car's working well, but when we get to the loose gravel then it's sliding too much. On the first stage this morning, I wanted to be careful to make sure I got through it, but I was too careful, I lost too much time. The changes I made to the car really helped this afternoon. After the first stage this morning I didn't think it was possible to be in this position."
Ford
Technical: Francois Duval's Focus RS WRC03 suffered hydraulic problems five kilometres from the end of the second stage, meaning he had to switch to the manual gearshift system. The sister car of Markko Martin suffered the same problem on the fourth stage. The 2002 version of Mikko Hirvonen ran without fault.Sporting: Martin admitted he was finding it hard to find the right rhythm through the early part of the day, but dropped more time with the hydraulic problem on the second run at the longest stage. Duval came out of the first stage happy, but towards the end of the second test the car was jammed in third gear. He stopped and switched to the manual shift. Hirvonen enjoyed a clean run through the opening leg.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "In one section - where I lost quite a bit of time to Marcus - I was sliding wide and you just can't do that on an event like this. Every time you slide, you're losing time. We had to use the handbrake a lot to get the car turned in to the corners. This afternoon we had the hydraulic glitch, this is the way our luck works, the longest stage of the rally - we have to have a problem!"
Francois Duval said: "This is the same problem that we had in New Zealand with the hydraulics. Before we had the problem everything was okay It's very important for me to finish today, but the problem with the gearbox could have cost us the chance of a good position on the road."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "This is all about experience for me. I'm not pushing too hard, just keeping out of trouble and in the middle of the road."
Hyundai
Technical: Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix both suffered engine and differential overheating problems on the opening leg. The off-side front wheel came loose on the German's car following the second stage, he and co-driver Manfred Hiemer stopped to strap it into place. Justin Dale retired on the road section into service following the second stage with terminal overheating problems.Sporting: The opening leg of Cyprus Rally 2003 was a tough one for the Hyundai team. All three cars suffered the same problem, overheating in the baking temperatures which accompany this event. Loix and Schwarz made it through, but Dale was forced to stop in the first run at the Lagoudera-Spilia stage to top up the water levels on his car. Unfortunately for the Englishman there was too much damage to the engine on his car and he retired.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "We drove at recce speed this morning. The differentials overheated on the first stage, which left us with no front brakes. Then the engine overheated on the next one. A bolt had come loose on the steering or something, I felt the front wheel moving about, so we had to stop to sort that out. Not a good start."
Freddy Loix: "We haven't had a good morning, the problem with the overheating cost us a lot of time. Knowing we had that problem, though, the time wasn't too bad. It's quite frustrating when the engine overheats, though: it goes on to a safe map which doesn't give as much power. These stages are slow anyway, but when the engine's not pulling it's even worse. On the second run through it was a little better, because the temperature was lower, we lost the engine power after about 20km rather than ten."
Justin Dale said: "After about two kilometers of SS2 the temperature warning light came on, but we carried on for about 18km. By then there was a lot of steam coming from under the bonnet, so we stopped to top up the water. Doing that was really difficult, it was so hot around the engine, the water was spitting everywhere. I thought it was all over then, but with some more water in I fired the car up and we carried on for another ten kilometers. We got to the end of the stage, but the engine was on three cylinders, then on the road section it finally gave up. This is a huge disappointment for all concerned."
Skoda
Technical: Both Skoda Octavia WRCs suffered heat-related fuel vapourisation on the long second and fourth stages, while the centre differential on Gardemeister's car also gave trouble on SS2.Sporting: Didier Auriol was happy with his start to the event, but felt the team would have benefited from a pre-event test for the rough Cypriot roads. Auriol hurt his right wrist two kilometres from the end of the second stage, but apart from that enjoyed a relatively trouble-free run through leg one. Toni Gardemeister stopped after the stage to look at the fuel problem, but was unable to find anything wrong with the car.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I'm happy enough with the set-up, but it could be better. I'm not going to start making changes to the car now the rally has started. Doing that can be counter productive, you can take the settings the wrong way and drop more time. I hurt my wrist when I hit a rock near the end of the stage, I had to drive the last kilometre with only one hand."
Toni Gardemeister said: "The car wasn't running right, it was so hot. The fuel wasn't coming through. After the stage the car cooled down a bit, we fired it up and it ran okay, but the problem was back for SS4."
Other entries
Toshi Arai leads the FIA Production Car Championship, despite struggling with a power steering fault on his Subaru Impreza this morning. He has a minute advantage over fellow Impreza driver Stig Blomqvist. Of the non-works entries, Gilles Panizzi leads the charge. Once again the Frenchman is showing well on a gravel event, driving a Bozian Racing-run, works specification Peugeot 206 WRC. He holds fourth overall.20/06/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
STARTERS: 51 crews (22 Group A and 29 Group N) started this morning.TOP RETIREMENTS: Dale (GB)
TODAY: Friday 20 June
Leg 1 started from Limassol at 08h00 and covered 329.62km, including 99.84km on four stages. The first car arrived back in Limassol at 18h07.TOMORROW: Saturday 21 June
Leg 2 starts from Limassol at 06h00 and covers 549.61km, including 158.35km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol at 19h35.WEATHER FORECAST: Will remain hot and sunny.
SS1 PLATRES-KATO AMIANTOS 1 (11.60km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 9m 27.1
2 Solberg (N) Subaru 9m 32.9
3 Auriol (F) Skoda 9m 33.9SS2 LAGOUDERA-SPILIA 1 (38.32km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 35m 18.4
2 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 35m 21.0
3 Panizzi (F) Peugeot 35m 24.5LEADERS AFTER SS2
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 44m 45.5
2 Panizzi (F) Peugeot 44m 00.0
3 Makinen (FIN) Subaru 45m 00.1SS3 PLATRES-KATO AMIANTOS 1 (11.60km)
1 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot 11m 28.2
2 Martin (EE) Ford 11m 31.0
3 Duval (F) Ford 11m 31.6LEADERS AFTER SS3
1 Martin (EE) Ford 43m 07.8
2 Duval (F) Ford 43m 10.9
3 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 43m 25.5SS4 LAGOUDERA-SPILIA 2 (38.32km)
1 Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot 34m 30.3
2 Loeb (F) Citroen 34m 31.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru 34m 38.3LEADERS AFTER SS4
1 Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot 1h 28m 49.8
2 Rovanpera (FIN) Peugeot +8.8
3 Solberg (N) Subaru +10.3
4 Panizzi (F) Peugeot +13.9
5 Loeb (F) Citroen +40.4
6 McRae (GB) Citroen +55.7
7 Martin (EE) Ford +1m 22.3
8 Burns (GB) Peugeot +1m 31.2
9 Sainz (E) Citroen +1m 33.2
10 Loix (B) Hyundai +2m 05.0
[WRC] Rally of Cyprus - Preview
Thursday, 19 June 2003
Markko Martin and Ford arrive in Cyprus on the crest of a wave, the Estonian driver having taken his first win in the FIA World Rally Championship on the Acropolis Rally 11 days ago. Martin's success was also a first for the Focus RS WRC03. Martin's win moved him up the drivers' championship order, but Peugeot man Richard Burns retained his position at the head of the standings. Burns' run in Greece was hampered by continued transmission problems aboard his 206 WRC. He overcame the lack of second gear to bring his car home in fourth place, however, extending his lead over the chasing pack to five points. Carlos Sainz leads the pursuit, having placed his Citroen Xsara WRC second on the Acropolis Rally. The Spaniard has a two-point advantage from Marcus Gronholm. The reigning FIA World Rally Champion suffered a rally to forget last time out, retiring at the end of the first leg with fuel pump problems.French teams Peugeot and Citroen remain out front in the manufacturers' championship.
This week's Limassol-based seventh round of the championship is the third and final of the rough gravel road-type rallies in this year's calendar. The event is also a round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship
Marlboro Peugeot Total (1st - 73 points)
Technical: The transmission problems which hit the 206s of Richard Burns and Harri Rovanpera on the last round will be sorted out by either returning to an old clutch set-up, or by mapping the electronics which control the clutch differently. Marcus Gronholm's fuel pump problem was caused by a glitch in the fuel tank's build process. All three 206 WRCs are expected to run with the air conditioning system tested in Greece.Sporting: Gronholm won this event last year and, despite failing to win either of the rough rallies which have come previously this season, the Finn and his team are confident ahead of Cyprus. Burns and Rovanpera continue to search for their first win of the season, both will be hoping for a rally free from mechanical trouble. Rovanpera in particular showed well in Cyprus, closing the gap to just a handful of seconds when the gearbox on his car failed. Gilles Panizzi drives a works-specification, Bozian Racing-run 206 in addition to the three full factory cars.
Quotes: Marcus Gronholm said: "Acropolis was a big disappointment. It was a strange problem, but that's behind us now. The stages in Cyprus are quite slow, they don't have so much rhythm, they can be quite hard work."
Richard Burns said: "This is quite a technical rally, there are so many slow speed corners, everything has to be right; things like the entry speed into the corners or running wide, costs a lot of time on this event."
Harri Rovanpera said: "I want to forget the last rally, it wasn't good for me. I was in a strong position when the problem came, just when I thought my luck was changing. I'm not thinking about luck right now, I just want to get on and have a good rally."
Citroen Total (2nd - 62 points)
Technical: The team has worked on the cooling for the engine's ECU. It was an overheated ECU which is believed to have caused Colin McRae's problem on the Acropolis Rally. Sebastien Loeb's engine trouble on the opening stage was an individual component failure, which the team has now rectified. Citroen spent the intervening week between the rallies solving these problems rather than making any major new developments for this event.Sporting: This is another new event for Loeb, and it's another event that the Frenchman's team-mates Carlos Sainz and McRae have won. Sainz was the first winner of it as a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, when it was drafted into the calendar to replace China in 2000. McRae won it one year later and came close to doing so again last season, missing out on the win when he rolled twice on the final day. Sainz demonstrated the Xsara's performance on twisty, rough gravel stages earlier this season, when he won the Rally of Turkey. Since then the Spaniard came within an ace of winning in Argentina and finished second in Greece.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said: "Cyprus is a slow rally, it's a little bit like a combination of Acropolis and Turkey. One of the big challenges on this event is the heat. Because average speeds are low, there's not a lot of air coming into the car which can make it extremely hot inside."
Colin McRae said: "Cyprus is a nice place and the rally is run well, but I have to say that I'm not a fan of these stages. They're too slow for me. People tend to think of the Acropolis as the roughest event in the calendar, which it is in the main, but these stages in Cyprus can be really bad once the soft surface starts to cut up."
Sebastien Loeb said: "As this is my first trip to Cyprus, winning the rally is going to be very tough. What is vital for me is to score points. I have retired from the last two rallies, which has dropped me back from the front of the field a little way. I'm over the disappointment of my first-stage retirement in Greece, now I want points from here."
Ford Motor Company (3rd - 39 points)
Technical: Between the rallies, Ford has worked on the cooling of the differentials for the Focus RS WRC 03s, but otherwise the cars - including the 2002 version of Mikko Hirvonen - remain in the same specification to that for the last round in Greece.Sporting: Martin controlled the Acropolis Rally from the front, leading from the second stage for the remainder of the event to score his maiden win at this level. His only major problem came on the fifth stage - the longest of the event - when the bonnet pins failed and the bonnet on his Focus flew up and covered the windscreen. Despite the searing heat and lack of visibility, Martin was only six seconds off the fastest time. Duval suffered on the fifth stage as well. The Belgian, who led the Acropolis after SS1, was in second place when he slid off the road and into a ditch. Cyprus Rally 2002 was the first time Duval ever led a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Quotes: Markko Martin said: "The win in Greece is history. I have to focus on getting things right on this rally. The car showed it was reliable on the last round. Patience is what's important on this rally. Everything feels quite slow because of the nature of the stages, it's easy to push harder, over-drive the car and end up sliding wide."
Francois Duval said: "I was supposed to test after the rally but, because my neck was still hurting, the team decided it would be better for me to go home and get some attention. Road position is vital on this rally and it should be quite good for us this year (Duval starts leg one ninth on the road)."
Mikko Hirvonen said: "The 2002 car which I'm driving has a great reputation for these rough-type of rallies. I think we can make it to the finish, get some experience and some good points."
555 Subaru World Rally Team (4th - 37 points)
Technical: The Subaru Impreza WRC 2003s of Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen will start round seven in the same specification in which they finished the last round. The driveshaft problem, which cost Solberg a minute and his chance to challenge for the lead on the second leg, was caused by a faulty assembly by the part supplier.Sporting: Subaru bagged ten points in Greece, courtesy of Solberg's third place and Makinen's fifth. Solberg just missed out on second place in a final-day scrap with Carlos Sainz. The Norwegian was much happier with the set-up on his car, while his Finnish team-mate struggled to adapt the Subaru to the Greek roads.
Quotes: Petter Solberg said: "These rough events are good for the team, good for the car. I'm feeling pretty confident for this event, especially after setting the times we did on the last round."
Tommi Makinen said: "I like the way this rally works, twisty stages and short road sections, it keeps the whole thing really interesting. Greece wasn't the best rally for us, but we know what the problem was, I'm confident things will go well here."
Skoda Motorsport (5th - 20 points)
Technical: There have been no new developments on the Octavia WRC for this event.Sporting: This will be the final official outing for the Octavia WRC. The car's replacement - the Fabia WRC will make its debut in the FIA World Rally Championship on the following round in Germany. Skoda has entered the Octavia 111 times on 48 rallies since its arrival on the scene in Monte Carlo, 1999.
Quotes: Didier Auriol said: "I've only done this event once before, so I don't have so much experience. It's a tricky and technical rally though, you need a strong car to deal with the rough roads and you need the right set-up."
Toni Gardemeister said: "This rally is corner after corner after corner, there's no rhythm, but all of the time you have to be so precise. If we drive sensibly this weekend, I think we can score some good points."
Hyundai World Rally Team (6th - 3 points)
Technical: Following the leg one retirements of Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz, Hyundai elected to remain in Greece and test the Accent prior to its arrival in Cyprus. Save for suspension settings, the cars will run in largely the same specification which they were in for Acropolis.Sporting: After five rallies without scoring a point, Hyundai needs to pick up something from Cyprus. The Accents usually go well on this style of rallies. Former Mitsubishi works driver Justin Dale joins the team as a third nomination for this first time. Schwarz won this event as a FIA European Rally Championship round in 1996.
Quotes: Armin Schwarz said: "The key to this event is to stay out of trouble. You need to drive as fast as you can without breaking the car."
Freddy Loix said: "There's no reason why we shouldn't go well here. It would be nicer if the roads were a little bit more flowing, but the important thing for us is to avoid damaging the car and get some points."
Justin Dale said: "I did the South Swedish Rally to get used to car last month, but already that seems a long time ago. I've done gravel notes on this event before, so I know what to expect. I just can't wait to get started now."
Other entries
Toshi Arai leads the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship crews away in his Subaru Impreza. Proton's Karamjit Singh is second in his Pert, while Stig Blomqvist and Martin Rowe both have latest specification Imprezas for this event.19/06/2003 RALLY STATISTICS
EVENT: Cyprus Rally is the 7th of 14 events in the FIA World Rally Championship.ENTRIES: 61 (28 Group A, 33 Group N)
DRIVERS: Andora 1, Argentina 2, Belgium 3, Bulgaria 1, Canada 1, Cyprus 11, Estonia 1, Finland 6, France 3, Germany 3, Great Britain 6, Greece 3, Israel 1, Italy 5, Japan 1, Malaysia 1,Mexico 1, Monaco 1, Norway 1, Peru 1, Poland 3, Romania 1, Spain 2, Sweden 2.
MANUFACTURER TEAMS: Citroen, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru
CARS: (including the manufacturer cars): Citroen 3, Ford 6, Hyundai 4, Mitsubishi 27, Peugeot 5, Proton 1, Renault 1, Skoda 4, Subaru 9, Toyota 1.
TIMETABLE:
Thursday 19 June
Ceremonial Start at 20h30, Limassol Promenade
Friday 20 June:
Leg 1 Starts from Limassol at 08h00 and covers 329.62 km, including 99.84km on four stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol, Paddock, at 18h07.Saturday 21 June:
Leg 2 Starts from Limassol at 06h00 and covers 549.61 km, including 158.35km on eight stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol, Paddock, at 19h35.Sunday 22 June:
Leg 3 Starts from Limassol at 07h30 and covers 305.30 km, including 82.86km on six stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol, Promenade, at 15h20.Total: The rally covers 1184.53km, including 341.05km on 18 special stages (including seven run twice). All stages are on gravel roads, closed to other traffic.
TOMORROW: Friday 20 June:
Leg 1 Starts from Limassol at 08h00 and covers 329.62 km, including 99.84km on four stages. The first car is expected to arrive back in Limassol, Paddock, at 18h07.WEATHER FORECAST: Sunny and dry.
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