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Rally Australia
Production Car World Rally Championship Rd.6
4 to 7 Sep. 2003 |
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Production Car World Rally Championship (PCWRC) Rd.6 Infomation
Arai in close battle
after SS9 
Leg 1Event News
5 Sep. 2003 Toshi Arai is holding fifth place in the Production Car World Rally Championship in his SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi as the first day of the Rally of Australia draws to a close. Arai and co-driver Tony Sircombe are 8.7 seconds behind defending class champion Karamjit Singh who lies third and 42.4 seconds adrift of Martin Rowe's SUBARU, who is their nearest challenger in the PCWRC. Arai started the event three points in front of Rowe in the PCWRC and a further five points ahead of Singh. "We were a bit too cautious on the opening stage," said Toshi. "The road was quite wet and slippery and I didn't want to make a silly mistake so early in the event." Arai gave 30 seconds away to class pace setter Marco Ligato on that stage. The Argentinean driver led the PCWRC field back to Perth tonight and the final 2.5 kms super stage. "We're not so worried about Marco," said Arai. "He's a long way behind in the championship point's standings. But we want to try and get closer to Martin tomorrow." 
"We're not panicking there's still two more days to go and it's a long tough rally."After his cautious start on the day's opening stage, which left him in seventh place, Arai picked up the pace and was second fastest on the next stage to move up to fourth overall, a position he maintained for the next three stages, never more than a few seconds behind his rivals. As the day progressed, the forestry tracks dried out. Arai and Sircombe dropped a place on the day's fifth stage, the longest of the event, the 34.99 kms through the Stirling Pine Plantation. On the penultimate stage they picked up a place as Irishman Niall McShea spent some time off the road in his Mitsubishi. Then on the day's final forestry stage, Arai was fastest of the PCWRC drivers to claw back some precious seconds on his rivals. Behind Arai 1984 World Champion Stig Blomqvist holds fifth place, in the third of the IMPREZA WRX STis in the top five. 
"The road conditions today have been tricky after the rain," said Toshi. "Sometimes the grip has been good and in other places it's very slippery. You've got to be careful as it can catch you out."Early overall leader Marcus Gronholm proved that when he spent 16 minutes off the road on the eighth stage, effectively ending his hopes of victory. With the four main protagonists in the PCWRC holding second to fifth places the battle over the next two days is likely to be intense as crews strive for every advantage before the final round in Corsica next month. |
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