02 February 2002
Summary68 cars left Karlstad this morning to start leg two of the Swedish Rally, but with a temperature of +4°, rain overhead and the snowy stages thawing rapidly, the character of the event had changed completely compared to yesterday's winter wonderland.
By the first competitive stage, cars were running on a slippery mixture of slush, ice, snow and gravel. Although speeds were higher than yesterday's drivers had to carefully balance their increased pace with the punishment their studded tyres were taking on the tough surface.
Leg one leader Marcus Gronholm kept his position at the top of the leaderboard, and had increased his comfort zone ahead of second-placed Harri Rovanpera from 0.9 seconds to 50 seconds by the end of today's six stages.
But leg two brought disappointment for the 555 Subaru World Rally Team when 27-year-old Petter Solberg retired with an engine problem on SS6. Petter was in a promising overnight sixth place and had hoped to push harder today in front of crowds of Norwegian fans who had travelled to support him.
Better news though for Group N Impreza driver Toshihiro Arai who is competing here in the first round of the FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Cars. He holds overnight second place in the class and is on course for a provisional podium finish.
Petter Solberg
Today was when we were going to start to push - the roads were very similar for all of us but unfortunately 18kms into the first stage the car went onto two cylinders, the oil warning light came on and the car just stopped. There was no point in continuing, we checked the engine and there was no oil in it. We didn't hit any snow banks or anything - it certainly wasn't a repeat of what happened to Tommi yesterday - it happened on a long long straight. I think I could have advanced a lot today - and had a bit of a fight with Colin - but that didn't happen. All we can do now is find out what happened and look forward to the next rally.
David Lapworth
All we know at this moment is that the engine let go on SS6. There was some kind of mechanical failure - but that's the way it goes sometimes. It's not worked out well for the team. Tommi had no real chance yesterday being first on the road with the weather conditions. Petter was going to make a big push today and was feeling confident. But for now we just need to get the car back to the UK and work it all out. We hope to be back on top again in Corsica.
Stage ReportsSS6 08:45 Granberget 2 ( (40.51km))
Lying in third place overnight, Ford's Colin McRae was quickest on the first stage of the day. He was almost a minute faster through the repeated 40km section than Harri Rovanpera was when he won it as SS3 on leg one. The stage surface had thawed considerably since then and on some sections patches of gravel were visible through the mixture of slush, snow and ice. Thomas Radtrom's miserable Swedish rally continued at the pre-stage service, Citroen technicians had difficulty changing his car's turbo and he collected 2m 10s of penalty time for leaving 13 minutes late - that dropped him down to 45th place. Bad news too for the 555 Subaru World Rally Team, as remaining works driver Petter Solberg retired halfway through the stage. His car developed an engine problem at the 18kms point and stopped shortly afterwards.
Fastest Time : C. McRae (Ford) 19:59.7
SS7 12:05 Fredriksberg 2 ((18.14km))
The thaw continued and for SS7 competitors reported the stage surface was almost 50% gravel - it was snow covered yesterday. Overall leader Marcus Gronholm was quickest. He beat Peugeot teammate Harri Rovanpera by 12 seconds to pull 18 seconds clear at the top of the rally leaderboard. Colin McRae's Swedish charge suffered a set-back when he hit a rock and broke a wheel. He was forced to change it on the stage and lost three minutes. He dropped to 14th place, allowing Carlos Sainz to inherit third.
Fastest Time : Gronholm (Peugeot) 9:15.8
SS8 12:45 Lejen 2 ((28.07km))
Gronholm again. The Finn moved 11 seconds further ahead of his compatriot Harri Rovanpera to lead the event by almost 30 seconds. Local hero Kenneth Eriksson was second fastest in his Skoda Octavia WRC, he moved up to fifth overall, four seconds behind crutch-assisted Hyundai pilot Freddy Loix.
Fastest Time : Gronholm (Peugeot) 13:58.4
SS9 15:00 Malta ((11.25km))
Gronholm made it three in a row, with Radstrom second and Sainz third. Once again Gronholm pulled further ahead at the top of the leaderboard, but there were no other significant movements in the top-10.
Fastest Time : Gronholm (Peugeot) 5:34.9
SS10 15:30 Hara ((12.29km))
2000 World Champion Gronholm looked untouchable on the penultimate stage of the day. The 12km section at Hara was new for 2002 but the Peugeot driver was still 3.2 seconds quicker than second quickest Thomas Radstrom. Richard Burns meanwhile closed the gap on Kenneth Eriksson to three seconds and threatened to snatch the Swede's fifth place.
Fastest Time : Gronholm (Peugeot) 4:59.2
SS11 16:05 Torntorp 1 ((19.21km))
Five out of five for Marcus Gronholm as he finished the leg in the best possible way. Sainz was second and Radstrom third. Richard Burns was sixth fastest but that was enough for him to pass Kenneth Eriksson and move up to fifth place. 11th placed Toni Gardemeister's Skoda left the road 3kms after the start line and suffered radiator damage. He retired a short distance later when the car overheated.
Fastest Time : Gronholm (Peugeot) 10:14.8
