Event Bulletin
9 May 2003
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rally Argentina
8 to 11 May 2003 |
|
|
Itinerary | |
|
| Entry List | |||
| Course Map | |||
| Results | |||
| Pre Release | |||
 |
Leg1 Report | ||
| Leg2 Report | |||
| Leg3 Report | |||
| Gallery | |||
|
PCWRC |
|
Leg1 Report
Event Bulletin 9 May 2003 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
StartersFollowing yesterday's two runs through the Complejo Pro-Racing Super Special, competitors left Carlos Paz parc ferme at 0625hrs Route Leg one comprised 175.14 competitive kilometres and thirteen stages (five of which were repeated). Stages were based around Le Cumbre, 50km north of Carlos Paz Weather Conditions were overcast but dry, with some sun in the afternoon. Temperatures started at 8ºC degrees, rising to 21ºC in the afternoon before dropping back to 17ºC. Stages were dry and dusty but featured numerous water splashes Summary A day of mixed fortunes for the 555 Subaru World Rally Team in Argentina. While both Tommi and Petter demonstrated the competitiveness and potential of their cars, with a stage win and a string of top three times, both suffered incidents that dropped them out of real contention for the lead. Ahead of tomorrow's Leg, Petter lies in eighth position and Tommi nineteenth. Stage Reports SS1 1935hrs (Thurs) Complejo Pro-Racing Lane A 3.02km See SS2 summary below. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 2:09.7 SS2 1935hrs (Thurs) Complejo Pro-Racing Lane B 3.02km Rally Argentina started how it meant to go on, with thousands of spectators creating an electrifying atmosphere as the drivers took on the Complejo Pro-Racing Super Special. Regarded by many drivers as one of the best super specials in the championship, Norwegian star Petter Solberg revelled in its tricky and twisty turns carved out of the hillside, to seize second place in his Subaru Impreza WRC2003. His team-mate Tommi Mäkinen, a renowned Argentine expert, ended poised in sixth place. World Champion Marcus Gronholm finished the tests as the early leader in his Peugeot 206, barely two seconds ahead of Solberg. At the finish, Toni Gardemeister had a mountain to climb after collecting a one-minute road penalty for failing to report a faulty tracking system on his recce car. There was more anguish for Skoda, when local hero Gabriel Pozzo was unable to start, having destroyed his engine in the shakedown. Fastest Time: Burns (Peugoet) 2:09.4 SS3 0850hrs El Reposo - Los Sauces 1 10.03km 
Continuing yesterday's form, Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm started the second section of Leg one with a flourish and stormed through to take the stage win. Negotiating the test's fast and flowing gravel corners, the current World Champion finished 3.1 seconds ahead of Ford's Markko Martin, who was second. Subaru's Petter Solberg was third, while team-mate Tommi Mäkinen was eighth, despite suffering a puncture. There were no retirements, but Ford's Francois Duval lost time when he collected a puncture on the first corner and lost tyre pressure. There was also drama when smoke was seen rising from the engine of Mikko Hirvonen's Focus mid-stage. The young Finn completed the short 10.03km test, the first of four run back to back, and after checking the engine at the finish, reported that there were no problems. After the stage, crews headed directly to SS4.Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 5:44.9 SS4 0917hrs Canada deRio Pinto-Villa Albertina 10.91km The second of four new stages included in Leg one saw Gronholm scoop his second win of the day, while team-mate Richard Burns was second. Running on Pirelli tyres, who have won at this event for the last four years, the stage's soft corners and four river crossings proved no problem for Subaru drivers Tommi Mäkinen and Petter Solberg, and the pair maintained excellent traction to finish third and fourth fastest respectively. Not such a great start for Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. Competing in the first Argentinean event of his career, the young Finn drove a cautious stage as he strived to preserve his Ford engine following the incident in SS3, dropping over two minutes. It later materialised that the Finn had hit a rock, which flattened his exhaust and bent the propshaft. The smoke emanating from the engine bay was being caused by a pipe leading to the turbo, which had melted due to a vibration caused by the impact. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugoet) 7:43.4 SS5 0939hrs Villa Albertina-Ischilin 1 15.17km Contesting the fastest stage of the event, Argentine expert and previous three times event winner Tommi Mäkinen set the pace in his Impreza WRC2003 and stormed through to take the stage win, finishing 0.2 seconds ahead of Gronholm. The Finn's charge was enough to move him up to second overall, 14.7 seconds off the lead. It was to be a bittersweet test for the 555 Subaru World Rally Team however when Tommi's team-mate Petter, who had held second since the start of the event, rolled his Impreza 1km in as he entered a fourth gear left hand corner. The impact of the incident ripped off the Subaru's rear spoiler and boot lid, but as the damage was only superficial the crew were able to continue at a competitive pace. Despite the stage's seven river crossings, conditions remained dry and dust clouds, kicked up by the leading cars, hung in the air causing some visibility problems for later runners. Fastest Time: Mäkinen (Subaru) 8:54.5 SS6 1011hrs Museo Fader - Ongamira 1 18.49km Carlos Sainz was quickest and took his first win of the rally. Markko Martin was second, and Gronholm third. Run as the last stage before the day's second service, the test was the last for Hyundai's Freddy Loix. The Belgian experienced engine problems mid-stage when the boost pressure sensor on the turbo charger failed. He lost 27 minutes and later retired. After the finish, crews returned to service in Le Cumbre. Fastest Time: Sainz (Citroen) 10:12.7 SS7 1202hrs La Falda-Villa Giardino 1 9.37km 
After the four sprints northeast of Le Cumbre, SS7 saw crews move south to La Falda for the shortest test of the day, Villa Giardino. Kicking up clouds of dust that blended with the smoke of the spectators barbecues, the crews charged through a mixture of long crests, water splashes and jumps which delighted the thousands of fans that lined the route. Sainz was quickest and clinched his second stage win, while Loeb was second and Martin third. It wasn't all smiles for the Ford team though, and Mikko Hirvonen was forced to stop mid-stage after hitting a rock which caused a problem with his turbo. The 22 year-old disconnected his Ford's oil supply and was forced to contested the remaining competitive kilometres with only 20 per cent of the normal power output.Fastest Time: Sainz (Citroen) 6:25.1 SS8 1230hrs La Cumbre-Agua de Oro 1 21.70km While there was no sign of the fog that shrouded the stage last year causing treacherous driving conditions, SS8 brought a new set of problems for many of the leading competitors, and one to suffer was Subaru's Tommi Mäkinen. Slowed by a gear selection problem, the four-times World Champion was forced to contest the stage with his Impreza locked in second gear. He dropped over seven minutes and slipped from the top ten. After consulting his engineers at the finish, the Finn maintained second gear for the remaining road section and stage, before returning to service where vital work could be carried out. Gear box problems, albeit less acute than those suffered by Tommi, also afflicted Ford's Markko Martin. The Estonian was unable to select fourth and fifth and dropped six seconds. Fastest Time: Rovanpera (Peugeot) 18:47.6 SS9 1320hrs Ascochinga-La Cumbra 1 28.83km Colin McRae's rally came to a dramatic end in Ascochinga when his Citroen Xsara suffered engine failure, caught fire three times and eventually burned out. He had been in seventh position. SS9 was also an unlucky test for Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm. The World Champion slid wide on a second gear corner 4km in, hit a rock and ripped a rear wheel from his 206WRC. He completed the stage, but lost more a minute and the overall lead, falling to sixth. Carlos Sainz was fastest through the stage by 0.2 seconds, and assumed the top position overall. Both Tommi Mäkinen and Markko Martin continued to be dogged by their respective gear-box problems, and lost a further 5 minutes 43.6 seconds and 33.1 seconds respectively. Tommi also picked up a one minute penalty after arriving six minutes late to a time control. Fastest Time: Sainz (Citroen) 19:07.4 SS10 1532hrs El Reposo-Los Sauces 2 10.03km 
His transmission problems evidently behind him, Markko Martin took the stage win and third position overall. His charge dislodged Loeb and Burns to fourth and fifth respectively. A repeat of the day's first test, the 10.3km sprint was more rutted, but there were no significant problems for the leading crews and the top five times posted were quicker than those set in SS3. Following a busy service for many teams in Le Cumbre, where the hundreds of the Argentine fans had gathered, both Marcus Gronholm and Tommi Makinen were rejuvenated in their repaired cars and finished second and fifth fastest respectively. Fastest Time: Martin (Ford) 5:38.4 SS11 1559hrs Cañada de Río Pinto - Villa Albertina 2 (10.91km) Revelling in the stages flowing corners and undeterred by his earlier dilemmas, Mäkinen was right back on the pace in SS11 and finished second fastest, 2.9 seconds behind Gronholm and 4.1 seconds faster than third-placed Martin. However, with more than a thirteen-minute deficit remaining between himself and the leaders at the finish, he still had a long way to go to claim a points finish. His team-mate Solberg posted the fourth fastest time. Despite completing the test just 10.5 seconds behind stage winner Gronholm, Rovanpera dropped two places in the overall standings, and fell to fourth. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 7:38.2 SS12 1621hrs Villa Albertina - Ischilín 2 (15.17km) Proving the pace that's made him a previous three-times winner of this event, Tommi Mäkinen repeated his earlier charge through the fast Villa Albertina, and sliced 3 seconds from his previous time to finish second fastest. Marcus Gronholm was quickest, with Markko Martin finishing third. Solberg was sixth. Citroen's Sebastien Loeb suffered a spin, which cost him 21.4 seconds and overall third place. At the finish he lay in fifth. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 8:47.5 SS13 1653hrs Museo Fader-Ongamira 2 18.49km 
The final stage of the day, but there was still plenty of action for the thousands of fans who lined the stage. Running eighth on the road, Petter Solberg had an extremely lucky escape when he took evasive action to avoid a large rock in the middle of the road 3km from the start. The Norwegian spotted the boulder mid way through a sixth gear left hand corner at a speed of approximately 185kph. Swerving to avoid a collision, Petter's car leapt sideways into a ditch before spinning backwards into another ditch on the other side of the road. Remarkably the car was undamaged, and the pair were able to complete the test, dropping only one place. Sainz was third fastest to secure the overnight lead. At the finish he lay 22.4 seconds ahead of Markko Martin in overall second, while Richard Burns was a further 17.7 seconds behind in third.Fastest Time: Martin (Ford) 9:49.6 Team Quotes David Lapworth, 555 Subaru World Rally Team Principal "I'm pleased with our performance today, but disappointed with the result. Both drivers have been extremely competitive, and have comfortably set good times in the conditions. We're taking some consolation from the fact that, as a team, we feel fully competitive with Tommi's stage win and eight finishes in the top three. That in itself makes it more even more disappointing to be where we are. But, as we have seen today, this is a very unpredictable event and we can still take points from Argentina." 
Petter Solberg"It's not been such an easy day. We started well, getting good times without taking risks, but I must say I wasn't 100 percent happy with the handling of the car under braking, and on SS5 the chances of a win just disappeared. At times like this it can be tough, but we just have to keep on going, try and finish, and get some points." Tommi Mäkinen "It's a great shame not to be able to make the most of the car's potential here. The feeling I'm getting on the stages is very good and our times have reflected this - I think we had a very realistic chance of a top finich. Unfortunately, we can no longer aim for the win, but it's impossible to predict what tomorrow will bring, we will just have to wait and see." |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tomorrow's Leg Tomorrow's leg takes teams north of Le Cumbre for a loop of three stages, before moving south to the Carlos Paz region for further three. Crews will then repeat the first three to make up nine stages and 153.90km competitive kilometres. Competitors will leave Le Cumbre parc ferme at 0655hrs, and the first stage (SS14) starts at 0850hrs. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
