Event Bulletin
11 May 2003
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Rally Argentina
8 to 11 May 2003 |
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Itinerary | |
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PCWRC |
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Leg3 Report
Event Bulletin 11 May 2003 |
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Starters39 of the original 78 competitors left Carlos Paz parc ferme at 0635hrs this morning Route Following yesterday's schedule amendments, Leg 3 comprised 105.49km competitive kilometres and five stages. The first two (from Leg 2) were run west of the Sierra Chica Mountains, while the remaining three were run near to the Le Cumbre service park Weather Conditions remained dry and sunny. Temperatures started at 12ºC, rising to 22ºC by the afternoon. Stages were largely dry and very dusty, with numerous water splashes Summary 555 Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg put in another excellent performance today and set a string of consistently fast times. He ended the event in fifth position, securing five Manufacturers' points for Subaru and four in the Drivers' championship. After gathering some useful set-up information on yesterdays stages, the team withdrew Tommi's car from the event today after an incident on Leg one dropped him more than 13 minutes behind the leaders, losing any realistic chance of Drivers' points. In other Subaru news, Toshi Arai won the FIA Production WRC class after dominating the event in his Impreza. He won by a margin of more than 2 minutes. Stage Reports SS21 0830hrs CapilladelMonte-SanMarcosSierra2 20.02km Anguish for Ford on the first stage on the final Leg. The repeated Capilla del Monte test, which yesterday destroyed Loeb's hopes of scoring his first Argentine finish, saw overnight leader Markko Martin's event come to a devastating end when the engine of his Focus lost all oil pressure 11.4km in. He had been leading the event by 15.2 seconds. In another blow for the team, Francois Duval's Focus lost fourth, fifth and sixth gear 6km in, costing the Belgian over 40 seconds. The route, used last year as SS1, followed the edge of a lake for 2.5 km, before ending with a narrow descent towards San Marcos Sierra. Gronholm was fastest, and moved into the overall top spot, while Burns was second and Subaru driver Petter Solberg, third. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 16:49.2 
SS22 0908hrs San Marcos Sierra-Cuchi Corral2 22.57kmWith clouds of thick dust and a rutted surface making driving conditions difficult through the 22.57km test, Carlos Sainz was fastest, Gronholm second and Burns third. At the finish just 4.1 seconds separated Sainz and Burns in overall second and third, and with both lying less than 25 seconds off Gronholm's overall top spot, the rally was looking set for a nail-biting finale. Well cushioned in overall fifth, and undertaking a test programme in preparation for the next round of the WRC in Greece, Petter Solberg was fourth fastest. Duval continued to be dogged by gear-box problems and, after also losing third gear in his Focus, contested the stage with second and first only. After SS22, crews returned to the service point in Le Cumbre. Fastest Time: Sainz (Citroen) 13:04.6 SS23 1032hrs La Falda-Villa Giardino 2 9.37km The first of the Leg's original three stages gave Burns the opportunity to up the pressure on Sainz in the battle for overall second, and he finished fourth fastest to maintain a margin of just 4.7 seconds between the two. Gronholm was again fastest, and notched up his tenth stage win of the event and 34th of the season. There were more problems for Ford. Despite replacing the gearbox and part of the exhaust system in Duval's Focus Ford in the preceding service, costing the Belgian a 40 second penalty when the work ran over by four minutes, the young driver's gear selection problems continued and he was forced to contest the stage changing gear manually. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 6:24.4 
SS24 1100hrs La Cumbre-Agua de Oro 21.70kmTight at the top. As the battle for second intensified, Richard Burns blasted through the penultimate test to finish 10 seconds faster than Sainz and seize the coveted position. Gronholm was again fastest to retain the lead, while Solberg expertly negotiated the series of uphill hairpins to finish a credible third. While conditions remained clear for the competitors and there was no sign of the fog that shrouded the same stage last year, the dusty and rutted Argentine terrain claimed another victim when Armin Schwarz's Hyundai suffered engine problems 2km from the finish. His misfortune dropped him out of overall sixth and out of the rally, moving Didier Auriol, Toni Gardemeister, Francois Duval up a place to sixth, seventh and eighth positions respectively. Fastest Time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 18:23.6 SS25 1150hrs Ascochinga-La Cumbre 2 28.83km Carlos Sainz charged through the final stage of the rally to take the stage win and snatch back overall second, after turbo problems dashed Burns' hopes of taking away the eight driver points. The pair were almost neck and neck at the mid-point, but disaster struck when the Englishman's Peugeot suffered a turbo problem, forcing him to cruise to the finish, and forfeit overall second. He finished third. Gronholm was second fastest to win the event, with Sainz finishing 26.6 seconds behind for second. Petter was third fastest and finished in overall fifth. Fastest Time: Sainz (Citroen) 18:36.5 Team Quotes David Lapworth, 555 Subaru World Rally Team Principal "Clearly we haven't got the result we were hoping for, but nevertheless we leave with a very positive attitude for Greece. We saw how both Tommi and Petter were able to put in excellent times in all conditions, especially when it was rough. Greece and Cyprus are tough events which should really suit us, and I see no reason when we shouldn't be fighting for a win on both of them." 
Petter Solberg"A lot had happened on this rally, but I kept pushing. It was hard work, but I'm quite happy to come fifth. I've got some more points and there's still a long season to go. The guys in the team have worked really hard and I want to thank them for all their work. Next up we have Acropolis and Cyprus and I know that I can win on both of those." |
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News from Pirelli Fiore Brivio, Pirelli Tyres Rally Manager "For the final leg Petter again selected the Pirelli PZero KM4 narrow gravel tyre and was happy with the performance of the tyres. Both drivers will leave Argentina and go directly to Spain for a gravel tyre test. We are looking forward to the next WRC round in Greece." Next Event Round six of the 2003 FIA World Rally Championship starts in four weeks time, when teams travel to Greece for the Acropolis Rally. The event has the reputation as one of the toughest in the series for cars and drivers, a real car-breaker, and the combination of searing temperatures and rocky stages make it a fearsome challenge. The rally begins on 5 June, concluding on Sunday 8 June. |
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