Event Bulletin
21 Jun. 2003
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 Cyprus Rally
20 to 22 Jun. 2003
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Itinerary | |
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| Entry List | |||
| Course Map | |||
| Results | |||
| Pre Release | |||
| Leg1 Report | |||
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Leg2 Report | ||
| Leg3 Report | |||
| Gallery | |||
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PCWRC |
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Leg2 Report
Event Bulletin 21 Jun. 2003 |
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Starters42 of the original 51 competitors left Limassol parc ferme at 0600hrs this morning Route Leg two, the longest of the event, comprised 158.35 competitive kilometres and eight stages (two repeated). Stages were based north and west of the service park in Limassol Weather Conditions remained dry, hot and sunny all day. Air temperatures started at 20ºC this morning, rising to 34ºC by mid-afternoon, while road temperatures reached 40ºC. Stages were rough and dustyv Summary Between them, 555 Subaru drivers Petter Solberg and Tommi Mäkinen demonstrated the competitive performance of the Subaru Impreza WRC and dominated today's stage times. Leading the rally from the Leg's opening test, Petter Solberg delivered a mature and measured performance, and tonight holds the lead, 25.3 seconds ahead of Harri Rovanpera. After setting four fastest stage times, his team-mate Tommi Mäkinen withdrew from the event after a broken wheel on SS6 caused him to exceed the time allowed on the following road section. Stage Reports 
SS5 0743hrs Kourdali - Asinou (15.00km)After yesterday's frustrations, Subaru driver Tommi Mäkinen was on the attack and put in an astonishing time, winning the test 8.3 seconds ahead of second placed Petter Solberg. With Solberg finishing 6.3 seconds ahead of third placed Rovanpera, the Subaru duo clinched an impressive one-two for the team. Citroen's Sebastien Loeb was back on the pace, and after admitting yesterday that he had driven too cautiously on Leg 1, he stormed through to finish fourth fastest. Regarded to be the twistiest and slowest stages of the event, the dusty terrain caused a double blow for the Ford Team. In an incident similar to that suffered by the team in Argentina, Francois Duval and Markko Martin were forced to retire when dust blocked their Focus' engines causing low oil pressure, while Peugeot's Gronholm lost over a minute with a prop shaft problem. At the finish Solberg held the overall lead. Fastest Time: Mäkinen (Subaru) 15:56.8 SS6 0813hrs Asinou - Nikitari (25.61km) A second stage win for the Subaru team, but this time it was Solberg's turn to take the top spot. The Norwegian finished 5.8 seconds quicker than second placed Harri Rovanpera with Carlos Sainz third and Loeb fourth. The rutted, dusty terrain brought another wave of leading WRC retirements. First to go was World Champion Marcus Gronholm. Starting the test with front wheel drive only on his Peugeot, the Finn then lost the use of his 206's front differential and he retired before the first split. Gilles Panizzi was next to go when his Bozian Racing Peugeot 206WRC suffered engine failure. There were problems too for Hyundai. Freddy Loix's Hyundai suffered a terminal dust-related engine problem 6km in, while team-mate Armin Schwarz's efforts were thwarted when his Accent lost third gear. After setting the fastest time on the previous test, Tommi Mäkinen suffered a setback when a rear wheel broke in two, 3km in. The Finn stopped to remove the rear corner's upright, damper and rim on the roadside, before rebuilding it and putting on a new wheel in the searing Cypriot heat and with limited tools. The incident cost the Finn more than 25 minutes, but he completed the test and was able to continue. Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 26:28.3 SS7 0913hrs Orkondas - Stavroulia (7.99km) His problems from the previous stage behind him, Tommi Mäkinen demonstrated his four-time World Champion credentials and stormed through Orkondas to set the fastest time, 8.3 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Petter Solberg was second quickest, while best of the rest was Peugeot's Rovanpera in third. At the end of the test, Solberg and Rovanpera, lying in overall first and second respectively, were well over a minute clear of the rest of the field. Citroen drivers McRae, Sainz and Loeb took the next three fastest times to round off the top six. With the top 15 cars running in reverse order for Leg 2, running first on the gravel covered roads was clearly causing problems for Toni Gardemeister and he managed only the twelfth fastest time. After the finish, cars retuned to Limassol for the scheduled service. Fastest Time: Mäkinen (Subaru) 19:02.7 
SS8 1133hrs Akrounda - Apsiou (7.99km)Running in air temperatures of 33 degrees, Tommi Mäkinen continued his charge and demonstrated the Impreza's competitiveness on the tough Cyprus terrain by notching up the teams fourth consecutive stage win. Negotiating the Akrounda test, the shortest of the event, Rovanpera was second fastest, but with Solberg hot on his heels in third the Peugeot driver's charge wasn't enough to snatch the overall lead. At the finish 10.3 seconds separated the pair, and there was no change to the overall top ten. Fastest Time: Mäkinen (Subaru) 8:01.4 SS9 1236hrs Foini - Koilinia 1 (30.33km) Another technical, twisty stage and another retirement, this time for Skoda's Toni Gardemeister. Contesting his last WRC event in an Octavia before the introduction of the Fabia WRC in Germany, the Finn flew over a crest 5km in, left the stage and nose-dived into a tree stump. The impact terminally damaged the Skoda's engine and retirement was instant. Looking to the leaders, Rovanpera was fastest to end Subaru's stranglehold of stage wins, but only just. Completing the long test just 2 seconds faster than the Subaru's of Mäkinen and Solberg, who were second and third fastest respectively, the Finn remained second overall, and there was no change to the overall leaderboard. Despite sustaining front right tyre damage towards the end of the stage, Citroen's McRae still posted the fourth fastest time, the same position that he maintained overall, while Richard Burns lost more than a minute due to an overheating engine. Fastest Time: Rovanpera (Peugeot) 27:23.4 SS10 1331hrs Galatareia - Nata 1 (15.55km) As the tension mounted on the Leg's first run through the rock littered, slippery Galatareia test, Solberg answered Rovanpera's previous charge by completing the stage almost ten seconds faster than his rival, and extending his overall lead to 14.3 seconds. By the finish the pair's advantage over the rest of the field had increased to 2 minutes 4.4 seconds. Mäkinen again took the stage win, his fourth of the day, with Loeb finishing fourth fastest and Sainz fifth. Burns continued to be dogged by his Peugeot's engine overheating problems and he dropped another 1 minute 25 seconds, despite having topped up the engine fluids prior to the start. He later retired on the road section to service, just 2km from the regroup in Limassol, elevating Ford's remaining driver Hirvonen, to overall sixth. He wasn't alone. Didier Auriol also retired on the 70km road section with an electric failure and after setting a string of fastest times throughout the day, Subaru's Tommi Mäkinen withdrew from the event before the scheduled service. He had earlier exceeded the time allowance on the road section to SS7, after stopping to make the repairs to his Impreza on SS6. Fastest Time: Mäkinen (Subaru) 11:14.7 
SS11 1627hrs Foini - Koilinia 2 (30.33km)Locked in their own battle at the top, and posting times much faster than the rest of the field, Petter Solberg and Harri Rovanpera continued to trade stage wins, and this time it was Rovanpera who claimed the fastest time. Completing the narrow test 1.2 seconds faster than the Norwegian, it wasn't enough to take the lead and Petter maintained a 13.2 second advantage. The Citroen's of McRae, Loeb and Sainz filled the next three positions, with the Citroen duo taking third, fourth and fifth fastest time respectively. Hirvonen was sixth, the same position that he held overall. Fastest Time: Rovanpera (Peugeot) 26:54.4 SS12 1725hrs Galatareia - Nata 2 (15.55km) In the service E, Petter had stated his intention to seize some more seconds from rival Rovanpera, and concluding an excellent day, the leading Norwegian did just that when he set another fastest time, finishing 12. 1 seconds faster than second-place Rovanpera. His charge consolidated his overall lead, and at the finish he had a 25.3 second advantage. Young Ford driver Hirvonen completed the test fifth fastest, ahead of the more experience Carlos Sainz, but the test brought no change to the overall leaderboard ahead of the tomorrow's Final Leg. Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 10:58.6 Team Quotes 
David Lapworth, 555 Subaru World Rally Team Principal"It was a top class performance from Petter and Phil today. They have played cat and mouse with Harri Rovanpera and have lifted their pace when they needed to, to maintain his lead and set themselves up for the best possible chance of victory tomorrow. It's a shame Tommi ran out of luck yet again. He really came back today, determined to score points for the team. His efforts to repair the car and get to the finish was outstanding and we take consolation from his fastest stage times." Petter Solberg "It was good to take some seconds on the last stage from Harri, but I know that it only takes a puncture or a spin tomorrow to lose the lead. We'll try to keep away from trouble but my idea is to push on the first group of stages in the morning. We've had no problems at all today. I had a good speed, with no crazy attacks, but I'd like to gain some more seconds and we want to win." Tommi Mäkinen "Unfortunately, we lost too much time and had to withdraw from the event. We've seen that the car's performance has been very good and the improvements that we've made to the car have had a big impact. I'm sure that we could have been challenging for the lead without the difficulties we've experienced. Petter has a good lead, a good chance and we're hoping for the best for him on the remaining stages. In preparation for Germany, we'll doing some tarmac testing soon and we've got some good ideas to try." |
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Tomorrow's Leg The third and final leg of the Cyprus Rally starts tomorrow at 0730hrs, when the remaining cars will leave Limassol parc ferme. The final day will see crews travel northeast of Limassol to contest six stages (three repeated), and a total of 82.86 competitive kilometres. The winning car is expected to cross the finish ramp at 1520hrs. |
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