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Rally of Sweden 6.-9.2.2003
Good pace but no luck in Rally of Sweden
Among top four on the opening day
Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen took their Peugeot 206 WRC into the fight for top spots right from the start of Rally of Sweden and earned during Friday a good position for the next day. On the first stage (SS1, Sagen I, 14 km) Rovanperä finished only fifth, but on the following (SS2, Rammen I, 23 km) he clocked the second fastest time and got third overall.
With two stages completed, the situation was:
1.) Grönholm 19'32.2",
2.) Burns + 8,2",
3.) Rovanperä + 14,6",
4.) Mäkinen + 15,9".
- We might have started a bit too carefully. I wasn't quite able to find the rhythm or feeling. The break of a couple of months since my last rally was still taking its toll on the first stage. The second went much better, so I guess I'm slowly finding the pace, Rovanperä commented.
The third stage of the first day was the 44-km Fredriksberg. Over the first 10 kilometers, Harri had lost four seconds to his team-mate Marcus Grönholm. From there onwards he run at the same speed as Grönholm up until the 35-km spot. At that point Harri was faster than both Tommi Mäkinen and Richard Burns, so he had a chance to move up second overall.
At the end of the stage, however, Rovanperä stalled his car at a handbrake turn. A 5-to-8-second loss there caused Harri dropping closely fourth.
The situation after three stages was:
1.) Grönholm 41'16,1",
2.) Mäkinen + 24,2",
3.) Burns + 25,3",
4.) Rovanperä + 30,5".
- I used the handbrake when turning in a right backhand corner about two kilometers before the finish of stage 3. The engine stalled and it took between 5 and 8 seconds to re-start it. Otherwise everything was OK, but there wasn't much grip left on the tyres, Rovanperä commented on the incident.
On the following stage (SS4, Malta, 11 km) Rovanperä was third fastest, so the top after four stages was:
1. Grönholm, 46'55,2",
2.) Mäkinen + 26,3",
3.) Burns + 31,7",
4.) Rovanperä + 34,1".
Harri fourth on the opening day, after chasing the second place
The fifth stage in Rally of Sweden (SS5, Brunnberg I, 31,5 km) had to be stopped and the results were cancelled. After Francois Duval had gone off, his Ford was left in the middle of the road, totally obstructing the passage. Rovanperä had been going faster than the others from 10 to 25 kilometers and was going at Grönholm's pace at 30-km intermediate time check. - It really is a shame. Duval had gone off only about two kilometers before the finish. There are too many ifs and buts, but we might have been able to get on second overall, which would have fulfilled the expectations we set for today, Rovanperä said annoyed.
On the superspecial (SS6, Hagfors sprint I, 1,8 km), run at the end of the day, Rovanperä was three seconds slower than the stage winner Burns. - We had lost our extra lights at the beginning of the previous stage, and here in Hagfors we would have needed them at the darkest spots, Rovanperä explained his result on the sprint.
- The starting point for tomorrow is good. We are 30 seconds behind Grönholm, but only nine seconds off Tommi and five seconds off Richard. In the morning there won't be time for wondering about it, but we'll have to attack right from the start.
1/3 leg, results 6/17
1. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot, 48' 54,1” (115.8 km/h)
2. Tommi Mäkinen, Subaru + 00'27,0"
3. Richard Burns, Peugeot, + 00'30,8”
4. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot, + 00'36,2"
5. Juuso Pykälistö, Peugeot, + 00'59,3"
6. Toni Gardemeister, Skoda, + 01'03,9"
7. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 01'05,0"
8. Petter Solberg, Ford, + 01'09,4”
Top speed in the morning of day two - then a crash Fastest on the longest stage
Harri Rovanperä started the second day of Rally of Sweden at full blast. The day began with a rerun of the longest stage of the rally (SS7, Granberget II, 44 km). Rovanperä developed the fastest speed of all, his average being no less than 123 km/h. Even if Harri was able to improve his time by over half a minute when compared to Friday, the other top four drivers lost him less than 5 seconds, so Harri was still fourth within half a second.
- We are attacking as hard as we can now. The car feels good and I enjoy driving, but in these conditions there's quite a lot of sliding, though. We had no problems or faults, but the time is still a surprise because I think there's a lot to improve. I like the weather getting warmer but let's hope the temperature will stay below zero, nobody hopes for rain. We'll go on attacking, Rovanperä assured after his first stage win.
The top four on stage 7 (Granberget II, 44 km):
1. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot, 21'28,0", (123.0 km/h)
2. Tommi Mäkinen, Subaru, 21'30,6", + 00'02,6"
3. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot, 21'32,1", + 00'04,1"
4. Richard Burns, Peugeot, 21'32,9", + 00'04,9"
Situation after stage 7/17:
1. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot, 1h10'26,2" (117.9 km/h)
2. Tommi Mäkinen, Subaru, + 00'25,5"
3. Richard Burns, Peugeot, + 00'31,6"
4. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot, + 00'32,1"
5. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 01'08,5"
6. Juuso Pykälistö, Peugeot, + 01'14,7"
7. Petter Solberg, Subaru, + 01'18,0"
8. Toni Gardemeister, Skoda, + 01'23,6"
Chase ended with Rovanperä crashing into Pykälistö
For Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen, the rally was to end with an unexpected accident when they had run about eight kilometers of stage 8. Rovanperä, who was pushing hard to reach the second place, hit Pykälistö's car after he had rolled it, which eliminated both cars. Rovanperä hadn't received a warning of the incident, so the crash was unavoidable.
Peugeot improved - Double win for Finns
After Rovanperä's retirement, the rally went on with Grönholm setting the pace up until the finish. Even if trying hard, Mäkinen wasn't quite capable of matching Grönholm's speed, and Burns also had to admit he wouldn't reach Mäkinen. Thus the podium places were divided, as expected, between the drivers with whom Rovanperä had been competing up until his retirement.
Final results:
1. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot, 3h03'28,1" (116.3 km/h)
2. Tommi Mäkinen, Subaru, + 00'50,8"
3. Richard Burns, Peugeot, + 01'17,9"
4. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 01'45,8"
5. Colin McRae, Citroen, + 02'15,8"
6. Petter Solberg, Subaru, + 02'19,1"
7. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen, + 03'14,7"
8. Toni Gardemeister, Skoda, + 03'19,2"
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