Harri leads Peugeot Attack

NZ: Rovanperä in the lead after SS 7 /23

Peugeot driver Harri Rovanpera has ended the opening leg of the Rally New Zealand in 2nd place, having taken the lead on SS7.

New Zealand 16.04.2004
Harri Rovanperä had a feeling after the shakedown in New Zealand
that the car was finally ready and both Gronholm and Rovanpera were
very pleased with its performance. Both Peugeot 307 WRC drivers were
able to achieve good stage times throughout the day and so far the
reliability of the machine has been faultless.
Marcus Gronholm took the lead of the event after stage five but
unfortunately for him, a small mistake in the next stage cost him around
thirty seconds, enough to fall from first to fourth place in the standings.
After the seventh stage Rovanpera took over the lead of the event after
taking two consecutive stage victories.

Excellent day for Harri
- I'm very happy, and I feel a lot more confident with the car now than I did
in Mexico, We are using more or less the same set-up as Marcus and it is
working well. I think our road position helps us a bit, but I have a very good
feeling as well. The roads are mostly dry, and I'm really looking forward to
the rest of the rally, reported Rovanperä.

Positions after SS 7 / 23
1. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot 1 h 22´ 19,5" (100,4 km/h)
2. Petter Solberg, Subaru + 00´ 01,0"
3. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot, + 00´29,1"
4. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 00´31,3”
5. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen, 00´45,4”
6. Francois Duval, Ford, + 00´ 53,8”
7. Carlos Sainz, Citroen, + 00´ 59,4 "
8. Mikko Hirvonen, Subaru, + 01´24,5”

First leg at top pace
Harri had a fast and clean run on only his second event in the all-new
Peugeot 307 WRC. He set two fastest stage times, and had no
mechanical problems whatsoever all day. He returns to Parc Ferme in
Auckland confident of another successful outing tomorrow.
-I really enjoyed today, I had a very good feeling with the car and I was
able to push hard. It's been really fun to lead the rally.
I really like long stages and we were flat-out on all of SS7, which was 48
kilometres. I decided not to risk anything on the superspecial, so I think
we are in a good position for tomorrow. I'm not changing anything on the
car: it's perfectly fine as it is.

Leg 1. Positions after SS 9 / 23
1. Petter Solberg, Subaru 1 h 25´ 09,5" (100,2 km/h)
2. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot + 00´05,0"
3. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot, + 00´31,0"
4. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 00´31,2”
5.Sebastien Loeb, Citroen, 00´48,0”
6. Francois Duval, Ford, + 00´ 53,5”
7. Carlos Sainz, Citroen, + 01´ 03,1 "
8. Mikko Hirvonen, Subaru, + 01´24,8”