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Acropolis : Leg 1 [04/06/04]
Harri second, Marcus fourth in Greece
Acropolis : Peugeot Sport - Leg 1 04/06/04
Rovanpera in second place!
The pair of Finns are well- poised to continue their assault on Greece's
round of the World Championship tomorrow, having each set fastest
times on today's demanding stages.
The Acropolis Rally, round six of the World Championship, is one of the
toughest of the year, characterised by sharp rocks and high temperatures.
Although the road surfaces are notoriously rough, some sections are flat-
out as well. Today's action consisted of seven proper gravel stages
concluding with a run through the spectator superspecial at Lilea. The
weather was typically hot, although there was a threat of intermittent rain
throughout the day.
Harri set fastest time on the opening stage of the day, and soon moved
up to second place. His Peugeot 307 WRC was entirely reliable
throughout the leg, although he felt he lacked confidence in the
suspension set-up during the middle loop of stages. Nonetheless, he
maintains a solid second place.
Harri said: “Today has been quite good, although there were a couple of
times when we knocked the steering out of line slightly against a rock. I
didn't have an ideal feeling with the car in the afternoon stages, but it's
been a consistent finish to the day and it's always good to be in second
place. There's still a long way to go, so who knows what will happen.”
Marcus also enjoyed perfect reliability all day, taking the lead on the
opening stage of the leg. He dropped time with a couple of spins during
the afternoon, and also lacked confidence in the suspension set-up of
his307 WRC during the middle loop of stages.
Some adjustments during service helped to improve the situation, but a
bad tyre choice for the final loop of stages meant that Marcus ended the
leg in fourth.
“It's not been a perfect day,” said Marcus. “For some reason I was
struggling with the car a little bit during the afternoon and then we made
a bad tyre choice for the final stages. In general, the stages were more
slippery than I expected but I am still feeling confident. We'll be back
fighting tomorrow!”
Tomorrow takes in seven more stages, with the first loop of four run
consecutively. Only a ‘remote service' is allowed after the first two stages,
in which teams can change tyres and add fuel, but only replace
components that are carried in the car. The final loop of three stages will
also be run consecutively, after service at lunch time in Lamia. The first
car will leave Parc Ferme at 0700, and is expected back at 1851.
Positions after SS 9 / 22
1. Petter Solberg, Subaru, 1 h 49´ 24,8" (79,8 km/h)
2. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot 307, + 00´55,7"
3. Francois Duval, Ford, + 01´01,6”
4. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot 307, +01´03,2"
5. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen, + 01´21,0"
6. Daniel Carlsson, Peugeot 206, + 02´41,1"
7. Gilles Panizzi, Mitsubishi, +02´49,3"
8. Manfred Stohl, Peugeot 206, + 03´10,7"
9. Mikko Hirvonen, Subaru, + 03´25,7"
10. Janne Tuohino, Ford, + 04´52,0"
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