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Harri: ”I’m glad Marcus won, the effort of all the team pays off”
Harri began with a hat trick of stage wins, but his dream of a victory on home territory died in Ruuhimäki
Harri started with good pace
In Jyväskylä, Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen continued from where
they had got in the previous round of the World Championship in
Argentina. They began their home event excellently by a hat trick of stage
wins, and after stage 5 Harri Rovanperä lead the Peugeot trio in front of
the race. In stage Ruuhimäki, Harri’s dream of a home win slipped away
into the woods and he was forced to retire. It was the season’s first
retirement caused by a driving mistake for Harri, happening at the worst
possible time. The previous similar case, retirement due to Harri’s own
mistake, had taken place 16 months earlier in New Zealand in April 2003.
The good thing is that Marcus Grönholm eventually scored the victory
and thus ended Peugeot’s long period without wins. Grönholm was
accompanied on the podium by Markko Märtin and Carlos Sainz.
Peugeot straight away in the first three positions
– Finns unkind hosts
The Finnish round of World Rally Championship had hardly started when
the Peugeot 307 WRC had already proved justified the high hopes about
it. Already in stage 1, the Peugeot drivers clocked three fastest stage
times. The same pace continued, and other Finnish drivers as well were
convincing in the first moments of the event, for after stage 1, the first
seven places were occupied by Finns, headed by Rovanperä, then
Lindholm, Grönholm, Tuohino, Hirvonen, Pykälistö and Paasonen. Still
after stage 2, the hosts held the first six places. Only Petter Solberg and
Markko Märtin were able to make their way among the top eight by
moving ahead of Paasonen.
The triple lead of Peugeot was maintained until stage 5 (SS 5, Laukaa,
11,82 km), where Rovanperä clocked his fourth stage win in the rally.
On the long stage famous for being “Kankkunen’s home path” (SS 4,
Lankamaa, 24,96 km), Marcus Grönholm opened his series of stage
wins in his home event, and after posting a second fastest time on the
following stage, he climbed ahead of his cousin Sebastian Lindholm. At
that point, Peugeot was still in a solid triple lead.
- The car feels really good to handle. Stage wins are the best proof of
that. Gears could be better but that problem will be solved when we get
the new five-speed gearbox. The car has been working fine and I’m
happy with our speed now. We have progressed at a steady pace and
haven’t really “taken breath” anywhere, Rovanperä assured at the
service after stage 3.
Rally Finland
Positions after stage 05/22
1. Harri Rovanperä, Peugeot 307, 35´50,8”, 122.8 km/h
2. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot 307, + 00´11,9”
3. Sebastian Lindholm, Peugeot 307, + 00´13,1”
4. Janne Tuohino, Ford, + 00´22,9”
5. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 00´32,0”
6. Mikko Hirvonen, Subaru, + 00´ 32,4"
7. Jani Paasonen, Skoda, + 00´33,9”
8. Carlos Sainz, Citroen, + 00´43,4”
9. Francois Duval, Ford, + 00´ 52,3"
10. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen, + 00´ 54,8"
Rovanperä’s flight ends in Ruuhimäki
- third gear didn’t give enough ground grip?
Coming to stage Ruuhimäki in Neste Rally Finland, Harri Rovanperä had
a series of excellent stage times behind him. In the last 12 stages
competed in the WRC series (the last seven of Rally Argentina plus the
first five of Jyväskylä), he had clocked nine stage wins and had been
second fastest three times. On the list of stage wins of this season,
Rovanperä lies fourth after his home event behind Solberg, Grönholm
and Loeb!
Rovanperä’s “Maximum Attack” beginning was a great proof of the
competitive quality of both the car and the driver. Rovanperä’s dream of
winning at home was however shattered after he went off the road
towards the end of stage 6 (Ruuhimäki, 7,57 km).
At the second intermediate timing point of Ruuhimäki, Rovanperä was
one second ahead of Grönholm, but his flight ended soon after that.
They got the car back on the road after the incident, but Rovanperä lost
almost two minutes in the stage. At the service after the stage, the
safety bar of the car was noticed to have fractured, and the rally was
over for Rovanperä.
- My own mistake, Rovanperä states as the reason of going off, but
agrees on going through the events.
- I braked just before the spot, but there was no grip in the tyres so our
speed was too high. We could have got away with it if there had been
enough drive, but fourth gear was too big for that and in third gear we
lost in power, so we couldn’t find ground grip and went wide at the
corner. But, this is rallying, any close situation can suddenly turn out to
be fatal.
Long expected win for Peugeot and Grönholm
- five-speed gearbox unbeatable in future?
The three Finnish Peugeot pilots kept on an overwhelming speed in
Jyväskylä. It’s a pity Rovanperä and Lindholm were dropped out of the
top battle in Ruuhimäki and Ouninpohja, for it would have been
interesting to see how they finally would have done.
- It’s a good thing Marcus won, a glad Harri Rovanperä said after hearing
Grönholm had crossed the finish line of the last stage of the rally.
- Our entire team has worked really hard and we have done a lot of
testing, so it really is good that we have some success. It’s much easier
to move on from here and we hope we’ll have the five-speed gearbox in
the following rallies. After that, I do believe it will soon be the turn for
Risto and me to take our first win with the new 307, Rovanperä said.
The next round of World Rally Championship, the ADAC Rally in
Germany, will be competed from August 20th to 22nd. Harri Rovanperä
and Risto Pietiläinen, in their Peugeot number 6, will take their next start
in the Japanese round of WRC, from September 3rd to 5th.
Rally Finland
Final results after stage 22/22
1. Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot 307, 3 h 07´16,1” 122.6 km/h
2. Markko Märtin, Ford, + 00´34,7”
3. Carlos Sainz, Citroen, + 01´44,5”
4. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen, + 02´ 23,3"
5. Janne Tuohino, Ford, + 02´36,7”
6. Jani Paasonen, Skoda, + 04´36,2”
7. Francois Duval, Ford, + 05´ 51,0"
8. Toni Gardemeister, Skoda Fabia WRC +6.03,2
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