RALLY NEWS NO.1                                    Felindre-Wales-Friday  07.30

The ceremonial switching on of Cardiff's Christmas lights synchronised with the rally start last night, but for the drivers it was spotlights foremost in their minds as they prepared to tackle the Cardiff Super Special.  Markko Martin was fastest of the 85 crews on the rally, his Ford Focus stopping the clock 0.6 of a second quicker than the Subaru of Petter Solberg.  Colin McRae was 3rd, Carlos Sainz 4th, Harri Rovanpera 5th  Marcus Gronholm 6th. 

There were no major incidents reported from that short first stage, just over 1.3 miles long.  Richard Burns crunched his Peugeot's rear bumper. Colin McRae's windscreen was cracked from a flying stone.  Mikko Hirvonen's 22 Motorsport prepared Subaru also had bumper damage.  Roman Kresta stalled his Skoda and lost a few seconds.  The times from the Super Special will probably mean little by the end of this long, tough rally, but it's never too soon to start winning. James Thompson was fastest group N car through the test and Gwyndaf Evans in the MG ZR was the leading Junior world rally contender.  One major talking point was the issuing of speeding tickets to 19 of the top drivers who were "snapped" on the road section between the Shakedown test stage and the service area.  Just as well it was pre-event, as the same infringement would incur big penalties on the rally.

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2 Brechfa
1st (2) Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen (Peugeot) 15.33.5
2nd (1) Richard Burns/Robert Reid (Peugeot) 15.35.5
3rd (4) Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya (Ford) 15.44.7
4th (6) Markko Martin/Michael Park (Ford) 15.45.2
5th (11) Petter Solberg/Philip Mills (Subaru) 15.50.0
6th (3) Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen (Peugeot) 15.51.3
7th (24) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford) 16.18.1
8th (18) Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets (Accent) 16.19.0
9th (10) Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom (Subaru) 16.21.6
10th (21) Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Xsara) 16.23.6

The main story from stage 2, Brechfa, is that World Champion Marcus Gronholm was 2s faster than his Peugeot team mate Richard Burns, with Carlos Sainz a further 12s back.  Colin McRae dropped over a minute, his Ford Focus having overshot a junction.  Colin was recorded at the split time as being just .4 of a second down on Gronholm.  We are getting early reports from stage 3 that Richard Burns' Peugeot slid off the road and sustained some damage to a turbo pipe which meant the outgoing World Champion having to complete the stage with a down on power engine. Richard has dropped 1m45s to his team mate Gronholm.  This is starting to look more and more like a one horse race.

Some snippets from stage 2 include: Gronholm saying "We had a big moment on one corner".  Ironically Richard Burn reported "No problems, car very predictable".  Harri Rovanpera reported a small turbo boost problem with his Peugeot.  Tommi Makinen, small spin, cold tyres. Eriksson, seat belts loose. Gardemeister wiper problems. Loeb, spin. More news to follow: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON