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RALLY
NEWS NO.3
Felindre-Friday 2pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER
STAGE 5 Trawscoed
1st (2) Marcus Gronholm/Timo
Rautiainen (Peugeot) 49.02.6
2nd (11) Petter Solberg/Philip
Mills (Subaru) 49.41.1
3rd (6) Markko Martin/Michael
Park (Ford) 49.43.1
4th (4) Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya
(Ford) 49.53.9
5th (3) Harri Rovanpera/Risto
Pietilainen (Peugeot) 50.21.2
6th (10) Tommi Makinen/Kaj
Lindstrom (Subaru) 50.30.6
7th (21) Sebastien Loeb/Daniel
Elena (Xsara) 50.48.3
8th (5) Colin McRae/Derek
Ringer (Ford) 50.48.7
9th (1) Richard Burns/Robert
Reid (Peugeot) 50.57.1
10th (24) Mark Higgins/Bryan
Thomas (Ford) 51.00.5
Just outside leaderboard: 11th
Loix: 12th Kankkunen: 13th
Panizzi: 14th Eriksson: 15th
Gardemeister:
Marcus Gronholm was fastest
through stage 5, Trawscoed;
(stage 4 did not run because of
pressure of spectators).
Petter Solberg was 2nd fastest,
Colin McRae 3rd, so he hasn't
given up the fight. Markko
Martin 4th, Burns 5th, Makinen
and Sainz 6th and 7th.
Although Gronholm was 8s faster
than anyone else through the
16.8 miles of stage, just a
handful of seconds cover the
chasing pack. Richard
Burns reported a small
hydraulic problem in the
transmission towards the end of
that fifth stage, did not
really slow him down, but he
had to resort to normal gear
shift coming into service.
Richard did notice some of
Gronholm's lines through the
stage, and at one point they
went slightly off the road at
the same spot where Richard got
stuck on the previous run
through. Colin McRae's co
driver Derek Ringer said
"We're not holding back,
yes, we're a bit cautious in
some places, but you've got to
push if you want to set a time,
then a little luck is
needed". Solberg's
co driver Phil Mills, taking a
few moments out to hold and
play with his beautiful 10
month old daughter, Sinead,
told us "It was very very
slippy that time, more so than
the first run, like it was
polished".
Stories from earlier include:
Duval's Puma stopped 300 metres
into stage 2 when the fuel
butterfly broke and he did a
great job to fix it and get
going. Martin Rowe's similar
Puma was struggling for grip,
Martin 8th in the Junior
category. Gwyndaf Evans,
5th in the Junior category,
tells us he wants to preserve
the MG, not push too hard
initially. Gwyndaf was held up
when he caught another car.
Niall McShea, 3rd Junior in his
Corsa, said "Just a little
too cautious".
Martin Higgins slightly damaged
his Focus rear suspension
when the car bottomed out after
a jump. Eamonn Boland lost a
minute when he spun his Impreza
into a ditch and got jammed,
little damage. David Higgins
happy enough as he settled into
the Barretts Subaru, but not
enough miles under his belt
yet. Austin MacHale's Corolla
WRC suffered a spin into a
ditch, lost a few seconds,
Austin reckons he needs more
cuts in the tyres to counteract
the mud.
Retirements so far include:
Stephen Harron whose Subaru
understeered into a big open
ditch and caught a pointed rock
that broke the track control
arm. Harron eventually
got a new TCA fitted and drove
out of the stage, but so much
time had elapsed it did not
seem worthwhile to continue.
Three of the spectacular small
Suzukis all went off the road
in stage 2 and retired.
Janni Paasonen is going to have
new transmission fitted here at
service to the works Lancer -
hasn't been tried before on a
rally. Svedlund still leads gpN
from Touring Car Champion James
Thompson, with Johansson 3rd.
Gavin Cox 4th: Nik Elsmore 5th:
In the Junior WRC category
Tuohino in the Citroen leads
from Dallavilla in the similar
Saxo. Niall McShea is 3rd,
Gwyndaf Evans in the MG 4th,
still driving with reserve.
Some interesting placings
outside the top 10 - David
Higgins in the Barretts Subaru
is 25th. Alistair Ginley on his
first Focus WRC run, 27th.
Austin MacHale 29th. Eamonn
Boland 42nd, 2 places behind
Natalie Barratt. Martin
Rowe is 9th in the Juniors with
the Puma, Kris Meeke is further
back, not registered for the
Junior WRC but 6 places behind
Rowe, and 10s ahead of Guy
Wilks. More news later.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
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