RALLY NEWS NO.7                  Saturday - Sennybridge -  2pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 10 Halfway
1st (6) Markko Martin/Michael Park (Ford) 1.54.13.1
2nd (11) Petter Solberg/Philip Mills (Subaru) 1.54.16.6
3rd (4) Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya (Ford) 1.54.29.8
4th (1) Richard Burns/Robert Reid (Peugeot) 1.55.05.2
5th (3) Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen (Peugeot) 1.55.38.0
6th (5) Colin McRae/Derek Ringer (Ford) 1.55.42.8
7th (10) Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom (Subaru) 1.55.45.7
8th (21) Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Xsara) 1.56.10.2
9th (24) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford) 1.56.57.7
10th (18) Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets (Accent) 1.57.10.4
11th Kankkunen 12th Gardemeister 13th Panizzi

This stage 10, Halfway, will go down in the annals of the rally as one of the most dramatic ever.  Marcus Gronholm who had led the rally so convincingly from stage 2 crashed his Peugeot very heavily on a tightening right hander over a crest. Janni Paasonen crashed his Lancer in the same spot. Tomaz Kuchar crashed his Toyota there and Delecour crashed his Lancer 2kms further down the stage.  Happily there are no reports of any serious injuries although Paasonen has been airlifted to hospital as a precaution after complaining of a sore neck.

Other stories include - Harri Rovanpera going slowly through the stage with his hazard lights on, a wonky rear left wheel bearing causing the wheel to move and damage the brakes. At least 6 of the top cars had damaged windscreens from a branch sticking out on a flat out corner on the previous stage.  Main story is of course the accidents.

Petter Solberg had been fastest through stage 9, 3s faster than Gronholm and this was reflected on the few comments that Gronholm made after the accident when he said "I had a problem with the hydraulic pressure on the previous stage,  and the gear shift and the LED were not working well.  Basically I was too fast and hit the jump too hard." Janni Paasonen said "I was being waved down by spectators and it upset my concentration".  Austin MacHale stopped briefly to check that his fellow Corolla WRC pilot Kuchar was OK. 

When Petter Solberg came into service he commented on hearing the news "Now it will get exciting, I had a good run over those stages, maybe too soft a compound Pirelli and the right rear shock absorber/bump stop caused us a big moment over the jumps. Where the accident happened I have caution in notes, to keep very right, but I also hit bank on outside".  Richard Burns said that he felt before the rally that it was wrong to use this section, that on gravel tyres on the smooth tarmac, and with mud pulled out, it would be like ice, and it was. Colin McRae on the other hand thought, yes, it was slippy and he had to be careful on the braking, but it was still good fun, and there were a lot more dangerous places in the world championship. On the subject of the broken windscreens - that was also on a right hand corner, but in the previous stage where the drivers could cut into the ditch. The branch that looked fairly innocent caused a lot of damage and Carlos Sainz for example found it difficult to drive after the screen broke, and in fact he overshot one junction.  News of another retirement is that Armin Schwarz did not resume following the stage 8 fire in the back of his Hyundai.  Only 13 times from stage 10. Burns was fastest from Loeb, Solberg 3rd fastest, McRae 4th. Martin 5th, Sainz 6th, just a handful of seconds between them.  Looking back to stage 9 Sola, Tuohino and Baldicci in their Citroens are the top 3 in the Junior WRC. Basso is 4th in his Fiat, McShea (Opel) 5th and Gwyndaf Evans 6th in the MG.  More news later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON (with thanks to Carlan from TripleC. Gerry Williams. Ciara Conlon)