Cyprus rally? Yes, this weekend.

[Marco_Wrc]

Little short to post a poll.
But anyway, Cyprus this weekend.

My bet is on Grönholm for a change.

Looking forward to this weekend.

[freakray]

I keep hoping Burnsie will give me something to smile about....

I expect to see Markus up there, and a strong run from Carlos again....
Loeb will likely be a contender again and I am sure you will see Markus pushing hard too.....

[RallyRaider]

Originally posted by freakray
I keep hoping Burnsie will give me something to smile about....

In a Colin McRae kind of way I assume

I hope Harri Rovanpera can have some luck for a change and take a long deserved 2nd win. Oh and may Carlos collect a fair swag of points and be leading the championship when the dust has settled.

[ales]

I think Marcus is fired up and ready to resume his winning ways As much as I'd like to see Markko win again, I still Marcus has a better chance in Cyprus. Not sure if Citroen can pull something out of the bag, but I'm sure Guido's hoping

[Guido]

You bet he is! So my money is once again on the "Double Chevrons".

On the other hand, I wish Freddy Loix will have a bit more luck this time. His Huyndai breaks too often too soon. And I'll keep a close eye on Duval as well

[hrmodeler]

I'm for Marko this time. He have good car position and Ford finaly show reliability. I gave up on Burns in high position even I'm his fan. He angry me with his drive, looks that Pug isn't for him.

[RallyRaider]

Yikes! Six stages in and already it is down to a two horse race. So far it has been carnage out there. Solberg and Rovanpera are about two minutes in front of the Citroen pack.

Given the recent gearbox issues with the Peugeot I think Hollywood is in the box seat. Provided he and Phil can keep their cool and the Impreza can stand up to the beating. We know the Citroens can take any pounding Cyprus can offer and will be there to pick up the win should Petter falter.

[ales]

Boy were most of us wrong at predicting this or what?

Just look at the list of retirements. I counted 4 World Champions (+ 1 a future one )

So by the end of stage 12 and day 2, Solberg leads Rovanpera comfortably by 25 seconds and the leading Citroen of Loeb by 2m44. I don't think we'll see anyone pushing hard tomorrow as the gaps between the pont scorers (barring the first two) are measured in minutes.

[Marco_Wrc]

I get to see day 2 tonight on Eurosport, look forward to it.
Solberg in the lead? His hard work pays off.
Fortunately Rovanpera is still in the rally, he needs a good result.

[RallyRaider]

Petter not able to put a rally together? We're talking about Petter Solberg here the one co-driven by Phil Mills. Your obvioulsy thinking of some other guy!

[RallyRaider]

Man you are hard to impress.

The guy has finished dozens of rallies in the points during his short career; finished second in the championship last year; won at WRC level; currently on course for a second win; is constantly showing up a four time WRC; and his services are sought by the top teams in the world.

But what do you reckon? He struggles to string it together Are we to understand you could do everything so much better?

[ales]

Well, he did win the first 3 stages today with 3 more stages to run. And extended the lead to Harri to 47.6 seconds.

[ales]

The final result - Solberg wins by 4:14.0 (!!!!! - Harri had a driveshaft failure) who finished 2.8 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) seconds ahead of Loeb, then McRae and Sainz. Hirvonen, Schvarz, and Ginlay (ok....) round up the point scoring places.

Citroen proved to be the most reliable car by far on this rally, but at the same time - not fast enough. But they are the only team to lose none of the works cars.

Championship standings:

1. Richard BURNS 37 Pts

2. Carlos SAINZ 36 Pts

3. Marcus GRÖNHOLM 30 Pts

4. Petter SOLBERG 29 Pts

5. Sébastien LOEB 23 Pts

6. Markko MÄRTIN 23 Pts

7. Colin MCRAE 23 Pts

8. Harri ROVANPERÄ 16 Pts

9. Tommi MÄKINEN 15 Pts

[RallyRaider]

Originally posted by Tso
as i said, he has run well thus far in Cyprus. very good Petter...

still, he strugles to put and entire rallye together.

May he continue to struggle in such an effective manner. Perhaps Tommi is just being too damn consistent and needs to struggle more too.

[RallyRaider]

Well he is a very attractive man...........































Fiirst guy who tries to pull some inuendo out of that statement which is obviously intended in nothing more than jest will be forced to co-drive for Fracois Delecour should he return to WRC.