Rally New Zealand News and Results

Okay a bit early to be talking about results yet but here are a few news reports before the start of Rally NZ. From World Rally News.

Sainz cops speeding fine

Citroen driver Carlos Sainz has been fined 11,200 US dollars by the Rally of New Zealand stewards for speeding during the recce.

Sainz was caught exceeding the organisers’ 80 km/h limit on three occasions - twice within 25 minutes on April 9 - and the fine was structured accordingly. He was penalised 100 dollars per kilometre per hour for the first offence, when he was doing 100 km/h, 200 dollars per kilometre for the second and 300 dollars per kilometre for the third.

The Spaniard is reckoned to have earned comfortably in excess of 1,000,000 dollars per year for the last decade. He is understood to have paid up without demur.

Dry spell promises gravel-strewn New Zealand

The first few drivers may be badly hampered by gravel on the Rally of New Zealand, as the forecast for the weekend is dry.

Drier conditions were always a distinct possibility in view of the rally’s move to April, but it seems likely that road conditions will play a part in deciding the event, because the first leg - when drivers run in World Championship order - is the driest and therefore the most affected by surface gravel.

“Unfortunately, the first leg’s stages seem to be driest. I hope there will be some rain on Friday,” Ford driver Markko Martin said.

The handicap will be reduced by the fact that all but one of the first-leg stages is repeated, which means that a cleaner line should have emerged for the second loop.

SS4 finished and Gronholm is making the most of his starting position. Marin and Solberg are also flying. Makinen and Rovanpera keeping touch. Not good for the Citroens sweeping the gravel at the front. Burns is going alright considering he is 1st on the road, even topped SS2.

I love the Rally NZ, I'm sitting here following the stage times at work!

1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 39'23"100 104.7 km/h 1 1
2. 4 Martin-Park Ford Focus A8 39'41"500 + 00'18"40 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 39'42"600 + 00'19"50 3 3
4. 3 Rovanpera-Pieti Peugeot 206 A8 39'47"900 + 00'24"80 4 4
5. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 40'02"000 + 00'38"90 5 5
6. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 40'02"500 + 00'39"40 6 6
7. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 40'19"300 + 00'56"20 8 8
8. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 40'19"300 + 00'56"20 7 7
9. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 40'30"000 + 01'06"90 9 9
10. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 40'44"800 + 01'21"70 10 10
11. 17 C.McRae-Ringer Citroen Xsa A8 40'49"600 + 01'26"50 11 11
12. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 40'49"900 + 01'26"80 12 12
13. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 40'57"900 + 01'34"80 13 13
14. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 41'11"600 + 01'48"50 14 14
15. 12 Valimaki-Gardem Hyundai Acc A8 41'12"600 + 01'49"50 15 15
16. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 41'44"400 + 02'21"30 16 16

Ahhh!! Where Possum Bourne?

Originally posted by MattyG
Ahhh!! Where Possum Bourne?

Why leading Group N of course. 20th overall about 3 minutes behind Gronholm.

1. 62 Bourne-Stacey Subaru Impr N4 42'29"000 97.1 km/h 0 0
2. 53 Ferreyros-Marin Mitsubishi N4 42'55"000 + 00'26"00 0 0
3. 52 Sola-Romani Mitsubishi N4 43'01"000 + 00'32"00 0 0
4. 61 Kulig-Baran Mitsubishi N4 43'02"000 + 00'33"00 0 0
5. 51 Singh-Oh Proton Pert N4 43'16"400 + 00'47"40 0 0
6. 65 Blomqvist-Goni Subaru Impr N4 43'23"600 + 00'54"60 0 0
7. 55 Rowe-Agnew Subaru Impr N4 43'28"200 + 00'59"20 0 0
8. 67 Holowczyc-Kurze Mitsubishi N4 44'03"400 + 01'34"40 0 0
9. 64 Roman-Mitakidou Mitsubishi N4 46'18"700 + 03'49"70 0 0

Still plenty of drivers to complete SS4, like Arai.

Thanks for keeping us updated Phil :-)

No trouble Ray, plenty of places to find the results on the net.

Fifth stage for the day and fourth stage win for Marcus and Timo. Apparently the Citroens were having trouble with their windscreens fogging up in the rain earlier. They seem to have it fixed for now as McRae was only 1.5 seconds slower than Marcus on SS5.

Don't know how heavy the rain was, it may have negated some of the disadvantage of the early runners. Next four stages are repeats so we'll get to see who is really fast and who's times are being flattered by road position.

Anyway here are he overall positions for the A8 (WRC) class:

1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 45'41"300 105.5 km/h 1 1
2. 4 Martin-Park Ford Focus A8 46'03"000 + 00'21"70 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 46'03"700 + 00'22"40 3 3
4. 3 Rovanpera-Pieti Peugeot 206 A8 46'13"800 + 00'32"50 4 4
5. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 46'22"400 + 00'41"10 5 5
6. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 46'26"100 + 00'44"80 6 6
7. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 46'44"100 + 01'02"80 8 8
8. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 46'44"100 + 01'02"80 7 7
9. 35 Stohl-Minor Peugeot 206 A8 46'48"100 + 01'06"80 9 9
10. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 47'00"100 + 01'18"80 10 10
11. 33 Sohlberg-Honkan Mitsubishi A8 47'01"700 + 01'20"40 11 11
12. 17 C.McRae-Ringer Citroen Xsa A8 47'09"300 + 01'28"00 12 12
13. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 47'17"900 + 01'36"60 13 13
14. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 47'22"400 + 01'41"10 14 14
15. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 47'34"300 + 01'53"00 15 15
16. 12 Valimaki-Gardem Hyundai Acc A8 47'52"900 + 02'11"60 16 16
17. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 47'58"000 + 02'16"70 17 17
18. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 48'24"600 + 02'43"30 18 18
19. 34 Kuchar-Szczepan Ford Focus A8 49'00"400 + 03'19"10 19 19

Group N - Bourne had a shocker, lost almost 40 seconds to Ari. Trying to find out what happened to Cody Crocker, he's setting some great times but doesn't seem to be included in the overall standings :confused:

1. 54 Arai-Sircombe Subaru Impr N4 49'19"800 97.8 km/h 0 0
2. 58 Ligato-Garcia Mitsubishi N4 49'39"100 + 00'19"30 0 0
3. 53 Ferreyros-Marin Mitsubishi N4 49'45"700 + 00'25"90 0 0
4. 61 Kulig-Baran Mitsubishi N4 49'52"100 + 00'32"30 0 0
5. 62 Bourne-Stacey Subaru Impr N4 49'56"300 + 00'36"50 0 0
6. 52 Sola-Romani Mitsubishi N4 49'56"500 + 00'36"70 0 0
7. 51 Singh-Oh Proton Pert N4 50'16"600 + 00'56"80 0 0
8. 65 Blomqvist-Goni Subaru Impr N4 50'19"100 + 00'59"30 0 0
9. 55 Rowe-Agnew Subaru Impr N4 50'24"100 + 01'04"30 0 0
10. 57 Manfrinato-Cond Mitsubishi N4 50'35"800 + 01'16"00 0 0
11. 67 Holowczyc-Kurze Mitsubishi N4 51'08"200 + 01'48"40 0 0
12. 74 Frisiero-Roggia Mitsubishi N4 53'05"300 + 03'45"50 0 0
13. 77 De Dominicis-Be Mitsubishi N4 53'13"200 + 03'53"40 0 0
14. 64 Roman-Mitakidou Mitsubishi N4 53'47"600 + 04'27"80 0 0
15. 72 Aur-Berghea Mitsubishi N4 54'55"100 + 05'35"30 0 0
16. 80 Trivino-Barrabe Mitsubishi N4 55'27"600 + 06'07"80 0 0
17. 71 Geradzhiev-Popo Mitsubishi N4 55'33"200 + 06'13"40 0 0
18. 70 Errani-Casado Mitsubishi N4 1h00'59"600 + 11'39"80 0 0

Okay think I've figured it out - Crocker is actually first in Group N (before SS5). However his isn't entered in the Production Car World Championship, so therfore doesn't appear in that overall standing.

Also the rain has been quite heavy since SS2 so there is no disadvantage to running first on the road. In fact the mud and water are making things difficult for the later runners like Rovanpera.

Biggest news from SS6 is the demise of Colin McRae's Rally New Zealand hopes with accident damage. Marcus continues to stretch his lead, should be taking half a minute into Leg 2 if he keeps this up. Ford are definitely on the right track with the new Focus, Markko is handling it very well.

1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 56'14"300 106.9 km/h 1 1
2. 4 Martin-Park Ford Focus A8 56'38"900 + 00'24"60 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 56'45"200 + 00'30"90 3 3
4. 3 Rovanpera-Pieti Peugeot 206 A8 56'51"300 + 00'37"00 4 4
5. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 57'03"600 + 00'49"30 5 5
6. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 57'12"000 + 00'57"70 6 6
7. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 57'25"500 + 01'11"20 7 7
8. 35 Stohl-Minor Peugeot 206 A8 57'31"900 + 01'17"60 8 8
9. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 57'37"700 + 01'23"40 9 9
10. 33 Sohlberg-Honkan Mitsubishi A8 57'46"800 + 01'32"50 10 10
11. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 57'49"500 + 01'35"20 11 11
12. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 58'11"900 + 01'57"60 12 12
13. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 58'15"200 + 02'00"90 13 13
14. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 58'34"000 + 02'19"70 14 14
15. 12 Valimaki-Gardem Hyundai Acc A8 58'49"300 + 02'35"00 15 15
16. 17 C.McRae-Ringer Citroen Xsa A8 58'51"600 + 02'37"30 16 16
17. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 58'55"200 + 02'40"90 17 17
18. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 59'24"900 + 03'10"60 18 18
19. 34 Kuchar-Szczepan Ford Focus A8 1h00'15"300 + 04'01"00 19 19

End of leg one and Marcus is once again in complete control of the rally. Good day for Peugeot, taking all 9 top stage times, 2 for Burns and 7 for Marcus :eek: Not such a good day for the Citroens who are only visiting NZ for the first time. And poor old Alister McRae has not been enjoying himself in the first appearance of a works Mitsubishi on stage this year.

Here are the standings of the Manufacturer teams, still a few privateers to finish, notably Stohl in a 206 and Sohlberg in a Mitsubishi.


1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 1h18'25"500 106.4 km/h 1 1
2. 4 Martin-Park Ford Focus A8 1h19'03"600 + 00'38"10 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 1h19'09"100 + 00'43"60 3 3
4. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 1h19'20"500 + 00'55"00 4 4
5. 3 Rovanpera-Pieti Peugeot 206 A8 1h19'29"100 + 01'03"60 5 5
6. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 1h19'51"700 + 01'26"20 6 6
7. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 1h19'54"900 + 01'29"40 7 7
8. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 1h20'12"700 + 01'47"20 8 8
9. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 1h20'37"400 + 02'11"90 9 9
10. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 1h21'05"900 + 02'40"40 10 10
11. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 1h21'15"000 + 02'49"50 11 11
12. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 1h21'51"300 + 03'25"80 12 12
13. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 1h22'30"600 + 04'05"10 13 13
14. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 1h22'40"300 + 04'14"80 14 14

All going swimmingly so far, back for more tomorrow!

There's Gronholm, and there's everybody else. At least Markko isn't doing too bad at all, but the gap is just humongous! :eek:

Gronholm is going great! But to finish first, you firs have to finish off course. Keep an eye on Loeb. He's recovering very well from the time he lost at the beginning. He's :edited by huudo: second six now and top three must be possible.

Thanks Phill for the updates. Avoids me to go looking on all different sites!

Originally posted by huudo
Keep an eye on Loeb. He's recovering very well from the time he lost at the beginning. He's second now...

wishful thinking, Guido! ;)

Originally posted by ales


wishful thinking, Guido! ;)

of course Alex, he's not second but sixth :rolleyes: just edited my previous post ;)

Originally posted by RallyRaider
Okay a bit early to be talking about results yet but here are a few news reports before the start of Rally NZ. From World Rally News.

Sainz cops speeding fine

Citroen driver Carlos Sainz has been fined 11,200 US dollars by the Rally of New Zealand stewards for speeding during the recce.

Sainz was caught exceeding the organisers’ 80 km/h limit on three occasions - twice within 25 minutes on April 9 - and the fine was structured accordingly. He was penalised 100 dollars per kilometre per hour for the first offence, when he was doing 100 km/h, 200 dollars per kilometre for the second and 300 dollars per kilometre for the third.

The Spaniard is reckoned to have earned comfortably in excess of 1,000,000 dollars per year for the last decade. He is understood to have paid up without demur.



:hehehe: :hehehe:

Day two and two more stages run and won. SS10 was a Peugeot benifit, Marcus winning and Burns and Rovanpera second and third. Gronholm pulled out a further 24 seconds on Markko to lead by a minute. Burns moved ahead of Petter Solberg to take third.

On SS11 Markko took the first stage win for the new Focus, by less than a second to Gronholm, who will probably just follow Martin and Burns pace from now on. By taking the stage win Markko sent a message to Burns that he's not going to give up second easily. Quite a battle taking place for 2nd through 5th, we're sure to see some changes happen there.

Retirements are Possum Bourne who had engine trouble yesterday. Carlos Sainz is still running but lost almost 15 minutes in SS10.

Three proper stages left to run today, followed by two short Super Special Stages tonight.

1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 2h01'49"700 107.5 km/h 1 1
2. 4 Martin-Park Ford Focus A8 2h02'51"400 + 01'01"70 2 2
3. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 2h03'05"600 + 01'15"90 3 3
4. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 2h03'21"600 + 01'31"90 4 4
5. 3 Rovanpera-Pieti Peugeot 206 A8 2h03'22"700 + 01'33"00 5 5
6. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 2h04'07"800 + 02'18"10 6 6
7. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 2h04'58"800 + 03'09"10 7 7
8. 33 Sohlberg-Honkan Mitsubishi A8 2h05'54"500 + 04'04"80 8 8
9. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 2h06'17"600 + 04'27"90 9 9
10. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 2h06'35"800 + 04'46"10 10 10
11. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 2h07'01"800 + 05'12"10 11 11
12. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 2h08'09"900 + 06'20"20 12 12
13. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 2h08'42"900 + 06'53"20 13 13
14. 34 Kuchar-Szczepan Ford Focus A8 2h09'22"400 + 07'32"70 14 14
15. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 2h09'32"500 + 07'42"80 15 15
16.105 Crocker-Foletta Subaru Impr N4 2h12'05"200 + 10'15"50 1 1
17.101 Herbert-Ryan Subaru Impr A8 2h12'11"600 + 10'21"90 16 16
18. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 2h17'53"300 + 16'03"60 17 17

SS12 and another best time for Martin and Ford, Gronholm again less than a second behind. Markko is very slowly restablishing his gap back to Burns. Rovanpera also put a few seconds on Solberg to move into fourth overall.

Plenty of action on SS13 and 14. First of all Marcus rolled on SS13! However he seems to be able to continue, lost about 40 seconds but still kept his reduced lead. Martin set best time again.

SS14 and all is not well in the Ford camp, Martin has stopped on stage with an engine problem. Hari Rovanpera has also retired, presumably an accident. Despite his roll on the previous stage Gronholm somehow managed to set fastest time yet again.

All this is good news for Loeb who moves into 4th. Alister McRae also moves into the points in his Lancer, his team mate Sohlberg who had been leading McRae the whole rally also retired.

That is pretty much it for the day, only the two short super specials to run. And hopefully there is a nice long service to straighten out the number one Peugeot!

1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 2h39'16"200 107.5 km/h 1 1
2. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 2h40'18"700 + 01'02"50 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 2h41'09"000 + 01'52"80 3 3
4. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 2h41'35"400 + 02'19"20 4 4
5. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 2h42'45"900 + 03'29"70 5 5
6. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 2h45'15"300 + 05'59"10 6 6
7. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 2h45'49"100 + 06'32"90 7 7
8. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 2h45'50"700 + 06'34"50 8 8
9. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 2h47'04"200 + 07'48"00 9 9
10. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 2h47'36"700 + 08'20"50 10 10
11. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 2h49'20"200 + 10'04"00 11 11
12. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 2h55'38"500 + 16'22"30 12 12

:cry:

He had a chance!!! He was in with a chance! :(

The silver lining: he didn't crash out, he was very fast today, and it gives me hope for Markko's first win.

Alex

Yes, Markko and the new Focus have signaled their intentions! Early days yet but it will be very interesting if Ford can regularly be in the fight for wins. All we need is Subaru to up their game a bit and there will be four manufactures with a chance of victory at each round.

End of Leg two reveals an unusually high attrition rate for Rally New Zealand. Biggest news of the evening is Tommi Makinen’s five-minute penalty for some traffic infringements. Allegedly he was caught speeding and refused to stop, when flagged down. Can you imagine what might have happened if a full fledged car chase had ensued!

That drops Tommi down to 9th just out of the points. Very large distribution, Only close battle is Alister McRae and Toni Gardemeister for 6th. If Alister McRae can hang on he'll beat his point score from the whole of last season on just one event! Loeb is inching up on Solberg for third, but Petter has in excess of 30 seconds, as well as much more knowledge of the event over Loeb.

Quite a long 3rd Leg tomorrow 6 stages of which two are decently long, so anything could still happen!


1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 2h42'43"700 106.7 km/h 1 1
2. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 2h43'44"600 + 01'00"90 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 2h44'34"400 + 01'50"70 3 3
4. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 2h45'07"400 + 02'23"70 4 4
5. 11 Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc A8 2h48'35"300 + 05'51"60 5 5
6. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 2h49'12"500 + 06'28"80 6 6
7. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 2h49'17"200 + 06'33"50 7 7
8. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 2h50'29"400 + 07'45"70 8 8
9. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 2h51'06"500 + 08'22"80 9 9
10. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 2h51'22"900 + 08'39"20 10 10
11. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 2h52'44"400 + 10'00"70 11 11
12. 54 Arai-Sircombe Subaru Impr N4 2h55'52"900 + 13'09"20 1 1
13.105 Crocker-Foletta Subaru Impr N4 2h56'07"200 + 13'23"50 2 2
14.102 Argyle-Smith Mitsubishi A8 2h56'12"800 + 13'29"10 12 12
15.101 Herbert-Ryan Subaru Impr A8 2h56'47"100 + 14'03"40 13 13
16. 58 Ligato-Garcia Mitsubishi N4 2h57'08"500 + 14'24"80 3 3
17. 66 Al Wahaibi-Beec Mitsubishi N4 2h57'39"700 + 14'56"00 4 4
18. 20 Warmbold-Price Ford Focus A8 2h57'56"900 + 15'13"20 14 14
19. 53 Ferreyros-Marin Mitsubishi N4 2h58'01"600 + 15'17"90 5 5
20. 55 Rowe-Agnew Subaru Impr N4 2h58'24"900 + 15'41"20 6 6
21. 51 Singh-Oh Proton Pert N4 2h58'50"500 + 16'06"80 7 7
22. 60 McShea-Patterso Mitsubishi N4 2h58'57"600 + 16'13"90 8 8
23. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 2h59'01"100 + 16'17"40 15 15
24. 65 Blomqvist-Goni Subaru Impr N4 3h00'18"100 + 17'34"40 9 9
25.103 Mason-Fenemor Mitsubishi A8 3h01'38"700 + 18'55"00 16 16
26. 57 Manfrinato-Cond Mitsubishi N4 3h02'48"800 + 20'05"10 10 10
27.121 Lagemann-Orr Subaru Impr N4 3h04'16"800 + 21'33"10 11 11
28.124 Stewart-Fletche Mitsubishi A8 3h04'56"500 + 22'12"80 17 17
29.113 Stokes-O'Hagen Mitsubishi A8 3h05'48"500 + 23'04"80 18 18
30.107 West-Cobham Subaru Impr N4 3h07'55"000 + 25'11"30 12 12
31. 74 Frisiero-Roggia Mitsubishi N4 3h07'55"100 + 25'11"40 13 13
32. 80 Trivino-Barrabe Mitsubishi N4 3h09'05"600 + 26'21"90 14 14
33. 64 Roman-Mitakidou Mitsubishi N4 3h09'39"600 + 26'55"90 15 15
34.131 Thompson-Gentle Subaru Impr N4 3h10'29"300 + 27'45"60 16 16
35.120 Ayling-Kenny Subaru Impr A8 3h10'39"900 + 27'56"20 19 19
36.115 Gray-Whitburn Mitsubishi N4 3h10'41"700 + 27'58"00 17 17
37. 77 De Dominicis-Be Mitsubishi N4 3h11'47"900 + 29'04"20 18 18
38. 71 Geradzhiev-Popo Mitsubishi N4 3h13'50"300 + 31'06"60 19 19
39.111 Tapper-Judd Mitsubishi A8 3h15'51"400 + 33'07"70 20 20
40.138 Hibbert Warburt Subaru Impr A8 3h17'57"000 + 35'13"30 21 21
41. 33 Sohlberg-Honkan Mitsubishi A8 3h18'22"700 + 35'39"00 22 22
42.132 Turner-Warringt Mitsubishi N4 3h20'33"900 + 37'50"20 20 20
43.126 Terao-Tokunou Subaru Impr N4 3h20'40"700 + 37'57"00 21 21
44. 70 Errani-Casado Mitsubishi N4 3h25'26"200 + 42'42"50 22 22
45.130 Minamino-Fintof Mitsubishi N4 3h26'23"000 + 43'39"30 23 23
46.133 Lewis-Ramsay Mitsubishi N4 3h27'40"700 + 44'57"00 24 24
47.129 Martin-Atkinson Mitsubishi A8 3h27'45"100 + 45'01"40 23 23
48.128 Giltrap-Marra Subaru Impr N4 3h27'51"500 + 45'07"80 25 25
49.137 Ito-Roberts Subaru Impr A8 3h29'12"900 + 46'29"20 24 24
50.141 Mizuno-Santo Daihatsu Ch A6 3h33'39"900 + 50'56"20 25 1
51. 52 Sola-Romani Mitsubishi N4 3h39'02"900 + 56'19"20 26 26
52.140 Sugiyama-Kagawa Mitsubishi N4 3h46'02"300 + 1h03'18" 27 27

SS17 ran smoothly for the front runners, Gronholm taking the honours, extending his lead over Burns. Solberg also improving his gap to Loeb.

Plenty of drama on SS18 by comparison. Freddy Loix had an off road excursion and retired from a healthy fifth position. Loeb is having some kind of gearbox trouble and dropped a minute to Petter. Don’t know if the problem is fixable or may prove terminal on subsequent stages. Anyway at the top burns just pipped Gronholm for the stage win but with only four stages to go, Burns has well over a minute to make up. Ain't going to go that at half second at a time.


1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 3h16'16"600 106.8 km/h 1 1
2. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 3h17'30"100 + 01'13"50 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 3h18'13"700 + 01'57"10 3 3
4. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 3h20'08"400 + 03'51"80 4 4
5. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 3h23'53"100 + 07'36"50 5 5
6. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 3h24'19"000 + 08'02"40 6 6
7. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 3h25'11"800 + 08'55"20 7 7
8. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 3h25'41"500 + 09'24"90 8 8
9. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 3h26'35"300 + 10'18"70 9 9
10. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 3h28'23"300 + 12'06"70 10 10
11. 54 Arai-Sircombe Subaru Impr N4 3h32'08"400 + 15'51"80 1 1
12.102 Argyle-Smith Mitsubishi A8 3h32'14"000 + 15'57"40 11 11
13.101 Herbert-Ryan Subaru Impr A8 3h32'35"600 + 16'19"00 12 12
14.105 Crocker-Foletta Subaru Impr N4 3h32'43"100 + 16'26"50 2 2
15. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 3h33'43"300 + 17'26"70 13 13
16. 58 Ligato-Garcia Mitsubishi N4 3h33'49"400 + 17'32"80 3 3
17. 20 Warmbold-Price Ford Focus A8 3h34'22"800 + 18'06"20 14 14
18. 53 Ferreyros-Marin Mitsubishi N4 3h34'24"600 + 18'08"00 4 4
19. 55 Rowe-Agnew Subaru Impr N4 3h34'25"000 + 18'08"40 5 5
20. 66 Al Wahaibi-Beec Mitsubishi N4 3h34'27"700 + 18'11"10 6 6
21. 51 Singh-Oh Proton Pert N4 3h35'09"900 + 18'53"30 7 7
22. 60 McShea-Patterso Mitsubishi N4 3h36'18"600 + 20'02"00 8 8
23.103 Mason-Fenemor Mitsubishi A8 3h37'53"200 + 21'36"60 15 15
24. 65 Blomqvist-Goni Subaru Impr N4 3h41'32"800 + 25'16"20 9 9
25. 57 Manfrinato-Cond Mitsubishi N4 3h41'50"500 + 25'33"90 10 10
26.121 Lagemann-Orr Subaru Impr N4 3h42'01"100 + 25'44"50 11 11
27.113 Stokes-O'Hagen Mitsubishi A8 3h42'12"100 + 25'55"50 16 16
28.124 Stewart-Fletche Mitsubishi A8 3h42'18"100 + 26'01"50 17 17
29.107 West-Cobham Subaru Impr N4 3h44'42"200 + 28'25"60 12 12
30. 74 Frisiero-Roggia Mitsubishi N4 3h46'04"700 + 29'48"10 13 13
31. 80 Trivino-Barrabe Mitsubishi N4 3h47'15"400 + 30'58"80 14 14
32. 64 Roman-Mitakidou Mitsubishi N4 3h48'28"300 + 32'11"70 15 15
33.115 Gray-Whitburn Mitsubishi N4 3h48'47"200 + 32'30"60 16 16
34.131 Thompson-Gentle Subaru Impr N4 3h49'10"200 + 32'53"60 17 17
35. 77 De Dominicis-Be Mitsubishi N4 3h49'23"100 + 33'06"50 18 18
36.111 Tapper-Judd Mitsubishi A8 3h53'24"000 + 37'07"40 18 18
37. 71 Geradzhiev-Popo Mitsubishi N4 3h53'27"400 + 37'10"80 19 19
38.138 Hibbert Warburt Subaru Impr A8 3h57'47"700 + 41'31"10 19 19
39.126 Terao-Tokunou Subaru Impr N4 4h00'40"800 + 44'24"20 20 20
40.132 Turner-Warringt Mitsubishi N4 4h01'08"800 + 44'52"20 21 21
41.130 Minamino-Fintof Mitsubishi N4 4h07'21"100 + 51'04"50 22 22
42.133 Lewis-Ramsay Mitsubishi N4 4h08'12"200 + 51'55"60 23 23
43.129 Martin-Atkinson Mitsubishi A8 4h08'47"600 + 52'31"00 20 20
44.128 Giltrap-Marra Subaru Impr N4 4h09'49"900 + 53'33"30 24 24
45.137 Ito-Roberts Subaru Impr A8 4h11'24"100 + 55'07"50 21 21
46. 52 Sola-Romani Mitsubishi N4 4h14'55"400 + 58'38"80 25 25
47.141 Mizuno-Santo Daihatsu Ch A6 4h15'17"700 + 59'01"10 22 1

The 2003 Rally New Zealand has now been run and win by Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen :D their third victory there in four years.

Rest of the points scoring positions panned out as below, only late change was Auriol losing out to Makinen on the last stage with a turbo problem.

1. 1 Gronholm-Rautia Peugeot 206 A8 3h45'21"200 107.4 km/h 1 1
2. 2 Burns-Reid Peugeot 206 A8 3h46'29"900 + 01'08"70 2 2
3. 7 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr A8 3h47'31"000 + 02'09"80 3 3
4. 18 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa A8 3h49'36"600 + 04'15"40 4 4
5. 15 Gardemeister-Lu Skoda Octav A8 3h53'35"000 + 08'13"80 5 5
6. 32 A.McRae-Senior Mitsubishi A8 3h54'35"400 + 09'14"20 6 6
7. 8 Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr A8 3h55'11"400 + 09'50"20 7 7
8. 14 Auriol-Giraudet Skoda Octav A8 3h55'29"800 + 10'08"60 8 8
9. 5 Duval-Prevot Ford Focus A8 3h56'32"900 + 11'11"70 9 9
10. 6 Hirvonen-Lehtin Ford Focus A8 3h58'56"300 + 13'35"10 10 10
11. 19 Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa A8 4h03'34"400 + 18'13"20 11 11
12.102 Argyle-Smith Mitsubishi A8 4h03'46"600 + 18'25"40 12 12
13.105 Crocker-Foletta Subaru Impr N4 4h05'36"100 + 20'14"90 1 1

Thanks to the new points scoring system Richard Burns still leads the Drivers Championship, despite not having won a rally yet. Gronholm moves into second in front of the trio of Citroen drivers. A shame Markko's engine let him down, would have made the points table much more interesting if he'd held on to second IMHO.

Burns 26
Gronholm 20
Loeb 17
McRae 17
Sainz 16
Martin 13
Makinen 11
Solberg 9
Duval 8
Gardemeister 7
Panizzi 4
Robert 3
McRae 3
Schwarz 1
Auriol 1

In the Makes Championship the 1-2 result moves Peugeot into the lead for the first time this year. Skoda are doing well, can't wait till the new Felicia hits the stages.

Peugeot 49
Citroen 44
Ford 26
Subaru 22
Skoda 12
Hyundai 3

Quite an evenful rally! And Marcus is one lucky Gronholm! :D After his adventures on ss13 he still managed to win it ... by over a minute. Pure class! :eek:

Saw the in-car from Gronholm's incident. Calling it a roll is a bit much, it was only about a quarter roll, over onto the co-drivers side. Only damage was probably losing a wing mirror.

Also liked the way Marcus creamed Burns on the first stage today then timed his runs to perfection within a second of Burn's time. Left Richard in no doubt who was in control of the situation!

Marcus Gronholm now as a caree total of 14 wins moving him into equal tenth (with Walter Rohl no less!) on the all time standings. Pretty awesome considering he has collected all those wins in slightly over three years. At that rate it may not be long before he is nipping at the heels of a certain wee Scott for top honours :eek:

Rally Victories per Driver:

01 Colin McRAE British 25
-- Carlos SAINZ Spanish 25
03 Tommi MAKINEN Finnish 24
04 Juha KANKKUNEN Finnish 23
05 Didier AURIOL French 20
06 Markku ALEN Finnish 19
07 Hannu MIKOLA Finnish 18
08 Massimo BIASION Italian 17
09 Bjorn WALDEGAARD Swedish 16
10 Walter ROHRL German 14
-- Marcus GRONHOLM Finnish 14
12 Timo SALONEN Finnish 11
-- Stig BLOMQVIST Swedish 11
14 Richard BURNS British 10
-- Ari VATANEN Finnish 10
16 Bernard DARNICHE French 07
-- Sandro MUNARI Italian 07
18 Kenneth ERIKSSON Swedish 06
-- Gilles PANIZZI French 06
20 Shekhar MEHTA Kenyan 05
-- Jean-Pierre NICOLAS French 05
-- Jean-Luc THERIER French 05
23 Michèle MOUTON French 04
-- François DELECOUR French 04
25 Jean-Claude ANDRUET French 03
-- Henri TOIVONEN Finnish 03
-- Timo MAKINEN Finnish 03
-- Jean RAGNOTTI French 03
29 Ingvar CARLSSON Swedish 02
-- Michael ERICSSON Swedish 02
-- Bruno SABY French 02
-- Joginder SINGH Kenyan 02
-- Achim WARMBOLD German 02
-- Kenjiro SHINOZUKA Japanese 02
-- Mats JONSSON Swedish 02
-- Philippe BUGALSKI French 02
-- Sébastien LOEB French 02
38 Harri ROVANPERA Finnish 01
-- Andrea AGHINI Italian 01
-- Pentti AIRIKKALA Finnish 01
-- Piero LIATTI Italian 01
-- Alain AMBROSINO French 01
-- Ove ANDERSSON Swedish 01
-- Fulvio BACCHELI Italian 01
-- Bernard BEGUIN French 01
-- Walter BOYCE Canadian 01
-- Roger CLARK British 01
-- Per EKLUND Swedish 01
-- Tony FASSINA Italian 01
-- Guy FREQUELIN French 01
-- Sepp HAIDER Austrian 01
-- Keysti HAMALAINEN Finnish 01
-- Anders KULLANG Swedish 01
-- Harry KALLSTROM Swedish 01
-- Joaquim MOUTINHO Portugese 01
-- Alain OREILLE French 01
-- Jorge RECALDE Argentinian 01
-- Armin SCHWARZ German 01
-- Patrick TAUZIAC French 01
-- Frenchnz WITTMANN Austrian 01
-- Giancarlo CUNICO Italian 01
-- Raffaele PINTO Italian 01
-- Jesus PURAS Spanish 01
-- Petter SOLBERG Norway 01

An interesting rally indeed. Deserved win for Marcus and lucky enough Loeb kept his fourth. A shame again for Freddy Loix. When will he ever be able to finish a rally without going off. :eek:

What an event it was. Again, much surprising things happened. Makes it attractive for the viewer.

But, some things just shouldn't have happened like:
Loix getting off the road (he seems to be like our Jos Verstappen, also has problems finishing a race:))
Rovanperra having a really hard time in a crash, he doesn't deserve this.

Nice to see the skoda's doing a good rally.

Originally posted by Marco_Wrc
Rovanperra having a really hard time in a crash, he doesn't deserve this.

I think Harri should have had an extra cup of coffe before starting the stage. The TV footage showed him yawning away mid-stage, seconds before crashing into the trees. Looks like he wasn't quite awake!

An encouraging performance from Markko, it was good to see the Focus getting the stage wins even if it did drop out later :rolleyes: It all bodes well for some close fights in the upcoming events.

Gronholm drove superbly- apart from his unfortunate rolloever incedent- NZ is his really where this guy shines- a shame about Bournes engine troubles though :(