Acropolis Rally 2004

[RallyRaider]

Okay, after overdosing on the fluff and spectacle of F1 for the past two weekends the World Rally Championship is back underway.

This year's Acropolis Rally promises to be very confusing because the Super Rally system proposed for next year is partially on trial. Basically retired crews will be able to rejoin on subsequent legs but not score points as of yet. Does that mean they are eligible for Best Times on Special stages?

As usual this year it is likely to be a four-way fight between Loeb, Solberg, Martin and Gronholm. Thanks to his exclusion form Cyprus Marcus gets to take it easy in the back seat on the first day. Could be even more advantageous then normal with the increased restrictions on last minute reconnaissance of the stages. Service has also been restricted even more with only a tyre change allowed instead of the usual first mid-leg service on day two.

[freakray]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

As usual this year it is likely to be a four-way fight between the Loeb, Solberg, Martin and Solberg.

[RallyRaider]

Henning!? Oh hell, I ment Gronholm.

[RallyRaider]

New livery for Martin and Park's Focus.

[freakray]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

Henning!? Oh hell, I ment Gronholm.

I thought so

[RallyRaider]

What is Gilles up to here?

Preparing to put his Lancer out of it's misery?

[ales]

The Focus now looks somewhat better, can't say the same about Panizzi, though

[RallyRaider]

Okay mid rally update. Martin is out, Sola in the second Mitsubishi is out as are Gardemeister and Schwarz in the Skodas. They all retired on the first day and under the new rules are back running today, just for the fun of it

Sainz is still in it for manufacturers points but about 40 minutes behind and tyre testing. Gronholm retired after losing a wheel early on leg 2 this morning. Guess he'll be back tomorrow.

S who does that leave? Well out in front is Solberg who made the most of his Pirellis in the uncharacteristically muddy conditions yesterday. Following him in a tight grouping about a minute behind are Rovanpera, Loeb and Duval. Several minutes back are Panizzi and Hirvonen. Up amongst the points are a couple of privateer 206s in the hands of Stohl and Carlsson.

Solberg seemingly has things in hand but is not really any faster than his pursuers in the dry. Michelin brought a new tyre design to the Acropolis but the front running guys are apparently not using it. Solberg lost some time on SS13 due to fading brakes but that just evened that balance that Harri lost the previous stage when part of the tread came off a tyre. The fastest (or most consistent and reliable) has been Loeb. I suppose Ford will do their normal bit and tell Duval to finish at all costs.

So Solberg has everything in hand thanks to his performance yesterday. It is a nice tussle for second about a minute behind him. However if Petter has a repeat of his brake problems it could become a fight for the lead I'm hoping that with Gronholm out of the picture Peugeot will give Harri all the support he needs to at least keep Seb behind and possibly pressure Solberg.

[RallyRaider]

And finished. Another superb win to Hollywood Solberg, not even a 30 second penalty could stop him. The penalty was for running without mudguards for several stages! Surprised they didn’t exclude him

Behind Petter, Seb Loeb snuck past Harri Rovanpera for second, with Duval way behind in fourth. Also scoring points were a couple of Peugeot 206’s (Calsson and Stohl) and rounding things out a couple of Focii (Tohino and local Vovos).

The DNF coupled with the Cyprus exclusion has badly hurt Gronholm’s championship challenge. Martin as well has fallen behind of Solberg and leader Loeb. Thanks to a double points finish Citroen move ahead of Ford in the constructors championship.

Three weeks 'til the next rally in Turkey!

[ales]

Excellent drive by Petter. Unfortunately, I cannot view the wrc.com website effectively (have flash problems that I just can't solve), but from what I read here and there he also had severe braking problems yesterday, so his win is even more impressive. Solberg for chamionship?

[RallyRaider]

Was only on one stage. He severed a brake line and lost fluid leaving little or no brakes, only cost him 25 seconds to Rovanpera and Loeb. Hirovonen had almost the same problem and lost a couple of minutes on Leg 1 I think. A weakness in the new Impreza for sure, luckily Petter got away with it.

Loeb is still the favourite in my book. Plenty of tarmac to come and the Citroen is strong as a tank.