RallyKid
02-11-2001, 11:53 PM
Sunday 11th February
Harri Rovanpera secured his first World Rally Championship victory by
winning the International Swedish Rally. Rovanpera eventually
won by 27 seconds from Thomas Radstrom after Tommi Makinen rolled
2.7km in the final stage.
In previous days, running at the head of field had been a penalty
as the following cars benefited from 'cleaner' roads. But with the
snow falling for the most of today all was equal and Rovanpera
stayed in the front. His choice of tyres, with longer studs than his
rivals also proved to be correct.
"It was my first World Championship victory and it's fantastic. We
just take it step by step. The last three or four years have been
quite difficult. But last year I had two good chances with Toyota
and now we will see. After the first leg I had the feeling we could
win" said Rovanpera.
PEUGEOT
Despite the success of Rovanpera, Peugeot had not registered him as
eliglible for Manufacturers points. So Peugeot remain on zero
manufacturers points, while Rovanpera holds equal lead in the Drivers
championship!
Didier Auriol who is still suffering from bronchitis, retired today
after the transmission failed in his 206.
Harri Rovanpera: "The car has been fantastic with virtually no
problems at all, and even though I'm still learning more about it
on every stage I already know it's the best car I've ever driven.
I can't wait for Portugal now - I was strong there last year and I
think we can do even better this time."
MITSUBISHI
It went from a great result for Mitsubishi to a good result. 2.7km into
the final stage and just 20km from securing 2nd position Tommi
Makinen rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer out of the rally. Promoted to
second though was team mate Thomas Radstrom which was certainly one
of the best drives of the event. Radstrom has drafted into the team
for this event only and secured valuable manufacturers points.
Mitsubishi now have a solid lead in the Manufacturers championship.
Freddy Loix climbed into 13th position today gaining experience but
little else.
Tommi Makinen said "The tyre choice was very good, we were very happy
with that, but we simply made a mistake and went off the road. It
was quite a fast section and the car was completely off in a snowbank,
there was no way to recover. Very disappointing, obviously".
Thomas Radstom said "The last stage was the most difficult one I’ve
ever done on this rally. It was like an ice-hockey rink in parts.
The car was all over the place, it was so slippery. Then, when we
passed Tommi and saw him off the road, I knew we absolutely had to
get the points for the team. The pressure was on, I was anxious
not to get passed by Carlos and I was shaking like a leaf the whole
stage!"
FORD
Second place for Sainz secures his equal lead in the Drivers
Championship. He spent the day battling the Thomas Radstrom for
third and fourth positions and was just 4.2 seconds behind Radstrom
heading into the final stage. Sainz couldn't quite catch him
but was more than happy with the final result.
François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup also finished fifth and
Colin McRae and Nicky Grist completed a superb fightback from
their first day accident to finish ninth and claim
two manufacturers’ points. Ford was the only team with both
nominated drivers in the points to retain second in the series.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said "We tried very hard to catch Thomas in
the last stage but conditions were very tricky with snow lying on
top of icy ruts. It’s encouraging to come away at the top of the
championship after the two most unpredictable rallies of the series
and we must now capitalise on that start."
Colin McRae said "After losing so much time on the first day and
having to come from so far back, it’s quite satisfying to score
points for the team. That was my only target. It was an exciting
rally and during our run of fastest times, the feeling was fantastic."
SUBARU
Despite not being in contention for outright victory, Richard Burns
completely dominated todays stages, winning every one of them. Team
mate Markko Martin was also fast, setting several top 3 stage times
and was the only driver to challenge Burns.
Richard Burns: "But we have made good use of the time – yesterday
we worked on some settings, but today we just went at it hard to
see what we could achieve."
Petter Solberg: "I know I can drive fast, but for me this has been
the hardest rally ever. I just had to make sure that I finished the
job for the team, and as an extra prize, I won a point too. It
started so badly here, but the rally just got better and better"
Markko Martin: "I was taking it reasonably easy today, and I was
really surprised to see that except for Richard we were often the
quickest car. After our difficulties on the first day, the rally
has just got better and better for us, and it is great to get the
car home."
HYUNDAI
In the final event for the first generation Hyundia Accent, Kenneth
Eriksson was lucky to retain 8th postion and 3 manufacturers points.
Eriksson was on maximum attack all day trying to keep Colin McRae
behind him - and with speed and a jammed gearbox in the Ford, he
succeeded. The next generation Accent will be launched at the
Rally of Portugal.
Kenneth Eriksson: "I have been fighting very hard all day. I’ve
been flat out at maximum attack. I had no choice as I had to keep
Colin [McRae] behind me and he’s been setting excellent times for
the whole rally. The conditions were perfect on the stages and
the car also felt perfect all day."
SKODA
Bruno Thiry benefited from the demise of Tommi Makinen, picking up
tenth position and one manufacturers point for Skoda. Skoda are
now third in the Manufacturers championship.
Thiry: "I found a good pace on the opening two stages and was pleased
with the feel of the car. The combination of falling snow and the
high speeds of the stages have made this morning a real challenge
but Stephane and myself are both really enjoying this event.”
The next round of the FIA World Rally Championship is the Rally of
Portugal, 8-11 March
__________________________________________________ ________________
UNOFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS
OUTRIGHT
1 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 3:27:01.1
2 Radstrom Mitsubishi Carisma GT 3:27:29.0
3 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 3:27:38.1
4 Gardemeister Peugeot 206 WRC 3:29:06.4
5 Delecour Ford Focus RS WRC 3:29:26.3
6 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC 3:29:49.6
7 Carlsson Toyota Corolla WRC 3:30:19.3
8 Eriksson Hyundai Accent WRC 3:30:36.9
9 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 3:31:29.9
10 Thiry Skoda Octavia WRC 3:32:24.7
GROUP N
1 Walfridsson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:37:38.3
2 Backlund Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:39:27.7
3 Blomqvist Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:43:58.0
TEAMS CUP
1 Lungaard Toyota Corolla WRC 3:37:45.1
2 Blomqvist Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:43:58.0
3 Kulig Ford Focus WRC 3:45:46.0
__________________________________________________ ________________
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (provisional standing after 2 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers:
Mäkinen (FIN) 10
Sainz (E) 10
Rovanpera 10
Delecour (F) 6
Gardemeister (FIN) 5
Radstrom (S) 6
Schwarz (D) 3
Loix (B) 1
Solberg (N) 1
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Mitsubishi 23
Ford 14
Skoda 6
Hyundai 5
Subaru 4
Peugeot 0
FIA World Cup for Drivers of Production Cars:
Walfridsson (S) 10
Gillet (CH) 10
Backlund (S) 6
Stohl (A) 6
Blomqvist (S) 5
Trelles (ROU) 4
Pozzo (RA) 3
Jonsson (S) 3
FIA Teams Cup:
Toyota Castrol Team DK 10
David Sutton Cars Ltd 6
Malboro Ford Mobile 1 - Team Poland 4
Toyota Team Saudi Arabia 3
F.Dor Rally Team 2
World Rally Hire 1
FIA Super 1600 Championship for Drivers (this event did not count):
no results
__________________________________________________ ________________
LEADING RETIREMENTS
SS17 Makinen, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Rolled
SS15 Auriol, Peugeot 206 WRC Transmission
SS8 Schwarz, Skoda Octavia WRC Off Road
SS7 A.McRae, Hyundai Accent WRC Engine
SS6 Laukkanen, Toyota Corolla WRC Off Road
SS5 H.Solberg, Toyota Corolla WRC Off Road
SS3 Gronholm, Peugeot 206 WRC Cyclinder Head failure
__________________________________________________ ________________
STAGE WINNERS
SS13 - Burns, SS14 - Burns, SS15 - Burns,
SS16 - Burns, SS17 - Burns
__________________________________________________ ________________
STAGE TIMES
SS 17: Hagfors 21,21km
1st Car: 14.00
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 12:26,8
2 Eriksson Hyundai Accent WRC 12:40,2
3 Gardemeister Peugeot 206 WRC 12:43,2
4 Carlsson Toyota Corolla WRC 12:47,6
5 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 12:55,3
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 16: Rämmen 2 23,41km
1st Car: 12.17
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 12:16,2
2 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 12:26,4
3 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 12:28,3
4 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 12:28,9
5 Radstrom Mitsubishi Carisma GT 12:30,0
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 15: Sågen 2 14,99km
1st Car: 11.25
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 7:54,6
2 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 7:58,7
3 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 7:59,8
4 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 8:03,8
5 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC 8:04,2
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 14: Rämmen 1 23,41km
1st Car: 09.33
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 12:11,8
2 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 12:19,7
3 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 12:20,4
4 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 12:20,9
5 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 12:21,4
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 13: Sågen 1 14,99km
1st Car: 08.41
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 7:55,4
2 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 7:56,5
3 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 7:57,4
4 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 7:59,9
5 Makinen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8:01,6
Harri Rovanpera secured his first World Rally Championship victory by
winning the International Swedish Rally. Rovanpera eventually
won by 27 seconds from Thomas Radstrom after Tommi Makinen rolled
2.7km in the final stage.
In previous days, running at the head of field had been a penalty
as the following cars benefited from 'cleaner' roads. But with the
snow falling for the most of today all was equal and Rovanpera
stayed in the front. His choice of tyres, with longer studs than his
rivals also proved to be correct.
"It was my first World Championship victory and it's fantastic. We
just take it step by step. The last three or four years have been
quite difficult. But last year I had two good chances with Toyota
and now we will see. After the first leg I had the feeling we could
win" said Rovanpera.
PEUGEOT
Despite the success of Rovanpera, Peugeot had not registered him as
eliglible for Manufacturers points. So Peugeot remain on zero
manufacturers points, while Rovanpera holds equal lead in the Drivers
championship!
Didier Auriol who is still suffering from bronchitis, retired today
after the transmission failed in his 206.
Harri Rovanpera: "The car has been fantastic with virtually no
problems at all, and even though I'm still learning more about it
on every stage I already know it's the best car I've ever driven.
I can't wait for Portugal now - I was strong there last year and I
think we can do even better this time."
MITSUBISHI
It went from a great result for Mitsubishi to a good result. 2.7km into
the final stage and just 20km from securing 2nd position Tommi
Makinen rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer out of the rally. Promoted to
second though was team mate Thomas Radstrom which was certainly one
of the best drives of the event. Radstrom has drafted into the team
for this event only and secured valuable manufacturers points.
Mitsubishi now have a solid lead in the Manufacturers championship.
Freddy Loix climbed into 13th position today gaining experience but
little else.
Tommi Makinen said "The tyre choice was very good, we were very happy
with that, but we simply made a mistake and went off the road. It
was quite a fast section and the car was completely off in a snowbank,
there was no way to recover. Very disappointing, obviously".
Thomas Radstom said "The last stage was the most difficult one I’ve
ever done on this rally. It was like an ice-hockey rink in parts.
The car was all over the place, it was so slippery. Then, when we
passed Tommi and saw him off the road, I knew we absolutely had to
get the points for the team. The pressure was on, I was anxious
not to get passed by Carlos and I was shaking like a leaf the whole
stage!"
FORD
Second place for Sainz secures his equal lead in the Drivers
Championship. He spent the day battling the Thomas Radstrom for
third and fourth positions and was just 4.2 seconds behind Radstrom
heading into the final stage. Sainz couldn't quite catch him
but was more than happy with the final result.
François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup also finished fifth and
Colin McRae and Nicky Grist completed a superb fightback from
their first day accident to finish ninth and claim
two manufacturers’ points. Ford was the only team with both
nominated drivers in the points to retain second in the series.
Quotes: Carlos Sainz said "We tried very hard to catch Thomas in
the last stage but conditions were very tricky with snow lying on
top of icy ruts. It’s encouraging to come away at the top of the
championship after the two most unpredictable rallies of the series
and we must now capitalise on that start."
Colin McRae said "After losing so much time on the first day and
having to come from so far back, it’s quite satisfying to score
points for the team. That was my only target. It was an exciting
rally and during our run of fastest times, the feeling was fantastic."
SUBARU
Despite not being in contention for outright victory, Richard Burns
completely dominated todays stages, winning every one of them. Team
mate Markko Martin was also fast, setting several top 3 stage times
and was the only driver to challenge Burns.
Richard Burns: "But we have made good use of the time – yesterday
we worked on some settings, but today we just went at it hard to
see what we could achieve."
Petter Solberg: "I know I can drive fast, but for me this has been
the hardest rally ever. I just had to make sure that I finished the
job for the team, and as an extra prize, I won a point too. It
started so badly here, but the rally just got better and better"
Markko Martin: "I was taking it reasonably easy today, and I was
really surprised to see that except for Richard we were often the
quickest car. After our difficulties on the first day, the rally
has just got better and better for us, and it is great to get the
car home."
HYUNDAI
In the final event for the first generation Hyundia Accent, Kenneth
Eriksson was lucky to retain 8th postion and 3 manufacturers points.
Eriksson was on maximum attack all day trying to keep Colin McRae
behind him - and with speed and a jammed gearbox in the Ford, he
succeeded. The next generation Accent will be launched at the
Rally of Portugal.
Kenneth Eriksson: "I have been fighting very hard all day. I’ve
been flat out at maximum attack. I had no choice as I had to keep
Colin [McRae] behind me and he’s been setting excellent times for
the whole rally. The conditions were perfect on the stages and
the car also felt perfect all day."
SKODA
Bruno Thiry benefited from the demise of Tommi Makinen, picking up
tenth position and one manufacturers point for Skoda. Skoda are
now third in the Manufacturers championship.
Thiry: "I found a good pace on the opening two stages and was pleased
with the feel of the car. The combination of falling snow and the
high speeds of the stages have made this morning a real challenge
but Stephane and myself are both really enjoying this event.”
The next round of the FIA World Rally Championship is the Rally of
Portugal, 8-11 March
__________________________________________________ ________________
UNOFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS
OUTRIGHT
1 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 3:27:01.1
2 Radstrom Mitsubishi Carisma GT 3:27:29.0
3 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 3:27:38.1
4 Gardemeister Peugeot 206 WRC 3:29:06.4
5 Delecour Ford Focus RS WRC 3:29:26.3
6 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC 3:29:49.6
7 Carlsson Toyota Corolla WRC 3:30:19.3
8 Eriksson Hyundai Accent WRC 3:30:36.9
9 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 3:31:29.9
10 Thiry Skoda Octavia WRC 3:32:24.7
GROUP N
1 Walfridsson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:37:38.3
2 Backlund Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:39:27.7
3 Blomqvist Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:43:58.0
TEAMS CUP
1 Lungaard Toyota Corolla WRC 3:37:45.1
2 Blomqvist Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3:43:58.0
3 Kulig Ford Focus WRC 3:45:46.0
__________________________________________________ ________________
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (provisional standing after 2 of 14 rounds):
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers:
Mäkinen (FIN) 10
Sainz (E) 10
Rovanpera 10
Delecour (F) 6
Gardemeister (FIN) 5
Radstrom (S) 6
Schwarz (D) 3
Loix (B) 1
Solberg (N) 1
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers:
Mitsubishi 23
Ford 14
Skoda 6
Hyundai 5
Subaru 4
Peugeot 0
FIA World Cup for Drivers of Production Cars:
Walfridsson (S) 10
Gillet (CH) 10
Backlund (S) 6
Stohl (A) 6
Blomqvist (S) 5
Trelles (ROU) 4
Pozzo (RA) 3
Jonsson (S) 3
FIA Teams Cup:
Toyota Castrol Team DK 10
David Sutton Cars Ltd 6
Malboro Ford Mobile 1 - Team Poland 4
Toyota Team Saudi Arabia 3
F.Dor Rally Team 2
World Rally Hire 1
FIA Super 1600 Championship for Drivers (this event did not count):
no results
__________________________________________________ ________________
LEADING RETIREMENTS
SS17 Makinen, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Rolled
SS15 Auriol, Peugeot 206 WRC Transmission
SS8 Schwarz, Skoda Octavia WRC Off Road
SS7 A.McRae, Hyundai Accent WRC Engine
SS6 Laukkanen, Toyota Corolla WRC Off Road
SS5 H.Solberg, Toyota Corolla WRC Off Road
SS3 Gronholm, Peugeot 206 WRC Cyclinder Head failure
__________________________________________________ ________________
STAGE WINNERS
SS13 - Burns, SS14 - Burns, SS15 - Burns,
SS16 - Burns, SS17 - Burns
__________________________________________________ ________________
STAGE TIMES
SS 17: Hagfors 21,21km
1st Car: 14.00
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 12:26,8
2 Eriksson Hyundai Accent WRC 12:40,2
3 Gardemeister Peugeot 206 WRC 12:43,2
4 Carlsson Toyota Corolla WRC 12:47,6
5 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 12:55,3
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 16: Rämmen 2 23,41km
1st Car: 12.17
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 12:16,2
2 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 12:26,4
3 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 12:28,3
4 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 12:28,9
5 Radstrom Mitsubishi Carisma GT 12:30,0
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 15: Sågen 2 14,99km
1st Car: 11.25
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 7:54,6
2 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 7:58,7
3 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 7:59,8
4 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 8:03,8
5 Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC 8:04,2
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 14: Rämmen 1 23,41km
1st Car: 09.33
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 12:11,8
2 McRae Ford Focus RS WRC 12:19,7
3 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 12:20,4
4 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 12:20,9
5 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 12:21,4
__________________________________________________ ________________
SS 13: Sågen 1 14,99km
1st Car: 08.41
Pos/ Driver/ Car/ Time
1 Burns Subaru Impreza WRC 7:55,4
2 Rovanpera Peugeot 206 WRC 7:56,5
3 Martin Subaru Impreza WRC 7:57,4
4 Sainz Ford Focus RS WRC 7:59,9
5 Makinen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8:01,6