08 February 2003 - 22:59 A fight to the finish Rally of Sweden : Leg Two - Review

Before the 52nd running of the Rally of Sweden had started, Marcus Gronholm predicted that the fight for the win would be between two Finns: himself and teammate Harri Rovanpera. Marcus had the nationality of the protagonists right but it's not Rovanpera who provided the opposition - Subaru's Tommi Makinen took the matter in his own hands instead. At the end of leg two, Marcus Gronholm leads the Swedish event by close to forty seconds ahead of Makinen who's turning out to be his most serious rival.

Two down at Peugeot
Peugeot had four of the top five spots at the end of leg one, with only Makinen being able to keep up with the 206. The feeling was that the French constructor would once again run away unchallenged.

As the drivers are completing SS12, the last timed stage of this leg, Peugeot's superiority isn't as clear-cut as it was. True, the Lion still has the rally leader with Marcus Gronholm and can count on Richard Burns, solidly in third place overall. Still, two 206 have been lost in the proceedings, the 'works' car of Harri Rovanpera and the 'privateer' one of Juuso Pykalisto. In SS8, Pykalisto went off road but looked as if he was going to be able to continue. Sadly, Harri Rovanpera appeared at the very moment he was about to re-start, and wasn't able to avoid the collision which was violent enough to disable both cars.

Ten more seconds for Makinen
Second at the end of leg one, Tommi Makinen was twenty-seven seconds back of Marcus Gronholm. Tonight, it's an additional ten seconds that separate the two men.

Though he's kept the lead, Gronholm hasn't managed to totally shake off the threat posed by the Subaru driver. Thirty-eight seconds... With a driver such as Makinen, who never takes 'No' for an answer, the last leg of this rally should be a heated affair.

Petter Solberg had a much better day than yesterday. The Norwegian found his groove, his Impreza is handling better; Petter puts his name closer to the top of the standings and finishes sixth.

Martin in the thick of things
After a first day that he himself admitted had been difficult, Markko Martin wanted to get closer to Gardemeister while keeping at bay any pursuers. Mission accomplished for the Ford driver who not only moved ahead of the Finn's Skoda, but managed to keep McRae and Solberg in his rearview mirror. He'll take advantage of the retirement of Rovanpera and Pykalisto to climb into fourth place. The Estonian is in a similar situation as he was in Monte- Carlo - will the end result be the same?

Skewed results for Citroen
No way around it: the Xsara could have been a factor on the snowy Swedish roads had it not been for the fact that they were sweeping the roads for their competitors in leg one, the price to pay for their Monaco... sweep. Yesterday, this cost Loeb, McRae and Sainz a huge amount of time.

Today, their starting position - at least for Sainz and McRae - allowed the Xsara drivers to make amends. 13th last night, Colin McRae ends leg two in 5th position. Carlos Sainz progressed from 12th to 8th. Both could take advantage of the last leg to further improve their fortunes, considering the gap between Martin in 4th and Sainz in 8th is less than one minute.

Sebastien Loeb, last of the top-10 group, made quite an impression today, having started from the 18th spot.

Toni tempted by the top ten
Fifth at the end of leg one, Toni Gardemeister was overjoyed! The Finn knew all too well that it would be tough to keep this spot 'til the end. The Skoda driver's objective was thus to finish leg two in the top-10. No problem: Toni is seventh tonight. But the last leg won't be a picnic, as the Octavia driver will have to fend off the likes of Sainz, Loix and Loeb.

Didier Auriol quietly kept on going. Ditching his Skoda in leg one cost him 2'30", so the Frenchman is using this race as an opportunity to refine the setup of his Octavia.

Loix maintains his ranking but not his points
Ninth on Friday night, we find Freddy Loix in the same spot tonight. For the Belgian, his ranking is the same but not his results. With four Peugeot in the top five, Loix was able to offer his Hyundai employers constructors' points. The two Peugeot's retirement and Citroen's progression throws a wrench in the Belgian's plans. And being ninth leaves him one spot short of drivers' points.

Armin Schwarz, 13th, doesn't have much to hope for and will use the third leg as a testing day for his Accent.

Francis COULOMBE
CAPSIS International, 08/02/2003