14 April 2003 - 21:50 Peugeot first and second Rally New Zealand : Finish

Markko Martin's flashy results in the second leg of the Rally New Zealand were not enough to stop Peugeot from winning the event. Marcus Gronholm gets his third win in New Zealand, after his two victories in 2000 and 2002. Richard Burns finishes second while Petter Solberg achieved his goal of finishing third.

Gronholm from start to finish
Winner of last year's edition, Marcus Gronholm showed once again his potential by taking the lead right from the first stage to keep his number one position until the end. The Finn got ten fastest times, which enabled him to control the situation. Only during the second leg Gronholm had to deal with Markko Martin who was closing the gap on him. The Finn replied by going even faster, so much so that the Peugeot driver made a mistake in SS13 and rolled over his car. Luckily for him, he did not lose too much time and his car was not mechanically damaged.

Markko Martin could hope catching Gronholm but the Ford driver suffered from a broken engine that ended his race. Gronholm lost his main rival and found only his teammate Richard Burns as a potential enemy, even if the British driver was already more than a minute behind. Just to make sure Burns did not start to believe in his chances, Gronholm went back to full attack mode and got the fastest time in the first stage of the last leg before letting Burns grab the fastest times in the last five stages. Peugeot's one - two finish enables the French team to take the first place in the constructor's championship, who used to be held by Citroлn.

Solberg on the podium
Subaru's Petter Solberg started the Rally New Zealand at a conservative pace to be sure that he did not have to open the road on the second leg. After that, the Norwegian driver started adopting a quicker rhythm and with Harri Rovanpera's retirement, he was able to climb to third place.

Not too successful so far this season, Solberg is doing a good deal in this rally. Subaru gets nine points in the constructor's championship: six from Solberg and three from Makinen.

Loeb the only hope for Citroлn
Citroлn did not have a very good Rally New Zealand, compared to the success it had in Turkey. Right from the start, the three drivers suffered from a de- mister system that did not work properly and lost a lot of time. Colin McRae retired early in the event after going off the road and Sainz also damaged his car in a similar fashion. Even if he continued, the Spanish driver lost so much time that he was no longer a factor during the race. Sebastien Loeb was the only hope left for Citroлn and he did a good job, finishing in fourth position.

Skoda reaches its goal
With an Octavia that was not really prepared properly for the event - Skoda put more effort in the upcoming Fabia - Didier Auriol and Toni Gardemeister knew that the event was going to be difficult. Even if they had few minor problems, the two drivers were successful in bringing their cars in the points. Gardemeister has been in the points in every event so far this year and Auriol scored in very first point here for Skoda.

One little point for Ford
Ford can now be reassured. Their new Focus WRC is competitive. Markko Martin showed its potential by getting some really fast times and by being the most serious challenger for Gronholm. Unfortunately for him, engine problems caused his retirement.

Francois Duval had a few minor problems but mostly lost some time by opening the road during the second leg. Duval finished ninth, just in front of the third Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen. Duval's finish position enables Ford to score one point in the constructor's championship.

First rally, first points
For Alister McRae, this Rally New Zealand was the start of his 2003 season. Mitsubishi decided to send two Lancer WRC for this event. The Scotsman managed very well his race to take sixth place and the three points that come with it. However, Mitsubishi did not win in Group N category, Toshi Arai taking the victory with Subaru.

Hugo GIGUERE,
CAPSIS International, 13.04.2003