16 August 2003 - 10:47 Martin ends ten years of Finnish supremacy Rally Finland - 9th round of WRC

The supremacy of Finnish drivers in their home event has just been shaken. By winning his second World Rally Championship event, Markko Martin ends ten years of domination of local drivers in Finland. At the same time, the Estonian puts his name on the very selective list of non-Finnish drivers that won the event. Martin joins Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol, the only two men to achieve this exploit before him.

Martin unafraid of Gronholm

After dominating the first part of the season, Peugeot and Citroen now have serious rivals. Ford and their driver Markko Martin are the main competitors of the two French teams, ever since the new Focus arrived in New Zealand this year. The Estonian was able to stay in front of the Finn after winning a magnificent battle that lasted all day.

Apart from the times when the new Focus had mechanical problems, it is hard to see who can stop Markko Martin from winning any event. Since his first win in Greece, the Estonian has always been one of the top players. In Cyprus or in Germany, mechanical trouble stopped him from winning but before having these problems, Markko Martin was fighting for the victory.

Gronholm by himself to defend the Finns' tradition

For many years, we have heard that only local drivers can win in Finland. Auriol and Sainz are the exceptions but this year Martin may be able to do just as well as these two. Apart from Gronholm, the other local drivers have been discreet so far. We have to go all the way down to sixth place to find another Finn, Tommi Makinen, who is already more than tree minutes and twenty seconds behind the leader.

Winner of the last three editions, Gronholm was determined to equal Makinen's record of five consecutive wins. The Peugeot driver has the means to achieve his goal, only if he can tame Markko Martin.

Markko Martin is the first leader

The Rally Finland started on August, 7th with the Killeri Super Special stage. This course is well-known by most drivers since it is part of the event for the past four years. Two competitors start the stage side by side and have to go through a challenging course that includes a tunnel and two big jumps. A lot of excitement for the numerous spectators !

Markko Martin was the fastest, four tenths of a second in front of the winner of the past three editions of the rally, Marcus Gronholm. Petter Solberg is third, six tenths behind the leader.

Then follow Francois Duval, Sebastien Loeb, Richard Burns and Harri Rovanpera. Because of his shoulder injury, Didier Auriol lost almost 5 seconds in this stage. It is not clear if the French driver will be able to continue the race tomorrow morning.

In the Junior category, Daniel Carlsson is the fastest driver, in front of Brice Tirabassi. Mirco Baldacci is third at the wheel of his Fiat Punto.

Good start for Ford

After SS 3 Markko Martin, who was currently the race leader, comments the situation: "We've been driving flat out and the morning was better than expected. I have a good feeling with the car and I'll try to maintain this pace. I don't want to push harder because a couple of times already I've been over the limit. The first part of the third stage was new and was a little scary. The pace notes were good but in a few places we were too fast. It's going to be a long, hard fight."

Peugeot fight back!

Marcus Gronholm and team Peugeot Sport are determined to win the Rally Finland once again and are working hard to catch race leader Markko Martin. Gronholm was the fastest driver in SS 4, a short tricky stage that takes place in the forest. His teammate Richard Burns is right behind the Finn, conceding only 7 tenths in this stage.

Colin McRae continues his good work by taking third position, while Markko Martin falls 3.1 seconds behind Gronholm in SS 3 but remains the leader of the event. Gronholm and Martin are in fact more than 16 seconds in front of everybody else in the overall results.

Carlos Sainz is also close to the leader, finishing fifth 3.4 sec behind Gronholm while Harri Rovanpera is back and running at full speed after his suspension was repaired at the service area after SS 3. The Finn is sixth in SS 4, 3.5 sec behind is leading teammate.

Petter Solberg records an identical time as Harri Rovanpera in this stage but the Subaru driver slips from third to fifth overall. In these overall results, Richard Burns is the new third place holder while Colin McRae takes fourth position.

Armin Schwarz experienced brake problems during stage 4, even if new brake pads were installed on his Accent at the service area after stage 3.

Peugeot and Ford still in front

After SS 7 the battle between Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin is still as intense but Richard Burns is keeping close to the leading duo. The two teams are doing well but had to face some difficulties as well.

Marcus Gronholm was not too happy about his tyre choice: "I ran with new tyres that I had not tested before and I did not feel very confident with them at all. On the first stage after last service I went off slightly on a corner, and after that I decided to be careful."

His teammate Richard Burns admitted being lucky: "I think the rain on the last two stages helped me as it meant that there was no disadvantage in running first on the road. Considering our road position, I'm quite happy with the way things are going so far."

Harri Rovanpera is starting to get back in the rhythm: "After losing so much time this morning finding some motivation is a problem, but it is slowly coming back. The steering is still not 100% perfect, but I think we can fix that at service and then we can attack more."

Markko Martin is paying the price for trying to catch Marcus Gronholm: "I tried too hard on the first two stages of that group and made some mistakes, including sliding into a ditch on the first corner of Valkola. I think we were just too keen. Then it rained very hard on the next two tests and Ruuhimaki, especially, was slippery and muddy. It was hard to get proper grip in those conditions. I'm happy with the car, it's working exactly as I want it to and it's good to be involved in this kind of battle with Marcus."

Gronholm retires!

In ss 14 Colin McRae gets his first fastest time in the Rally Finland and moves up to third place overall.

The big news in this stage is about Marcus Gronholm. The Finn broke his right front suspension and had to retire from the event. A big blow for him and Peugeot, who were well on their way to win a fourth consecutive Rally Finland.

As a consequence, Markko Martin leaps back to first place overall, even if the Estonian is reported to have a slight electrical problem and not having his usual fast pace. The Ford driver finishes in fifth place in SS 14, 17.8 sec behind McRae.

Richard Burns' patience and conservative pace may prove to be the right choice. The British driver is second in this stage even if he suffered from a puncture that created strong vibrations to his car. Now less than 20 seconds behind the leader, Burns is in a good position to take over the lead if Martin's problems become more serious.

Impressive result by veteran driver Ari Vatanen, who finishes tenth in SS 14. The 51 years old Finn was able to accomplish this great time in one of the most difficult stage of the rally, which is a real exploit.

Scary moment for McRae

The ss 16 (Moksi-Leustu) is a classic stage. It is the longest of the rally, with many different road conditions but always very fast and exciting.

The stage included one scary moment when Colin McRae rolled over his car and made contact with trees. Fortunately, the crew is ok but they had to retire from the event.

Markko Martin's Ford Focus was back to normal after the electrical problems in the previous two stages. "We had complete electrical failure," said the Ford driver. "It affected the engine and although the gearchange worked, it was slow. I didn't know how the car was going to respond so I couldn't accelerate or brake properly. We went as fast as we could so as not to lose too much time, but also not to take any risks."

Now that the problem has been repaired, Martin was able to get the fastest time in the long Moksi-Leustu stage. Petter Solberg gets his best performance of the rally by taking the second position in SS 16, only 2 seconds behind Martin.

Richard Burns was third, but he managed to keep the gap on Martin down to 3.7 sec in this stage so the Peugeot driver is now 16.8 sec behind the Ford driver in the general standings.

Martin increases his lead

Last stage in this day goes to Petter Solberg. The Subaru driver gets his first fastest time of the rally, in front of Markko Martin and Carlos Sainz.

Markko Martin now have a substantial lead of over a minute on Richard Burns, who is now just barely ahead of Carlos Sainz in third (a gap of only three tenths!) and Petter Solberg in fourth (five tenths difference !). Burns experienced steering problems and lost almost a full minute in this stage. The battle for second place will be sensational in next day !

Tommi Makinen finally got a satisfying result in SS 17, finishing fourth, 5.4 sec behind his teammate. Sebastien Loeb was fifth, followed by Sebastian Lindholm. The Finn is now only 10.6 sec behind his countryman Janne Tuohino, who is in eighth place overall.

Raging battle between Burns and Solberg

In the ss 19 (Mokkipera stage), the drivers face a good variety of situations: fast main roads, twisty country roads, big and difficult jumps, tight turns and quicker ones. A good challenge for the drivers but also a great place for the spectators to see the cars in action.

Richard Burns tried as hard as possible to regain his second position overall from Petter Solberg. The Peugeot driver is the fastest in SS 19 but Petter Solberg is just as determined and ends the stage right behind him, losing only three tenths ! The Norwegian stays in second position in the general standings, four tenths in front of Burns. What a battle !

Carlos Sainz is also part of this fight but this time the Spaniard was only fifth in SS 19 and loses more than seven seconds on Solberg. The total gap between the Citroen driver and second place overall is now 9.3 seconds, which is still very little.

Markko Martin is keeping a very fast pace, finishing third in this stage, only half a second behind Burns. The Ford driver is not letting anyone come close to his leading position. His teammate Francois Duval is not doing as well. The Belgian hit a rock in this stage and lost a wheel on his Focus.

Markko Martin takes the win

Markko Martin was simply incredible during this year's Rally Finland, wining the race by almost one minute over his closest rival. The Ford driver was not only fast, he was also extremely consistent, never finishing lower than sixth place in a stage during the whole rally.

Martin takes his second win in the World Rally Championship and is the first non-Finnish driver since Didier Auriol in 1992 to win the Rally Finland. A magnificent victory for Markko and Ford, while his teammate Francois Duval had to retire earlier this morning.

Petter Solberg was the fastest in this last stage and even if Richard Burns tried as hard as he could to keep up with him by finishing in second place in SS 23, Solberg just narrowly beats the Peugeot driver to the line and takes second position behind Martin ! What a spectacular and inspired effort by the Subaru driver !

Solberg has the last word

The battle for second position was going to be captivating, with three drivers grouped within less than a second. However, the fight between Richard Burns, Petter Solberg and Carlos Sainz quickly transformed into a duel, since the Spaniard was not able to keep up with the pace of his two rivals.

In day's first stage, Carlos Sainz suffered from a problem that slowed him down considerably : "In the first stage this morning, we slid wide into a ditch. I think that it's where I damaged a rim. Before the start of the next stage (SS 19), I checked underneath and I noticed that the oil of a damper was leaking, which means that we had to drive the next two stages with a less efficient damper." said a disappointed Carlos, who had no choice but to see Solberg and Burns run away from him.

The Norwegian and the Briton engaged in a sumptuous battle during the six stages of the final leg. A non-stop duel during which both men exchanged positions. At the start of the very last stage, Burns was still in front of Solberg by a little under two seconds. By taking the fastest time in this last stage, Solberg climbed to second position and Burns finished in third... only one second and two tenths behind the Norwegian !

Important points for Citroen

Carlos Sainz will understandably have a some regrets. Without the problems that he faced during last day's first stage, he would have been able to do just as well as Burns and Solberg or maybe even better. On top of that, Sainz finishes behind the championship leader and sees the gap widening. The Spaniard is now five points behind Burns.

Despite that Citroen achieve a good result with the fourth and fifth positions of Sainz and Loeb. Citroen is now getting closer to Peugeot in the Constructors' championship.

Even if he doesn't have much experience in Finland, Sebastien Loeb was able to drive a solid race. Now equal in points with Martin and only 12 points behind Burns, Sebastien Loeb can realistically aim for the title, especially with three more asphalt events coming up.

Where are the Finns ?

The tradition stipulates that the Finns are almost unbeatable at home. This year seems to be the exception to the rule. The best placed Finn this year is only sixth. This position belongs to none other than Tommi Makinen, five-time winner of the event. A modest result for the Subaru driver, who is once again dominated by his teammate.

Nonetheless, three Finns score points in the event but are not the ones that we expected. In seventh place, behind Makinen, is Janne Tuohino, driving the Focus that Sainz used here last year to finish in fourth place. The last championship point goes to Peugeot of Finland driver Sebastian Lindholm.

Carlsson on top in JWRC

The Junior World Rally Championship drivers were also in Finland. Daniel Carlsson, at the wheel of his Suzuki, won in that category in front of Brice Tirabassi, driving a Renault. The podium is completed by Guy Wilks, at the wheel of a Ford Puma. Tirabassi is still the championship leader, followed by Carlsson ten points behind him.

Hugo GIGUERE
CAPSIS International

Final results - Rally Finland

1. Martin-Park Ford Focus  3h21'51"700 121.6 km/h
2. Solberg-Mills Subaru Impr +00'58"90
3. Burns-Reid  Peugeot 206 +01'00"10
4. Sainz-Marti Citroen Xsa +01'59"00
5. Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsa +02'48"70
6. Makinen-Lindstr Subaru Impr +03'25"20
7. Tuohino-Aho Ford Focus  A8 +04'22"90
8. Lindholm-Hantun Peugeot 206 +04'39"50
9. Pykalisto-Merts Peugeot 206 +06'23"40
10. Loix-Smeets Hyundai Acc +08'19"90
11. Vatanen-Repo Peugeot 206 +11'49"30
12. Schwarz-Hiemer Hyundai Acc +12'51"50