07 February 2004 - 21:36 The young lions in the lead FIA World Rally Sweden - Leg 1

Three different constructors in the first three places: the fight for the win is going be exciting. The gap between the drivers remains small and the lack of snow helped the championship leaders to open the road without losing too much time.

Sebastien Loeb and Markko Martin are leading the event, Martin in front of Loeb. Not too far behind is Petter Solberg, who seems to be back to his usual pace after a disappointing Monte Carlo Rally.

Ideal conditions for Martin
It doesn't happen very often but this year snow is missing on most of the road's surface in the Swedish Rally. This situation is making the life a little bit easier for the drivers who are starting first and "opening the road" for the others.

Ideal conditions for Markko Martin who was starting in second position today. The Ford driver made the best use of the conditions to get two fastest stage times and finish the day in the lead.

Ford seem to have made a smart move by nominating Janne Tuohino as their second driver in Sweden. The Finn is fifth this evening, less than one minute behind the leader. A solid performance for Janne, who can still hope to finish on the podium.

Francois Duval was very competitive at the Monte Carlo Rally but is slightly less at ease in the specific conditions in the Swedish Rally. Nonetheless, Francois made some good stage times and finishes the day in eighth place.

Good start for Citroen
Sebastien Loeb continues to show his natural speed. The combination of his talent and the exceptional road conditions were enough to bring a very good second place to the French driver after leg 1.

For the first time this year, Carlos Sainz was able to win a stage today. Sainz is right behind the three stars of the new generation: Martin, Loeb and Solberg. The Spaniard is fourth this evening and will try to finish on the podium once more in Sweden.

Solberg back in the hunt
Petter Solberg's performance at the Monte Carlo Rally was rather discreet. This time, the Norwegian is back in the hunt, ending the day in third position only three seconds behind Sebastien Loeb. Knowing that Petter is usually more competitive during the last two days of a rally, the Subaru driver is definitely a serious contender for the win.

Mikko Hirvonen had a satisfying day at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza. The Finn had consistent stage times throughout the day and takes a well-deserved seventh place.

Gronholm let down by mechanical problems
Just like at the Monte Carlo Rally, Marcus Gronholm was the first leader of the rally in Sweden. The Finn started the day with a stunning performance but a power steering problem with his 307 WRC in stage three made him lose more than a minute, enough to lose his first place.

However, Marcus is not about to give up. The Peugeot driver is now in sixth place, 58 seconds behind Martin.

Freddy Loix has not been able to follow the pace of his teammate. The Belgian had a mistake-free day and finds himself in tenth position, behind the 206 WRC of Daniel Carlsson.

Panizzi out of the race
The new Mitsubishi Lancer is not ready to challenge its rivals. Gilles Panizzi is using the first events of the season to continue the development work on the car. The Frenchman was hoping to put as much kilometres as possible on the Lancer this weekend but a transmission problem on his car put a premature end to his race.

Kristian Sohlberg had a difficult day at the wheel of the second works team Lancer WRC. The Finn made a few costly mistakes, hitting the snow banks more than once. The Finn ends the day out of the top 30, which is not a remarkable performance.

Hugo GIGUERE
CAPSIS International [06/02/04 - 19:43]