Mon May 20, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Richard Burns Excluded, Carlos Wins! @ 03:35 AM - Amazing! Richard Burns' car has been disqualified for an illegal flywheel and Carlos Sainz promoted to winner!

Sun May 19, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Gronholm excluded! @ 06:49 PM - Marcus Gronholm has been excluded from the Rally Argentina for receiving illegal assistance having experienced problems leaving parc ferme this morning. Peugeot have confirmed they will not appeal. Everybody moves up one place, giving Burns the win. Peugoet still take 10 points.

 Marcus secures win, but penalty looms @ 05:17 PM - Marcus Gronholm has won the rally on the stages, but a penalty looms for a servicing infringement ... 1. M.GRONHOLM ... 2 R.BURNS +1.17.1 ... 3 C.SAINZ +2.19.4 ... 4 P.SOLBERG +2.23.4 ... 5 C.McRAE +4.38.5 ... 6 M.MARTIN +5.11.8 ... 7 T.GARDEMEISTER +7.38.2 ... 8 K.ERIKSSON +8.36.0 ... 9 J.KANKKUNEN +10.22.7 ... 10 A.McRAE +11.09.

 Servicing penalty hangs over Marcus @ 04:57 PM - Reports have surfaced that Marcus Gronholm is driving under threat of penalty today, as it is understood that he received illegal servicing to his car at the start of the day. More news when we have it.

 Changes at end of Cura Brochero (SS21) @ 03:46 PM - Tommi Makinen has exited the rally ... 1 M.GRONHOLM ... 2 R.BURNS +1.23.3 ... 3 C.SAINZ +2.19.8 ... 4 P.SOLBERG +2.29.4 ... 5 C.McRAE +4.30.9 ... 6 M.MARTIN +4.54.8 ... 7 T.GARDEMEISTER ... +7.12.0 ... 8 K.ERIKSSON +8.13.5

 Makinen out @ 03:27 PM - Makinen rolled out of the rally on the final corner of SS21 - the Cura Brochero test. His Subaru went over several times but the crew are reported to be ok.

 Makinen rolled?? @ 03:25 PM - Rumour says Tommi Makinen has rolled on SS21 - if so it looks like another Peugeot 1-2. No confirmation - more as we get it.

 Marcus extends narrow lead @ 02:55 PM - Marcus Gronholm wins over the 22 kms of Giulio Cesare to sneak ahead ... 1 M.Gronholm ... 2 T.Makinen +5.5 ... 3 R.Burns +1.14.9 ... 4 C.Sainz +2.16.6 ... 5 P.Solberg +2.26.2 ... 6 C.McRae +4.18.6 ... 7 M.Martin +4.42.3

 Marcus Takes First One @ 01:42 PM - Carlos passed Solberg & there are now three stages remaining: 1. Gronholm 2. Makinen +1.4s 3. Burns +47.0s 4. Sainz +1m59.8s 5. Solberg +2m08.3s 6. C McRae +3m47.7s 7. Martin +4m13.8s 8. Gardemeister +6m19.6s 9. Eriksson +7m05.6s 10. Kankkunen +9m24.2s

Sat May 18, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Makinen leads into final day @ 09:32 PM - Richard Burns and Marcus Gronholm set a dead equal time to the tenth of a second over the final 28.83km stage of leg two of the Rally Argentina! The Peugeot pair were 2.0s quicker than Tommi Makinen but it wasn't enough for Gronholm to reclaim his lead - Makinen leads by just 0.5s going into the final day!

 Top 10 after SS16: @ 07:57 PM - 1. Gronholm   2. Makinen +5.6s   3. Burns +34.1s   4. Solberg +1m31.3s   5. Sainz +1m39.6s   6. C McRae +3m08.5s   7. Martin +3m44.4s   8. Gardemeister +4m33.4s   9. Panizzi +4m48.6s   10. Eriksson +5m29.1s

 SS13/14 Pro Racing - After 14 @ 05:12 PM - 1. Gronholm 2. Makinen +13.7s 3. Burns +0m38.9s 4. Solberg +1m28.0s 5. Sainz +1m40.2s 6. C McRae +3m10.3s 7. Martin +3m32.0s 8. Gardemeister +4m04.1s 9. Panizzi +4m28.7s 10. Eriksson +5m01.6s

 SS12 - Makinen Closing Gap! @ 04:14 PM - 1. Gronholm 2. Makinen +13.7s 3. Burns +0m39.7s 4. Solberg +1m10.1s 5. Sainz +1m39.2s 6. C McRae +3m10.0s 7. Martin +3m32.1s 8. Gardemeister +3m52.1s 9. Panizzi +4m25.9s 10. Eriksson +4m53.1s

 SS11 Overall @ 02:22 PM - 1. Gronholm 2. Makinen +17.2s 3. Burns +0m39.0s 4. Solberg +1m06.7s 5. Sainz +1m29.7s 6. C McRae +3m07.4s 7. Martin +3m31.6s 8. Gardemeister +3m31.6s 9. Panizzi +4m16.5s 10. Eriksson +4m29.3s

 Fast Freddy Loix Out @ 01:53 PM - A broken throttle on his Hyundai ended his rally on the road section to SS11.

 Positions After SS10 @ 01:49 PM - 1. Gronholm 2. Makinen +53.9s 3. Burns +1m11.8s 4. Solberg +1m31.7s 5. Sainz +1m42.8s 6. Gardemeister +2m34.8s 7. C McRae +3m35.5s 8. Martin +3m50.5s 9. Panizzi +4m11.7s 10. Eriksson +4m34.1s

 Peugeot's Hit Mechanical Probs @ 01:46 PM - Harri Rovenpera has retired with suspected engine failure and Marcus Gronholm's engine lost hydraulic pressure on SS10 also, it lost him 50s.

 SS10 - Problems for Three @ 01:14 PM - Gabriel Pozzo (Skoda) lost power steering and Alister McRae (Mitsubihsi) lost boost. Harri Rovanpera has also suffered an unkown engine problem.

Fri May 17, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Positions at end of day one: @ 10:52 PM - 1. Gronholm   2. Makinen +1m40.3s   3. Burns +2m01.0s   4. Solberg +2m07.6s   5. Sainz +2m21.5s   6. Loix +2m48.6s   7. Panizzi +3m14.1s   8. Rovanpera +3m34.5s   9. Gardemeister +3m53.3s   10. C McRae +4m08.6s

 Delecour out @ 08:03 PM - Francois Delecour hit a rock in SS7 after landing from a jump. The suspension broke and the car rolled. The French crew continued for a while until the suspension collapsed and the stage narrowed.

 Top10 after SS5: @ 06:29 PM - 1. Gronholm   2. Makinen +17.5s   3. Rovanpera +25.6s   4. Burns +31.4s   5. Solberg +32.7s   6. Sainz +51.2s   7. Kankkunen +52.9s   8. Panizzi +57.4s   9. Martin +59.1s   10. Loix +1m07.9s

 Leaders after SS2: @ 02:29 PM - 1. Gronholm   2. Makinen +6.6s   3. Solberg +13.5s   4. Rovanpera +14.5s   5. Burns +23.5   6. C McRae +26.8s   7. Kankkunen +26.8s   8. Eriksson +27.3s   9. Sainz +30.5s   10. Panizzi +31.4s

 SS1 cancelled @ 12:43 AM - Stage one of Rally Argentina has been cancelled due to volume of spectators in the stage.