Sun October 6, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Grönholm wins Rally NZ! @ 01:12 AM - Marcus Grönholm wins every single of leg3's 8 action packed stages. Provisional final results of the Rally NZ after 26 stages: 1. Grönholm at 3h58m45.4s 2. Rovanperä +3m47.6s 3. Mäkinen +4m26.3s 4. Sainz +5m48.9s 5. Kankkunen +7m10.2s 6. Loix +7m52.5s 7. Panizzi +8m24.4s 8. Gardemeister +8m56.1s 9. Delecour +10m43.3s 10. Schwarz +11m34.8s

 NZ after SS25 @ 00:45 AM - Results with one stage to go: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +3m02.8s 3. Mäkinen +4m23.0s 4. Sainz +5m39.2s 5. Kankkunen +6m58.1s 6. Loix +7m38.6s 7. Panizzi +8m17.9s 8. Gardemeister +8m47.8s 9. Delecour +10m28.1s 10. Schwarz +11m20.0s

 Problems in SS25 @ 00:39 AM - Petter Solberg has retired from the rally with a blown engine 3km into SS25 Fyfe 1! Further Harri Rovanperä has still got a hydraulic problem and keeps losing time, but his 2nd place looks secure with Solberg's problem.

Sat October 5, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Action in SS24 @ 11:53 PM - Carlos Sainz has gone off the road in SS24, the 7.44km Campbell 2. He has managed to complete the stage without too much time loss. Also Harri Rovanperä reports a hydraulic problem, helping Marcus Grönholm to extent his lead even further. Positions after SS24: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +2m16.6s 3. Solberg +3m08.6s 4. Mäkinen +4m21.2s 5. Sainz +5m32.3s 6. Kankkunen +6m51.1s 7. Loix +7m26.0s 8. Panizzi +8m10.9s 9. Gardemeister +8m40.1s 10. Delecour +10m12.4s

 SS23 Grönholm again @ 11:44 PM - SS23 and another stage won by Marcus Grönholm! 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +1m45.4s 3. Solberg +3m05.6s 4. Mäkinen +4m18.0s 5. Sainz +5m11.7s 6. Kankkunen +6m45.0s 7. Loix +7m17.0s 8. Panizzi +8m05.0s 9. Gardemeister +8m33.1s 10. Delecour +10m04.4s

 NZ after SS22 @ 11:25 PM - Marcus Grönholm is still fighting it seems and he wins the 4th stage in a row, every stage so far in leg3. Positions after SS22: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +1m38.6s 3. Solberg +3m01.2s 4. Mäkinen +4m13.8s 5. Sainz +5m05.8s 6. Kankkunen +6m34.4s 7. Loix +7m05.3s 8. Panizzi +7m54.4s 9. Gardemeister +8m23.3s 10. Delecour +9m56.1s

 NZ after SS21 @ 11:13 PM - Things seem to settle early. Main news for SS21 is that Hyundai has issued team orders for their drivers Kankkunen and Loix to hold position. After SS21: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +1m35.1s 3. Solberg +3m00.8s 4. Mäkinen +4m11.1s 5. Sainz +5m00.8s 6. Kankkunen +6m26.8s 7. Loix +6m56.3s 8. Panizzi +7m45.5s 9. Gardemeister +8m17.0s 10. Delecour +9m43.7s

 NZ after SS20 @ 09:20 PM - Marcus Grönholm was absolutely flying in the Te Akau South stage, at 32km the longest of the day. He beat everybody including his team mate Harri Rovanperä by 28.7s. Positions after SS20: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +1m26.1s 3. Solberg +2m53.7s 4. Mäkinen +4m05.7s 5. Sainz +4m52.9s 6. Kankkunen +6m12.5s 7. Loix +6m44.9s 8. Panizzi +7m31.8s 9. Gardemeister +8m03.7s 10. Delecour +9m25.1s

 NZ end of leg2: @ 08:09 AM - 1. Grönholm at 3h08m11.1s 2. Rovanperä +55.3s 3. Solberg +2m16.0s 4. Mäkinen +3m19.8s 5. Sainz +4m07.6s 6. Kankkunen +5m15.9s 7. Loix +5m39.8s 8. Panizzi +6m30.7s 9. Gardemeister +6m38.3s 10. Delecour +8m00.9s

 NZ SS18 @ 08:04 AM - The last stage of the day, Tokatoka2 was only a short 10km stage. It was a repeat of an earlier stage of the day. The stage was won by Marcus Grönholm. Toni Gardemeister managed to move closer to Gilles Panizzi again, the pair now only seperated by 7.6s. Also Francois Delecour is only 7s in front of Armin Schwarz. There are 8 stages to follow on the last leg, and plenty of action will be guaranteed once again.

 NZ after SS17 @ 07:34 AM - With one stage to go for this leg, everything seems pretty settled. However Francois Delecour managed to pass Armin Schwarz for 10th, the gap now at 1.8s. Positions after SS17: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +51.4s 3. Solberg +2m12.8s 4. Mäkinen +3m13.7s 5. Sainz +3m59.0s 6. Kankkunen +5m02.9s 7. Loix +5m24.7s 8. Panizzi +6m16.8s 9. Gardemeister +6m30.7s 10. Delecour +7m51.6s

 NZ after SS16 @ 06:51 AM - No major changes in SS16. Another Peugeot 1-2. Positions to watch are Freddy Loix, closing in on Juha Kankkunen and Toni Gardemeister, closing in on Gilles Pamizzi again. After SS16: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +42.5s 3. Solberg +2m03.9s 4. Mäkinen +2m54.3s 5. Sainz +3m43.3s 6. Kankkunen +4m37.0s 7. Loix +4m48.6s 8. Panizzi +5m49.3s 9. Gardemeister +6m04.4s 10. Schwarz +7m23.2s

 NZ SS15 @ 05:10 AM - This is excitement no end as it all changed in the last couple of stages! They may be short stages but challenging ones and loads of them! Overall results after SS15: 1. Grönholm 2. Rovanperä +31.7s 3. Solberg +1m51.1s 4. Mäkinen +2m37.1s 5. Sainz +3m18.8s 6. Kankkunen +4m03.4s 7. Loix +4m18.1s 8. Panizzi +5m09.5s 9. Gardemeister +5m31.9s 10. Schwarz +6m36.4s

 Richard Burns out! @ 04:53 AM - Richard Burns rolled within sight of the finish line of SS15, Paparoa Station! He is out of the rally and effectively one stage after Peugeot clinched the makes title, Marcus Grönholm is crowned drivers World Champion 2002!

 PEUGEOT WORLD CHAMPIONS 2002!!!! @ 04:37 AM - Peugeot are confirmed to be World Champions 2002! To keep the title race open, Ford needed at least 2 cars at the finish of Rally NZ. With Markko Märtin's retirement in SS14, Ford failed to do so and Peugeot are the Champs!

 NZ after SS14 @ 04:29 AM - Indeed, Markko Märtin has gone off the road near the end of SS14 and has retired from the rally, car is on fire, crew is fine. The overall results after SS14 are: 1. Burns 2. Grönholm +44.3s 3. Rovanperä +1m10.0s 4. Solberg +2m28.5s 5. Mäkinen +2m53.3s 6. Sainz +3m51.9s 7. Kankkunen +4m34.0s 8. Loix +4m46.0s 9. Panizzi +5m39.2s 10. Gardemeister +5m55.6s

 Märtin off road @ 04:18 AM - Markko Märtin is reported to be off the road in SS14, more as we get it!

 NZ after SS13 @ 03:54 AM - Without team orders, Peugeots keep posting 1-2-3 stage times and we have another fastest stage time to Richard Burns' account. Overall positions after SS13: 1. Burns 2. Grönholm +43.4s 3. Rovanperä +1m03.2s 4. Solberg +2m15.8s 5. Mäkinen +2m37.8s 6. Märtin +3m16.1s 7. Sainz +3m33.7s 8. Kankkunen +4m12.1s 9. Loix +4m23.0s 10. Panizzi +5m10.5s

 NZ SS12 @ 03:46 AM - The 19.82km SS12 saw no major changes. Carlos Sainz seems to slowly edge closer to his team mate Markko Märtin, both fighting for 6th position. At the bottom of the top10 Gilles Panizzi managed to go past toni Gardemeister on this stage, the gap now 2.8s. The next stage, the famous Waipu Gorge is already under way.

 NZ after SS11 @ 01:01 AM - 1. Burns 2. Grönholm +45.9s 3. Rovanperä +50.4s 4. Solberg +1m55.2s 5. Mäkinen +2m04.6s 6. Märtin +2m39.0s 7. Sainz +3m04.7s 8. Kankkunen +3m23.5s 9. Loix +3m40.8s 10. Gardemeister +4m21.5s

 59km mega stage provides action @ 00:53 AM - As predicted the long 59km Parahi-Ararua stage featured some changes for the overall leader board. First note is Jani Paasonen rolling out of 5th place. Further Marcus Grönholm has passed Harri Rovanperä for 2nd, also the fastest man was again Richard Burns. Juha Kankkunen moved past and clear of his team mate Freddy Loix, while Gilles Panizzi was doing well and is now only 0.7s away from Toni Gardemeister's top10 position

 Jani Paasonen out! @ 00:32 AM - The longest stage of the WRC, Parahi-Ararua at 59km is go! So far (before anybody is at the stage finish) the Peugeots are again flying. Sad news is that Jani Paasonen has rolled about 10km into the stage and is out of the rally!

Fri October 4, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 NZ after SS10 @ 11:21 PM - 1. Burns 2. Rovanpera +32.8s 3. Gronholm +39.0s 4. Solberg +1m19.9s 5. Paasonen +1m23.5s 6. Mäkinen +1m24.8s 7. Märtin +1m40.1s 8. Sainz +2m06.1s 9. Loix +2m08.6s 10. Kankkunen +2m15.5s - The event now goes into a service break followed by a 59km stage, the longest of the WRC, expect some mahor changes in there.

 SS10 action @ 11:16 PM - In the 2nd stage of leg2 Peugeot keep being 1s per km faster than the rest. Fastest non-Peugeot was once again Mitsubishi surprising Jani Paasonen, who was exactly 10s down on Marcus Grönholm. Richard Burns is only 0.5s down on Marcus. Jani Paasonen meanwhile moved up into 5th overall, past Mäkinen again.

 Peugeots fly into leg2! @ 10:49 PM - NZ leg2 is go and already saw a few hot battles in the very first stage. Carlos Sainz moved up from 10th into 8th, past Hyundai drivers Kankkunen and Loix and in the same style Petter Solberg managed to move past Paasonen and Mäkinen to claim 4th rather than 6th. The shock however is Marcus Grönholm's performance, beating the best non-Peugeot by 18s, nearly 1s per km, only for Richard Burns to go another 1.7s faster!

 NZ After Leg1 @ 09:03 AM - 1. Burns at 1h15m31.6s 2. Rovanpera +0:00:18.3 3. Gronholm +0:00:37.8 4. Mäkinen +0:00:46.7 5. Paasonen +0:00:47.6 6. Solberg +0:00:47.7 7. Märtin +0:00:56.9 8. Loix +0:01:19.0 9. Kankkunen +0:01:22.1 10. Sainz +0:01:22.2 11. Gardemeister +0:01:29.9 12. Schwarz +0:01:30.9 13. Panizzi +0:01:43.0 14. Delecour +0:02:07.3 15. Kuchar +0:03:56.1 16. Sohlberg +0:04:09.1 17. Fiorio +0:04:51.5 18. Rowe +0:05:22.6 19. Ferreyros +0:05:51.3 20. Iliev +0:07:13.0

 NZ after SS6 @ 03:56 AM - 1. Burns at 1h12m48.3s 2. Rovanpera +17.7s 3. Gronholm +37.9s 4. Paasonen +40.3s 5. Mäkinen +45.4s 6. Solberg +48.9s 7. Märtin +54.8s 8. Loix +1m16.7s 9. Kankkunen +1m17.5s 10. Sainz +1m18.1s

 Exciting Te Papatapu 2 (SS6) @ 03:48 AM - SS6 is a repeat of SS3, for the first time Marcus Grönholm does not have to act as gravel sweeper, wins the stage and moves from 5th to 3rd in the overall leader board. Next is the day's main service, followed by 2 runs over a short Super Special Stage, so it looks like leg1 may end with a Peugeot 1-2-3. Further down the leaderboard are more moves, most notably Juha Kannkunen, who manages to elbow past Carlos Sainz by only 0.6s.

 Amazing Paasonen wins SS5! @ 03:28 AM - Jani Paasonen wins SS5 and moves up to 3rd in the overall standings, followed by Mäkinen and Grönholm in 4th and 5th. Meanwhile Burns extends his lead further, he is now 16.1s ahead of Rovanperä.

 NZ after SS4: @ 01:41 AM - 1. Burns 2. Rovanpera +14.2s 3. Gronholm +30.0s 4. Paasonen +36.7s 5. Mäkinen +40.0s 6. Solberg +49.7s 7. Märtin +52.9s 8. Sainz +1m05.6s 9. Loix +1m06.5s 10. Kankkunen +1m07.1s

 Action packed Whaanga Coast. @ 01:34 AM - SS4 Whaanga Coast could well have a strong bearing on the manufacturer WRChampionship 2002. Ford needs at least 2 cars on the podium to keep their chances in the title race alive. In SS4 however Colin Mc Rae retired after going off the road, while his Ford team mate Carlos Sainz lost over half a minute with a spin. Meanwhile Peugeot's Richard Burns keeps extending his lead, he is the stage winner by 7.4s and followed by two more Peugeots.

 Colin Mc Rae out! @ 01:27 AM - Colin Mc Rae went off the road and out of the rally near the end of the 30km Whaanga Coast stage (SS4)!

 Positions after 3 stages @ 01:16 AM - 1. Burns 2. Rovanpera +6.8s 3. C Mc Rae +18.2s 4. Grönholm +20.2s 5. Solberg +22.2s 6. Mäkinen +22.8s 7. Paasonen +26.5s 8. Sainz +28.7s 9. Märtin +37.9s 10. Loix +44.7s

 Burns and Rovanperä in control of SS3 @ 01:08 AM - Richard Burns charged to his third fastest stage time in as many stages. His closest rival is again Harri Rovanperä, while the 4th stage, the famous 30km Whaanga Coast stage is already under way.

 SS2 news @ 00:34 AM - Kenneth Eriksson, Skoda went off the road in SS2 and retired. The stage win is a tie between Peugeot drivers Richard Burns and Harri Rovanperä.