Sun March 24, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Toni pushes it to the finish! @ 05:08 PM - There was a final frustration - and then final joy - for Skoda Motorsport´s crew of Toni Gardemeister/Paavo Lukander when their Octavia WRC had a sudden loss of oil pressure just 25km from the official finish of the Rally of Catalunya. The team limped on and just 1 km and 100 metres before the final finish line, it seemed that they would be forced to retire, when the Octavia WRC stopped. But undaunted the team rolled up their sleeves and pushed the car across the finish line!

 Peugeot Take Maximum Points @ 01:30 PM - Once again maximum points for Peugeot! 1. Panizzi 3:34:09.0 2. Burns +37.3s 3. Bugalski +1m13.5s 4. Gronholm +1m42.7s 5. Solberg +2m01.6s 6. CMcRae +3m27.3s 7. Rovanpera +3m40.1s 8. Martin +3m43.9s 9. Delecour +5m28.6s 10. Loix +5m30.6s... Gardemeister, Puras, AMcRae...

 Panizzi On Course For Win @ 12:48 AM - Only 1 stage remaining now. After 17: 1. Panizzi 2. Burns +37.1s 3. Bugalski +1m09.1s 4. Gronholm +1m39.9s 5. Solberg +2m07.4s 6. CMcRae +3m06.9s 7. Martin +3m34.9s 8. Rovanpera +3m37.0s 9. Delecour +5m15.5s 10. Loix +5m18.6s

 Overall After Stage 16 @ 11:53 AM - 1. Panizzi 2. Burns +35.6s 3. Bugalski +1m06.6s 4. Gronholm +1m39.3s 5. Solberg +2m06.3s 6. CMcRae +3m05.0s 7. Martin +3m34.9s 8. Rovanpera +3m35.4s 9. Delecour +5m14.3s 10. Loix +5m17.7s

 Gardemeister Drops - 9th to 11th @ 09:57 AM - Overall after stage 15: 1. Panizzi 2. Burns +31.7s 3. Bugalski +1m01.1s 4. Gronholm +1m38.1s 5. Solberg +2m05.2s 6. CMcRae +2m57.0s 7. Martin +3m27.9s 8. Rovanpera +3m28.3s 9. Delecour +5m04.9s 10. Loix +5m09.3s

 Puras Takes 14 @ 09:39 AM - Overall after stage 13: 1. Panizzi 2. Burns +42.4s 3. Bugalski +1m03.4s 4. Gronholm +1m43.1s 5. Solberg +2m03.1s 6. CMcRae +2m41.8s 7. Martin +3m11.5s 8. Rovanpera +3m23.6s 9. Gardemeister +4m48.9s 10. Delecour +4m51.9s

 Loeb rolls on short stage @ 09:06 AM - Citroen's Sebastien Loeb made virtually his first mistake in world rallying on the short (5.05 km) La Roca stage, rolling his Xsara WRC, he got the car started again but retired soon after. McRae moves into the points.

 Burns & Panizzi Tie for SS13 @ 08:06 AM - Overall after stage 13: 1. Panizzi 2. Burns +44.4s 3. Bugalski +1m03.8s 4. Loeb +1m32.6s 5. Gronholm +1m45.7s 6. Solberg +2m06.6s 7. C McRae +2m43.0s 8. Martin +3m14.1s 9. Rovanpera +3m25.5s 10. Gardemeister +4m47.1s

Sat March 23, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Positions at end of leg2 @ 08:25 PM - 1. Panizzi   2. Burns +44.4s   3. Bugalski +1m01.7s   4. Loeb +1m27.2s   5. Gronholm +1m44.2s   6. Solberg +2m01.7s   7. C McRae +2m34.0s   8. Martin +3m06.0s   9. Rovanpera +3m18.8s   10. Gardemeister +4m27.0s  

 Sainz crashes out @ 02:14 PM - Carlos Sainz has left the road and retired during SS10 - reports are that the Spaniard has hit a spectator's car on the stage, the reason for the cancellation earlier this morning. The crew are reported to be ok.

 Positions After SS9 @ 12:08 AM - 1. Panizzi, 2. Burns +31.3s, 3. Bugalski +52.3s, 4. Loeb +1m14.1s, 5. Gronholm +1m30.2s, 6. Solberg +1m48.0s, 7. C McRae +2m05.1s, 8. Sainz +2m09.6s, 9. Martin +2m25.4s, 10. Rovanpera +2m42.1s

 Another 2 stages cancelled @ 09:14 AM - ... due to too many spectators the first two of leg 2. The organisers will come under some serious scrutiny for this second cancellation, and it raises again the logic of running WRC rallies over weekends in south-european countries.

 Makinen Out! @ 08:17 AM - With no way to cure problems with the car or get the car to service in time Tommi Makinen has retired from Catalunya around 50km before reaching first service. He was lying in 12 after gearbox problems and an off on day 1.

Fri March 22, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Tommi Through SS6 @ 05:10 PM - But lost 2 minutes on the stage after going off into a ditch.

 SS6 going ahead @ 04:24 PM - It will be delayed by 8 minutes with the fire now out

 SS6 May Be Cancelled @ 03:20 PM - Forest fires burning close to end of stage have meant gravel crews are unable to complete the route and there is doubt over whether it will go ahead.

 Overall After Stage 5 @ 03:17 PM - 1. Panizzi, 2. Burns +17.7s, 3. Bugalski +40.5s, 4. Loeb +47.9s, 5. Gronholm +52.1s, 6. Solberg +56.9s, 7. Sainz +1m19.2s, 8. C McRae +1m20.4s, 9. Makinen +1m20.9s, 10. Martin +1m24.6s

 After SS4: @ 02:02 PM - 1. Panizzi   2. Burns +13.5s   3. Bugalski +38.9s   4. Loeb +40.8s   5. Gronholm +45.4s   6. Solberg +54.1s   7. Sainz +58.9s   8. C McRae +59.3s   9. Martin +1m01.5s   10. Makinen +1m04.2s  

 Problems in SS3 @ 12:16 AM - On the longest stage of the Rally, 48.05km SS3, several crews encountered problems. Kenneth Eriksson experienced trouble with the power steering of his Skoda, Armin Schwarz had a puncture, Achim Motrl had two, Jesus Puras had brake problems and Bruno Thiry stopped to change a wheel.

 After SS3: @ 11:56 AM - 1. Panizzi   2. Burns +11.3s   3. Bugalski +33.6s   4. Loeb +36.1s   5. Solberg +38.5s   6. Gronholm +41.0s   7. Sainz +50.1s   8. C McRae +52.0s   9. Martin +54.1s   10. Makinen +54.9s  

 Current Results From SS2 @ 09:02 AM - 1. PANIZZI 16:37.8, 2. BURNS +7.7, 3. GRONHOLM +15.4, 4. SOLBERG +15.4, 5. LOEB +15.9, 6. BUGALSKI +19.4, 7. MAKINEN +24.0, 8. SAINZ +27.2, 9. MARTIN +28.4, 10. MCRAE +31.6

 SS1 Cancelled @ 07:41 AM - Due to the volume of spectators SS1 will not run.

 Cheating Drivers Given Year Ban @ 01:55 AM - Two drivers were yesterday handed one year bans for illegal practice for Rallye Catalunya. 206WRC driver and Portuguese Championship runner up, Miguel Campos, and Italian Mitsubishi driver Angelo Proietti who were seen on the stages in January and March respectively.

Thu March 21, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Kuchar will not start @ 10:58 AM - Hyundai's Tomasz Kuchar will not start Rally Catalunya as injuries sustained during a recce accident yesterday are too bad to worth risking a start. The unfortunate Pole didn't complete a stage in Corsica either and will be wondering when his luck will change.

Wed March 20, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Kuchar in recce accident @ 12:41 AM - Hyundai's third driver for Rallye Catalunya, Tomasz Kuchar, has been hospitalised after an accident with a truck on the recce. He and his codriver are thought to have suffered relatively minor injuries and could yet make the start.