Sun October 26, 2003

 Fabia Completes Spain in Good Shape The Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team completed October’s trio of asphalt rallies in good shape with the Fabia WRC consistently improving its performance. On an exceptionally difficult final day in Spain, Toni Gardemeister battled through heavy rain to take 12th place, setting fo...

 Markko Scores Another Ford Podium Ford BP Rallye Sport drivers Markko Märtin and Michael Park claimed the team's second podium finish in consecutive weekends when their Focus RS World Rally Car finished third on Spain's Rally Catalunya today. Rain transformed the third and final leg of this penultimate roun...

 A Flying Finish for Subaru

 Seb Almost Takes Win and Title Lead

 Gilles thrills!

 Another mega asphalt thriller

NEWS JUST IN

 Makes title battle @ 07:19 AM - provisional, unofficial standings after Catalunya: 1st Citroen 147points // 2nd Peugeot 142 without mathematical chance on the title left: 3rd Subaru 93 // 4th Ford 89 // 5th Skoda 21

 Drivers title battle @ 07:18 AM - provisional, unofficial standings after Catalunya: 1st Loeb 63points // 2nd Sainz 63 // 3rd Solberg 62 // 4th Burns 58 without mathematical chance on the title left: 5th Märtin 49 // 6th Grönholm 46 // 7th Mc Rae 40 // 8th Panizzi 27 // 9th Duval 26 // 10th Mäkinen 24 // 11th Rovanperä 18

 E SS22 - Panizzi WINS!!!! @ 07:15 AM - What a thriller! As we predicted before this stage, if he keeps going like that, he can actually take Loeb - and he did! Entering the stage 31s down, illes came out the other end winning the rally! Sainz engine stopped for no apparent reason in the last few meters of the rally and dropped places! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS22: 1. Panizzi 3:55:09.4, 2. Loeb +13.0 3. Märtin +13.6 4. Duval +55.4 5. Solberg +1:10.8 6. Grönholm +1:29.1 7. Sainz +1:33.0 8. Mäkinen +1:55.1 9. Mc Rae +3:15.2 10. Bugalski +5:13.6

 E SS21 - Loeb in danger? @ 05:53 AM - With one more stage to go, Panizzi and Märtin have further closed in on Loeb. At a rate of 1s per km faster over the previous two stages, the last stage might indeed be long enough for Loeb to be caught. Mäkinen dropped back behind Grönholm. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS21: 1. Loeb 3:31:00.0, 2. Panizzi +31.0 3. Märtin +41.3 4. Sainz +1:04.2 5. Duval +1:14.1 6. Solberg +1:19.7 7. Grönholm +1:59.3 8. Mäkinen +2:07.5 9. Mc Rae +2:22.9 10. Bugalski +4:19.9

 E SS20 - we are on last loop @ 05:51 AM - Still raining quite strongly, but Subaru/Pirelli combination not as far ahead as on the previous loop. Obviously road position and clean roads played into their hands first time round. Loeb taking it maybe a little too easily? Loeb dropped 17.2s on Märtin and 11.2s on Panizzi in this only 11km stage. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS20: 1. Loeb 3:27:29.5, 2. Panizzi +38.5 3. Märtin +45.1 4. Sainz +1:09.7 5. Duval +1:22.2 6. Solberg +1:24.6 7. Mäkinen +2:01.3 8. Grönholm +2:07.6 9. Mc Rae +2:19.4 10. Bugalski +4:05.1

 E SS19 - One long, wet havoc @ 02:58 AM - Burns crashes out of the rally, Subarus move up many places, Panizzi moves ahead of Märtin. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS19: 1. Loeb 3:20:42.9, 2. Panizzi +49.7 3. Märtin +1:02.3 4. Sainz +1:19.3 5. Duval +1:35.2 6. Solberg +1:39.2 7. Mäkinen +2:13.2 8. Grönholm +2:16.8 9. Mc Rae +2:19.9 10. Bugalski +4:02.0

 E SS18 - Kresta wins stage @ 02:29 AM - Bravo Roman Kresta, it's his 2nd WRC stage win. However it also shows how havoc the conditions are, Märtin posted the 13th fastest time as conditions worthened as the stage went on. Longest stage of the rally to come next, expect many changes. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS18: 1. Loeb 2:56:36.5, 2. Märtin +27.5 3. Panizzi +44.2 4. Sainz +1:02.7 5. Duval +1:14.9 6. Burns +1:47.6 7. Mc Rae +2:12.9 8. Solberg +2:18.9 9. Grönholm +2:22.9 10. Mäkinen +2:59.8

 E SS17 - Rain Reigns @ 02:28 AM - The rain havoc is here again and Loeb's lead is under serious threat while Subaru and Pirelli are flying. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS17: 1. Loeb 2:53:14.5, 2. Märtin +24.0 3. Panizzi +44.9 4. Sainz +1:03.9 5. Duval +1:12.6 6. Burns +1:47.9 7. Mc Rae +2:11.9 8. Grönholm +2:15.0 9. Solberg +2:21.1 10. Bugalski +2:48.8

 The rain is here @ 01:57 AM - At the start of leg3 in Lloret de Mar we have 8.5 degrees centigrade and light rain!

Sat October 25, 2003

 Day Two Wrap - Toni Shows Speed Škoda Motorsport Team driver Toni Gardemeister finished today’s second leg of the Catalunya Rally in 13th position but team mate Didier Auriol retired from the event 3kms into this morning’s first stage when the clutch on his Škoda Fabia WRC developed a fault and caught fire.Once...

 Tenth and Eleventh Ahead of Final Day Less than a week after claiming victory in Corsica, 555 Subaru driver Petter Solberg put in a strong performance aboard his Subaru Impreza WRC today as he sought to make up time incurred by a penalty in Leg one. After delivering a string of top ten times, the Norwegian will start...

 Hurting Markko still in the hunt Ford crew Markko Märtin and Michael Park were fastest through today's second leg of Spain's Rally Catalunya to climb to second overall on this penultimate round of Championship. Their Ford Focus WRC won three of today's eight asphalt speed tests in the mountains north o...

 Title isn't easy Gilles Panizzi has made up one position during leg2 and importantly for Peugeot’s manufacturer title hopes it was Citroen’s Carlos Sainz he managed to pass. Meanwhile Richard Burns managed to pull clear of Citroen’s Colin Mc Rae and at the same time Marcus Grönholm closed in on C...

NEWS JUST IN

 E SS16 - Loeb responds @ 09:02 AM - Top3 of the stage match top3 overall. But watch out for these battles: Sainz vs Duval, Mc Rae vs Grönholm and Bugalski vs Solberg. Unofficial, provisional positions after leg2: 1. Loeb 2:46:28.6, 2. Märtin +20.8 3. Panizzi +36.7 4. Sainz +1:05.2 5. Duval +1:08.8 6. Burns +1:40.4 7. Mc Rae +2:12.2 8. Grönholm +2:16.8 9. Bugalski +2:39.1 10. Solberg +2:39.8

 E SS15 - Pressure grows on Loeb @ 09:01 AM - Markko Märtin is the man of this loop of stages. Another stage win has him move further clear of Panizzi and now to less than 20s off the lead. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS15: 1. Loeb 2:38:23.1, 2. Märtin +19.2 3. Panizzi +34.8 4. Sainz +1:00.6 5. Duval +1:05.9 6. Burns +1:34.5 7. Mc Rae +2:03.0 8. Grönholm +2:13.8 9. Bugalski +2:31.7 10. Solberg +2:34.4

 E SS14 - Fast Märtin @ 08:58 AM - Märtin fastest over the stage, importantly taking time out of Panizzi and Loeb. Duval would have passed Sainz on the stages, but incured a 10s penalty for leaving service late. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS14: 1. Loeb 2:29:58.5, 2. Märtin +24.3 3. Panizzi +31.0 4. Sainz +1:01.8 5. Duval +1:08.8 6. Burns +1:32.5 7. Mc Rae +1:58.4 8. Grönholm +2:11.5 9. Bugalski +2:27.0 10. Solberg +2:35.1

 E SS13 - Short one @ 06:37 AM - Stage win for Burns. Märtin reclaims 2nd of Panizzi but only just, while both ever so slightly close in on Loeb. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS13: 1. Loeb 2:18:18.1, 2. Märtin +27.7 3. Panizzi +28.2 4. Sainz +53.4 5. Duval +55.1 6. Burns +1:25.9 7. Mc Rae +1:48.1 8. Grönholm +2:10.0 9. Bugalski +2:13.5 10. Solberg +2:21.9

 E SS12 - Big battles for 2nd & 4th @ 06:35 AM - Indeed. Duval wins stage and bites 10s out of Sainz' advantage. Sainz still heads Duval for 4th, but only by 0.9s. Meanwhile Panizzi manages to pass Märtin into 2nd, but only by 0.1s! Grönholm moves past Bugalski into 8th. Solberg moves past Mäkinen into 10th. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS12: 1. Loeb 2:15:19.0, 2. Panizzi +28.3 3. Märtin +28.4 4. Sainz +53.7 5. Duval +54.6 6. Burns +1:26.7 7. Mc Rae +1:47.1 8. Grönholm +2:09.9 9. Bugalski +2:12.3 10. Solberg +2:21.9

 E SS11 - Top3 battle @ 04:28 AM - The top3 of the rally have been the top3 of the stage as well, Panizzi fastest but only half a second ahead of joined 2nd Loeb & Märtin. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS11: 1. Loeb 1:59:45.8, 2. Märtin +26.2 3. Panizzi +30.4 4. Sainz +46.4 5. Duval +57.4 6. Burns +1:23.3 7. Mc Rae +1:44.9 8. Bugalski +2:05.3 9. Grönholm +2:11.7 10. Mäkinen +2:16.3

 E SS10 - Märtin in charge @ 04:27 AM - Loeb complains about there being a lot of gravel on the road, Sainz does not know why he is losing time. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS10: 1. Loeb 1:51:38.6, 2. Märtin +26.2 3. Panizzi +30.9 4. Sainz +42.1 5. Duval +54.4 6. Burns +1:21.7 7. Mc Rae +1:39.5 8. Bugalski +1:57.7 9. Grönholm +2:05.5 10. Mäkinen +2:06.5

 E SS9 - Wow Panizzi & Märtin @ 03:49 AM - Panizzi and Märtin flying through the stage, much faster than Sainz. Could they even put pressure on Loeb? Auriol has retired with clutch failure. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS9: 1. Loeb 1:43:19.5, 2. Märtin +29.4 3. Panizzi +31.2 4. Sainz +39.2 5. Duval +57.4 6. Burns +1:22.3 7. Mc Rae +1:33.8 8. Bugalski +1:54.3 9. Grönholm +2:02.0 10. Mäkinen +2:02.2

 weather update 08:30 @ 03:03 AM - While leg2 gets under way, at 08:30 this morning, it is cold and crisp, only around 1.5 degrees centigrade, but roads are dry and sun is shining, light clouds.

Fri October 24, 2003

 Subaru Behind but Ready to Push A day of mixed fortunes for the 555 Subaru World Rally Team. After clinching a stage win and demonstrating the competitive performance of the Subaru Impreza WRC, Petter Solberg collected a 50 second time penalty after an unexpected service delay. At the end of Leg 1, he holds ove...

 There is some promise Peugeot’s attempt to prove the 206 is still competitive and can help Peugeot winning a 4th makes title got off to a bad start when for the first loop of 3 stages the entire team choose once again the completely wrong tyres. Temperatures in the morning of about 4 degrees centigrad...

 Skoda held back by small problems Škoda Motorsport Team driver Didier Auriol got off to a flying start on the Catalunya Rally, his 150th World Rally Championship event, when he set tenth fastest time over the opening stage of La Trona. Unfortunately Didier’s luck did not hold out, leaving team mate Toni Gardemeis...

NEWS JUST IN

 weather update 23:00 @ 05:24 PM - At Rallye Catalunya locally at 11pm Friday night it started raining very hard with temperatures being only at 4 degrees centigrade. It looks like it could be only a short rain, but at these temperatures chances are that conditions in the morning stages may be trickier than they were today.

 E SS8 - end of leg1 @ 11:15 AM - Loeb ends the leg in a huge lead. But behind him is a good fight. Panizzi has kept closing in on the last 4 stages and is now only 2.3s behind Märtin and 7.3s behind Sainz. Unofficial, provisional positions after leg1: 1. Loeb 1:31:37.8, 2. Sainz +26.2 3. Märtin +31.2 4. Panizzi +33.5 5. Duval +55.0 6. Burns +1:14.0 7. Mc Rae +1:22.9 8. Bugalski +1:39.3 9. Mäkinen +1:42.0 10. Grönholm +1:56.2

 E SS7 - Burns slips @ 10:51 AM - Burns had an off in the stage and lost over 30s. Panizzi in turn takes the stage win. Loeb extents lead over Sainz. Auriol has engine problems. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS7: 1. Loeb 1:16:42.5, 2. Sainz +17.7 3. Märtin +21.7 4. Panizzi +31.3 5. Duval +46.8 6. Mc Rae +1:05.8 7. Burns +1:08.4 8. Mäkinen +1:24.0 9. Bugalski +1:31.4 10. Solberg +1:44.7

 E SS6 - Citroen hunting @ 10:20 AM - The supposed to be uncompetitive Peugeots and the fast Fords have started to hunt the Citroens. Panizzi wins stage ahead of Martin, Duval and Burns, fastest Citroen on this stage is Loeb in 5th. What could be helping this situation is this being a re-run of an earlier stage. This however would mean we will see more of the same on the remaining stages of the day. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS6: 1. Loeb 1:03:30.6, 2. Sainz +13.1 3. Märtin +19.6 4. Burns +29.5 5. Panizzi +32.6 6. Duval +47.1 7. Mc Rae +49.7 8. Mäkinen +1:11.9 9. Bugalski +1:25.6 10. Solberg +1:33.6