Wed July 30, 2003

 Speeding (is not) Fine Colin McRae, Richard Burns, Carlos Sainz, Tommi Makinen, Armin Schwarz, Freddy Loix and Markko Martin were amongst 20 drivers who have been allegedly caught speeding during last years Rally Of Great Britain. Armin Schwarz has pleaded guilty to the offence of speeding and it ...

Sun November 17, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 Down the classes: @ 04:09 PM - Daniel Sola wins the JWRC category and with it the JWRChampionship in GB. In group N wins Sweden's Oscar Svedlund. Touring car ace James Thompson misses the group N victory by 11.4s and is tied 19th overall with the A6 winner Jean-Joseph.

 Second place in title race @ 02:58 PM - The win for Solberg secures second place in the championship for the Subaru man ... team boss David Lapworth has acclaimed the young Norwegian as the "best since McRae" - great praise indeed.

 Solberg takes first win! @ 02:30 PM - Petter Solberg has been seen jumping on the bonnet of his Impreza WRC2002 as he enjoys the first win of his WRC career ... what a victory for co-driver Phil Mills on his home event ... Solberg goes to the top step of the podium on his 44th WRC event ... provisional results of the 2002 Rally GB: 1. Solberg 2. Märtin +0:00:24.4 3. Sainz +0:01:35.7 4. Mäkinen +0:02:37.5 5. McRae +0:03:01.5 6. Higgins M +0:05:01.9 7. Rovanperä +0:05:15.8 8. Loix +0:05:15.9 9. Kankkunen +0:05:29.1 10. Gardemeister +0:06:02.9

 Petter @ 01:55 PM - "My strategy for the last stage (17) has to be to go flat out."

 Just the final Margam run to go @ 12:41 AM - Everything seems to be settled now ... Solberg takes out 21 seconds advantage over Markko ... Makinen steals gap ahead of McRae ... Harri suffers with hydraulic failure ... Higgins creeps into final points position ... 1. Solberg 2. Märtin +0:00:21.3 3. Sainz +0:01:19.6 4. Mäkinen +0:02:23.2 5. McRae +0:02:50.0 6. Higgins M +0:04:32.4 7. Loix +0:04:49.0 8. Kankkunen +0:05:04.9 9. Rovanperä +0:05:06.1 10. Gardemeister +0:05:37.5

 Burns out! @ 12:35 AM - Richard Burns is reported to have crashed off the road and cannot get back on - a disaster on the first run through Margam.

 Loeb out! @ 12:25 AM - Loeb has stopped with steering problems in SS16 - his front wheels are pointing in different directions! Rovanperä has been slowed by hydraulic problems, his position will have a bearing on who comes 4th in the makes title between Skoda and Hyundai!

 With two to go ... @ 11:20 AM - Märtin posts sensational scratch time to narrow gap to Solberg ... Burns passes Sainz for third ... McRae and Makinen locked together for fifth ... 1. Solberg 2. Märtin +0:00:12.8 3. Burns +0:00:55.9 4. Sainz +0:01:02.7 5. Mäkinen +0:02:23.1 6. Mc Rae +0:02:29.9 7. Loeb +0:02:39.4 8. Rovanperä +0:03:53.0 9. Higgins M +0:04:13.6 10. Loix +0:04:23.1

 Butter, Not Cake @ 09:50 AM - In exciting news, we have learned that the cake like substance that had been thrown at the cars of Carlos Sainz, Markko Martin and Harri Rovanpera on yesterdays leg was in fact blobs of butter. That tends to make our Mr Kipling joke written at the time of the report even less amusing than it first appeared.

 Solberg snatches back the lead @ 08:35 AM - Surprisingly drama free 55km second run through Resolfen stage has Solberg taking the lead by 20 seconds ... Burns closes in on third with 6 seconds gap now to Sainz ... McRae passes Loeb and both closing on Mäkinen ... Rovanperä moving from 11th to 8th. 1. Solberg 2. Märtin +0:00:20.3 3. Sainz +0:00:52.0 4. Burns +0:00:58.9 5. Mäkinen +0:02:23.2 6. Mc Rae +0:02:27.9 7. Loeb +0:02:34.5 8. Rovanperä +0:03:49.6 9. Higgins M +0:03:55.9 10. Loix +0:04:07.2

Sat November 16, 2002

 Leg 1 Results, Leg 2 Starting Order

NEWS JUST IN

 After leg2 @ 08:09 PM - Mc Rae spins in the short Super Special and drops outside the points - just. Gap Märtin - Solberg is 1.6s with the first stage tomorrow morning being 54.69km! 1. Märtin 2. Solberg +0:00:01.6 3. Sainz +0:00:28.1 4. Burns +0:00:57.7 5. Mäkinen +0:01:42.5 6. Loeb +0:02:03.1 7. Mc Rae +0:02:03.5 8. Higgins M +0:03:00.8 9. Loix +0:03:12.7 10. Kankkunen +0:03:30.0

 The other championship again @ 05:01 PM - Of the two teams fighting for the JWRC, Daniel Sola is leading the category with Andrea Dallavilla down in 8th, 6 minutes off the pace of Sola. Dallavilla lost major time with punctures in the long SS8 and now has to rely on bad luck for Sola to tae the title.

 After SS12 @ 03:44 PM - Gap between Märtin and solberg now reduced to only 1.8s! 1. Märtin 2. Solberg +0:00:01.8 3. Sainz +0:00:27.4 4. Burns +0:00:56.5 5. Mäkinen +0:01:37.8 6. Mc Rae +0:01:39.2 7. Loeb +0:02:01.9 8. Higgins M +0:02:59.6 9. Loix +0:03:08.9 10. Kankkunen +0:03:26.6

 After SS11 @ 03:09 PM - The gap between Märtin and Solberg narrows to 2.9s, Mäkinen re-takes Mc rae by the smallest possible margine: 0.1s. Rovanperä still struggles with a front left wheel bearing problem. 1. Märtin 2. Solberg +0:00:02.9 3. Sainz +0:00:21.0 4. Burns +0:00:53.5 5. Mäkinen +0:01:36.5 6. Mc Rae +0:01:36.6 7. Loeb +0:02:01.4 8. Rovanperä +0:02:22.9 9. Higgins M +0:02:52.6 10. Loix +0:03:03.6

 Mitsubishi exits Rally GB @ 01:05 PM - Having lost Justin Dale early on, it now appears that in SS10 not only Jani Paasonen crashed but also Francois Delecour. Such all works Mitsubishis have now retired.

 Dramatic SS10 @ 12:57 AM - Grönholm crashed out spectacularly, both driver and navigator are OK. They were joined by Jani Paasonen, rolling in the same spot and stopping 5 metres from the Peugeot. Rovanperä is reported to have brake problems and has been passed by Burns. Burns now moved from 8th to 4th within 3 stages. Mc Rae also passed Mäkinen. 1. Märtin 2. Solberg +0:00:03.5 3. Sainz +0:00:16.7 4. Burns +0:00:52.1 5. Rovanperä +0:01:24.9 6. Mc Rae +0:01:29.7 7. Mäkinen +0:01:32.6 8. Loeb +0:01:57.1 9. Higgins M +0:02:44.6 10. Loix +0:02:57.3

 Gronholm Out! @ 12:52 AM - Marcus Gronholm has sensationally rolled out of the Rally of Great Britain and retired on SS10. Jani Paasonen also retired on this stage after rolling.

 After SS9 @ 12:19 AM - Solberg closes gap to Märtin to 4.9s, Burns closes gap to Rovanperä to 4.8s. 1. Grönholm 2. Märtin +0:01:08.0 3. Solberg +0:01:12.9 4. Sainz +0:01:21.1 5. Rovanperä +0:01:59.8 6. Burns +0:02:04.6 7. Mäkinen +0:02:31.0 8. Mc Rae +0:02:37.3 9. Loeb +0:03:07.7 10. Higgins M +0:03:45.1

 More SS8 @ 09:20 AM - Citroen's Thomas Radström retired with engine problems. Grönholm and Burns both claim they weren't driving very well!????

 Everything change in SS8! @ 09:00 AM - Burns moves past Mc Rae AND Mäkinen, also Solberg drops behind Märtin and now has Sainz breathing down his neck as well. 1. Grönholm 2. Märtin +0:01:07.7 3. Solberg +0:01:16.0 4. Sainz +0:01:20.2 5. Rovanperä +0:01:56.8 6. Burns +0:02:06.6 7. Mäkinen +0:02:26.5 8. Mc Rae +0:02:34.1 9. Loeb +0:03:03.3 10. Higgins M +0:03:40.0

 Hyundais in trouble @ 08:24 AM - The first stage of leg2, a 55km cracker starts off with a bang. Early in the stage, even before the first cars finished, Hyundai's Armin Schwarz seems to have dropped over 7 minutes and Juha Kankkunen near a minute. Schwarz went off but continues, while Kankkunen stopped at the scene to lend Schwarz a fire extinguisher!!!! It also looks like Burns will pass Mc Rae on this stage and possibly even Mäkinen!

Fri November 15, 2002

NEWS JUST IN

 After leg1 @ 08:02 PM - Not much movement in the Super Special, but note that Mark Higgins got a 10s time penalty for lateness, dropping him just outside the top10 1. Grönholm 2. Solberg +0:00:48.3 3. Märtin +0:00:51.0 4. Sainz +0:01:04.9 5. Rovanperä +0:01:44.9 6. Mäkinen +0:01:48.6 7. Mc Rae +0:01:59.5 8. Burns +0:02:01.4 9. Loeb +0:02:13.8 10. Loix +0:02:51.3

 More SS6 action @ 04:05 PM - Kenneth Eriksson and Jani Paasonen have both lost heaps of time in SS6, Eriksson with brake problems, Paasonen with a slipping clutch.

 After SS6 @ 03:58 PM - The battle is still between Solberg and Märtin, while Mc Rae and Burns both moved up one more position - Burns is only 1.6s down on Mc Rae now. 1. Grönholm 2. Solberg +0:00:49.6 3. Märtin +0:00:51.8 4. Sainz +0:01:05.0 5. Rovanperä +0:01:43.2 6. Mäkinen +0:01:46.4 7. Mc Rae +0:01:58.7 8. Burns +0:02:00.3 9. Loeb +0:02:10.5 10. Higgins M +0:02:43.4

 Penalty for Rovanpera @ 01:17 PM - Harri Rovanpera was given a 10s penalty for jumping the start of SS5.

 After SS5 @ 01:16 PM - Solberg and Märtin swap positions, Burns and Mc Rae moving up... 1. Grönholm 2. Solberg +0:00:38.5 3. Märtin +0:00:40.5 4. Sainz +0:00:51.3 5. Rovanperä +0:01:18.6 6. Mäkinen +0:01:28.0 7. Loeb +0:01:45.7 8. Mc Rae +0:01:46.1 9. Burns +0:01:54.5 10. Higgins M +0:01:57.9

 SS4 cancelled! @ 11:30 AM - The 2nd run over Brechfa - SS4 - is cancelled for spectator problems. Clerk of the course, Fred Gallagher said "SS4, Brechfa 2, has been cancelled on the recommendation of the FIA safety delegate due to the pressure of specatators."

 Justin Dale Retired @ 11:07 AM - Justin Dale has now retired from the Rally of Great Britain with a damaged roll cage.

 Not to forget the other championship... @ 09:51 AM - The JWRC is to be decided in GB with Dallavilla 1point ahead of Sola. After SS3 Sola leads the category with Dallavilla 3rd, the gap: 10.7s! We will keep watching out!

 After SS3 @ 09:29 AM - 1. Grönholm 2. Märtin +0:00:29.5 3. Solberg +0:00:30.3 4. Sainz +0:00:36.0 5. Rovanperä +0:00:51.1 6. Mäkinen +0:01:12.8 7. Loeb +0:01:20.4 8. Higgins M +0:01:29.0 9. Kankkunen +0:01:33.6 10. Mc Rae +0:01:36.3 11. Loix +0:01:37.6 12. Burns +0:01:40.7 News from the previous stage include Dale rolling but continuing and Valentino Rossi having crashed out on his first proper stage.

 Burns in trouble in SS3 @ 08:30 AM - This makes now both British top WRC drivers in trouble. Burns has lost over a minute so far in SS3 when he had a very slight off. This flattened the exhaust and losing power caused the time loss. This re-instated the British battle with Burns now being 4.4s down on Mc Rae!

 After SS2 @ 08:25 AM - 1. Grönholm 2. Burns +0:00:02.0 3. Märtin +0:00:11.2 4. Sainz +0:00:11.7 5. Solberg +0:00:16.5 6. Rovanperä +0:00:17.8 7. Higgins M +0:00:44.6 8. Mäkinen +0:00:45.5 9. Loix +0:00:48.1 10. Loeb +0:00:50.1

 Troubles in first forest stage @ 08:05 AM - Colin Mc Rae went off in the first forest stage. He can continue, but losing over a minute, his chances of winning his home event are basically over. Tommi Mäkinen also dropped over half a minute, most of it in the early part of the stage, for unconfirmed reasons.