Day 1 of the German Rally is at the halfway point, and there have been a few surprises. Richard Burns came out of the gate very quickly, setting the pace on SS1 and 2, but Markko Martin has responded and now has the lead after four stages. The surprises? Well, pre-race favorite Gilles Panizzi is roughly 40 seconds of the pace at the moment. Perhaps this isn’t too much of a surprise, given day 1 is run on the military grounds where Panizzi had a testing accident a few weeks ago. Added to that is the constantly changing surface (new tarmac, old tarmac, cement, cobbles, all mixed with dirt), but given his strong performances on the loose surface events this year, something seems amiss.

The new Ford Focus has been quick so far, and as long as Martin doesn’t run into mechanical issues, he should be gunning for a podium place. Colin McRae was also quite quick, though he lost a bit of time overshooting a junction on SS4. Marcus Gronholm has also stayed close to the pace, and is holding fourth place at the moment. Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg are struggling a bit, currently holding down eighth and ninth, respectively. Solberg complained a bit at the first service about the Impreza’s power, but he’s picked up his pace a bit. And the new Skoda Fabia has been doing well on its maiden event, with Tommi Gardenmeister holding tenth spot at the moment.

More updates as the day goes on….

Posted on 25 July 2003