It was a quite a day in Finland, and it looks like the rally will have only its third non-Finnish winner when the dust settles on Sunday (barring a rash of retirements). Where to begin….

First, Marcus Gronholm retired during SS13 with wheel problems. Seems he suffered the same fate as teammate Harri Rovanpera (a snapped suspension bolt), but Gronholn’s 206 lost a wheel, and he was unable to continue. Gronholm’s title defense this year looks eerily similar to his 2001 campaign — a few wins between numerous crashes and retirements (which allowed Richard Burns to take the driver’s championship despite only winning New Zealand). Things don’t looks good for Marcus at the moment, with Burns and Carlos Sainz fighting for second place points, but more on that in a moment.

Colin McRae also saw his championship disappear. After setting a fastest stage time, McRae was penalized a minute for turning in his timecard too early (cars can’t arrive at a stage start too soon after traveling on a road section). To add insult to injury, McRae crashed out on SS16.

All this leaves Markko Martin in the lead by over one minute, but his day was not without drama as well. Electronics problems in the Focus affected the differentials, and Martin was nearly caught by Richard Burns. But….

Burns ran into wheel bearing issues on SS17, and lost nearly a minute Martin, thus putting him a three way for second place with Carlos Sainz and Petter Solberg. Only half a second separates the three heading into the last day of the rally. Solberg surged late in the day, setting the fastest time on SS17. Petter doesn’t sound hopeful, however, saying that Burns will take second, just because of how quick the 206 is. This could just be scare tactics from Petter as well, given that he said he didn’t think the Impreza would be very quick here.

Sebastien Loeb is comfortably in fifth, and Tommi Makinen in sixth, well ahead of a contingent of Finnish irregulars. Should things continue as is for Subaru, this will be a decent rally, and should keep them ahead of Ford in the manufacturer’s standings.

At this point, this is Markko Martin’s rally. A steady drive should net him the win, as there are no killer stages tomorrow. The question is, can the Focus hold up for another day? The pressure is on Richard Burns and Carlos Sainz, and I imagine Solberg will do what he can to force them to make a mistake. Burns can’t afford to be too relaxed, as only .5 seconds separates 8 championship points and 4. High stakes indeed.

Posted on 9 August 2003