Ahh, the great thing about the Rally Australia? I can write up the results of Friday’s stages on Friday morning, because they happened yesterday. Go figure.
Anyway, it’s been a busy day down under, with a tight race for the lead. Sebastien Loeb (running only his second Rally Australia), Petter Solberg, and Marcus Gronholm had distanced themselves from the rest of pack, with Gronholm holding a ten second lead by the second service stop. Loeb and Solberg were trading stage wins to chip away at Gronholm’s lead, but Marcus managed to stay close. Then on SS8, it went all wrong for Gronholm, as he spun his 206 into a ditch and lost 15 minutes. No matter how quick Gronholm is, he’s lost the rally, and more and likely, the championship, unless he has a stunning run on the tarmac events. More and more this season is looking like Gronholm’s last title defence in 2001, when he only finished a handful of rallies.
Richard Burns is holding down third place, but he’s nearly thirty seconds off the pace, though he is playing the role of gravel sweeper running first on the road. He should be faster tomorrow, and he should be able to claw back into contention. Tommi Makinen is driving well, holding fourth place ahead of Markko Martin and Carlos Sainz. So far, it’s been good news for Skoda, as Didier Auriol holds ninth place overall.
It should be another exciting battle over the weekend between Solberg and Burns, the future teammates. The big question is, can Seb Loeb overcome his inexperience and fight for his first gravel victory.
Update
At the end of the first day of rallying, Seb Loeb has a slim 3.9 second lead over Petter Solberg, and Richard Burns is nearly 40 seconds adrift. Tommi Makinen is putting in a fantasic performance, another 20 seconds behind Burns. Markko Martin currently holds fifth, ahead of the rest of the Citroen team of Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. Even if Sainz and McRae simply hold their spots, it will be enough for Citroen to overtake Peugeot in the maker’s championship.
Biggest news of the day? Marcus Gronholm doesn’t show up for the start of SS10. After putting his 206 in a ditch, Gronholm was nearly 20 minutes off the pace, and did not want to continue. Peugeot told him to finish the stage, but obviously Marcus won the debate, and his championship defence is in serious jeopardy.
Solberg played it calm at the end of the day, saying that the real racing would start tomorrow. After his effort in Finland, it’s obvious that he knows how to push the pace. Unless Burns can really turn up the heat, I expect this will be Solberg’s rally.
Posted on 5 September 2003