Not much news from day 2 of Rally Australia. Rally leader Seb Loeb and second place driver Petter Solberg took four stage wins each, and Loeb holds a slim, slim 5 second lead going into the final day (which, for those us in the Western Hemisphere, starts in five minutes). Solberg is still the favourite to win however — his experience, combined with the wet forecast, gives him an advantage over Loeb, who up to this point was known as a tarmac specialist. Loeb must be thinking a bit about Solberg’s performace last month in Finland — entering the final day a little over five seconds behind Richard Burns, and driving like a man possessed (he bent his gas pedal) to overtake Burns for second place. It should be an exciting day.

The only real bit of news was Markko Martin being excluded (read disqualified for adjusting the weight of his Focus illegally by using a rock to wedge his space wheel in place after a strap broke. Martin gives up fourth place, moving Colin McRae into fourth and Tommi Makinen into fifth.

Posted on 6 September 2003