Well, we’re back, albeit at a slightly different address. Currently, the site is running at http://ankle-biter.net. My current hosting provider seems to be having major, major DNS issues (our _real_ domain name, anklebiter.net, has been unreachable for nearly four days now), so I got this other domain name and set up the site elsewhere (thanks to Matt). I’m in the processes of transferring anklebiter.net to my name, so hopefully within the next few days, that address will up and running again. So, anywho, use ankle-biter.net for checking out the site and sending us email….
On to the rally.
Quite a weekend in Corsica. After day one, it looked to be a battle between Markko Martin and Seb Loeb, as they distanced themselves from most of the pack (Marcus Gronholm, Francois Duval, and Carlos Sainz kept it close though). It was typically day of tarmac rallying — dry conditions and fast stage times. Petter Solberg, who nearly didn’t start the rally thanks to quite a shunt during shakedown (the Subaru techs worked all night on Thursday to get the car ready for the start), was barely in the top ten. Richard Burns had a slightly better time than in Italy, but he was still just in the points in seventh place.
Then, on day two, everything changed. Overnight rain made parts of the roads wet, and it didn’t take long for things to change. First victim — Sebastien Loeb. He spun and got stuck on the side of the road, and had to wait for spectators to pull him out. After losing over three minutes, Loeb was out of the running. Next victim — Markko Martin. The rains began to fall, and Martin had smashed a wheel. He was able to replace it and continue, but not without losing loads of time. The big winner in the all incidents was Francois Duval. He held the lead halfway through day two. Then it started to rain harder.
It’s well known in rally circles that the Pirelli-shod Subaru Impreza is most at home in wet, rough conditions. So Petter Solberg saw his chance and took it. After the second service, Solberg put his foot down and climbed up the leader’s table, and by the end of the day, he had a thirty-plus second lead on Duval. The big question was whether or not Solberg could hang on if conditions dried up on day three….
But, that question was never asked. The rains came again on day three, and thanks to his lead, Solberg didn’t have to push the pace. Martin had quite a shunt, and he didn’t see the finish line. Carlos Sainz did his championship hopes a favor by overtaking Duval for second place. The rest of point scoring positions went like this:
4th: Marcus Gronholm (his best result of the year on a rally he’s not won)
5th: Colin McRae (a very solid rally from McRae — he held his position most of the way).
6th: Gilles Panizzi (he has yet to find his form on the sealed surfaces)
7th: Tommi Makinen (a good effort from Tommi — he took advantage of the poor conditions on Saturday and jumped into the points after a poor start)
8th: Richard Burns (the single point keeps him tied with Solberg for second place in the championship table)
There’s no rest for the weary as the WRC heads directly to Spain for next weekend’s rally. The championship is still wide open, with Sainz leading Solberg and Burns by three points, and Loeb trailing that pair by three points. Loeb is still very much in the hunt, and he’ll be the favorite to win in Spain despite his problems in Corsica. Solberg and Makinen will be hoping for rain again. Subaru is hoping to just put Petter in the points next weekend if it’s a dry rally to allow him to take the championship with a win in Britain. You’ve got to like Sainz’s chances at the championship, though. He’s had a solid performance at both Italy and Corsica, and if he can haul in four or six points next weekend, he’ll be in good shape to take the championship.
Posted on 19 October 2003