It was a generally quiet day in Wales, with Petter Solberg taking a clean sweep of stages (the last state, the superspecial at Cardiff, will be run this evening). He’s extended his lead to just over 40 seconds ahead of Sebastien Loeb, and Loeb has resigned himself to getting the Xsara to the finishing ramp on Sunday to allow Citroen to win the make’s title. Tommi Makinen has put in a consistent day, still holding third place ahead of Colin McRae by about seven seconds. Harri Rovanpera rounds out the top five.

Solberg did have a bit of scare on the last stage of the day, bending his Impreza’s steering on a pothole. It didn’t do much to slow him however, as Solberg still won the stage and extended his advantage over Loeb. It’s just a matter of Solberg keeping his nose clean tomorrow, and that shouldn’t be too hard with only three competitive stages (though one is the tough Margarm Park circuit). I think the most exciting battle will be between Makinen and McRae, as both try to end their WRC careers with a podium finish.

Posted on 8 November 2003