Not much has changed in the top 4 after day two in Monte Carlo. Sebastien Loeb has extended his lead, and he now holds an advantage of over a minute and half. Ford’s David Duval and Markko Martin will fight it out for second place tomorrow, with Duval currently holding a slim lead. Marcus Gronholm […]
Posted on January 24th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rallye Monte Carlo Day 2
Well, after four stages, the new Peugeot 307 looks to be a fine successor for the 206. Marcus Gronholm currently leads the rally by 8 seconds over Sebastien Loeb and 11 seconds over Ford’s Markko Martin. Each of the three has taken a stage win so far. The conditions have been typical Monte — snow […]
Posted on January 23rd, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rallye Monte Carlo Day 1
In six days, the 2004 season begins in Monte Carlo. I’ll wrap my season preview and Monte preview into a single entry, just for convenience sake. This is Sebastien Loeb’s championship to lose. He made a few uncharacteristic mistakes on his favored surface (tarmac), missing out on big points in Germany and France. Don’t expect […]
Posted on January 17th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on 2004 WRC Preview – Wrapup
After a year’s sabbatical, Mitsubishi returns with a new drivers line-up and a completely redesigned Lancer WRC. The car features a redesigned body and engine, and promises to be a strong competitor once the bugs are worked out. New number one driver Gilles Panizzi said the car has felt very good during the tests, and […]
Posted on January 14th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on 2004 WRC Preview – Mitsubishi
If one established factory team was a model of inconsistency in 2003, it was Ford. The team debuted the new Focus, and it was incredibly quick — when it was running. Markko Martin showed poise and skill in winning Rally Finland — but retired or crashed out of a handful of other rallies. Francois Duval […]
Posted on January 11th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on 2004 WRC Preview – Ford
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Though Peugeot didn’t have a disasterous year in 2003, taking second place in the manufacturer’s championship, it was still a huge disappointment after taking both the driver’s and make’s titles in 2002. The team had problems everywhere, so where to begin…. Reliability suddenly become an issue for 206. After […]
Posted on January 8th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on 2004 WRC Preview — Peugeot
After a fine season in 2003, which saw Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz finish 2-3 in the driver’s championship and a manufacturer’s championship, Citroen is poised to have another fine campaign in 2004. They are clearly the strongest team in the championship, with Peugeot putting all its muscle behind Marcus Gronholm. The Xsara has proven […]
Posted on January 6th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on 2004 WRC Preview – Citroen
It was quite a season for Subaru in 2003 — Tommi Makinen’s last season in the WRC, Petter Solberg fighting for and ultimately winning the driver’s championship, and the return of Richard Burns. The team got some bad news soon after celebrating Solberg’s victory, when it was announced that Burns would sit out the 2004 […]
Posted on January 4th, 2004 by admin
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The early reports out of Subaru/Pro-drive headquarters in Branbury England is that Colin McRae will not sign with Subaru for the 2004 season. Seems as if Subaru brass in Japan see not signing a top tier driver for the upcoming season as a cost cutting measure, given that the schedule has been expanded to 16 […]
Posted on December 13th, 2003 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on WRC News
The World Rally Championship got stunning news today from Richard Burns — he will miss the 2004 season due to a brain tumor. While Burns is expected to recover fully pending medical treatment, his doctors advised him to sit out the 2004 campaign. This leaves Subaru without their second driver next year, perhaps opening a […]
Posted on November 17th, 2003 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on WRC News