Swedish Rally 11th - 13th February 2005
SOLBERG STUNS FOR SUBARU
Leg 1 - A distinct lack of snow preceded the event but snowfall at the eleventh hour, on the Wednesday of rally week, meant that there would be a light covering of the white stuff on the stages, minus the snowbanks on which the crews like to lean. 2004 world champion Sébastien Loeb set off into SS1, Likenäs 1, fearing he would lose a lot of time clearing the freshly fallen snow from the stage surface but, as it was, he would go second fastest, 5.4 seconds down on stage winner Petter Solberg. He would do so again in SS2, Hara 1, and SS3, Torntorp 1, to slot into second place at service. Petter Solberg continued his stage-winning form into SS2, which gave the Norwegian a 7.5-second lead, but a failed set-up change and his choice of a longer studded tyre not suiting the conditions contributed to the Subaru man losing a hefty 12.1 seconds in SS3 to the Peugeot of new rally leader Marcus Grönholm. The Impreza slipped down to third behind Loeb as the top three were covered by a miniscule 0.2 seconds after SS3. Into the afternoon loop and Loeb would be the first of the leading crews to slip up, overshooting a junction in SS4, Likenäs 2, with a loss of 18 seconds. Petter Solberg moved back up to second as a consequence, 3.8 seconds down on Grönholm, before the Subaru reduced the margin to 3.1 seconds after SS5, Hara 2. SS6, Torntorp 2, saw Italian Gigi Galli set his first fastest stage time in the WRC, a marked improvement in form for the factory Mitsubishi team as both of their cars went out of the rally on the opening day in 2004. SS6 also saw a change of leader as Petter Solberg aced Grönholm by 3.2 seconds to hit the front by all of 0.1 seconds! The lead changed hands again though after SS7, Hagfors Sprint 1, with Grönholm going through 0.3 seconds faster than the Subaru, which gave the Finn an advantage of just 0.2 seconds overnight. Loeb remained in touch, 10.2 seconds away from the leading Peugeot.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautianen - Peugeot 307 WRC 58:20.8
2. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC +0.2
3. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën Xsara WRC +10.2
4. Gigi Galli/Guido D’Amore - Mitsubishi Lancer WRC +18.9
5. Francois Duval/Stéphane Prévot - Citroën Xsara WRC +28.0
6. Markko Märtin/Michael Park - Peugeot 307 WRC +36.9
Leg 2 - The tooth-and-nail battle at the front continued into the second day, Grönholm added 1.1 seconds to his lead in SS8, Sundsjön 1, as Loeb nibbled 1.8 seconds from the deficit to Petter Solberg but the Citroën ace then had a spin in SS9, Vargåsen 1, to give away 7.6 seconds to the stage-winning Subaru. That stage win also moved the Norwegian into the rally lead by 8.4 seconds, having beaten Grönholm by 9.7 seconds as the Finn complained about his tyres overheating. The next three stages saw the pendulum swing back towards the Peugeot man, taking the lead by a slim 0.1 seconds after SS11, Lejen, then adding another 0.6 seconds in SS12, Sundsjön 2, so held a slender 0.7-second margin heading into SS13, Vargåsen 2 - his nemesis from the morning loop. Lightning would indeed strike twice as Petter Solberg blitzed through 9.0 seconds faster to grab back the lead by 8.3 seconds, "Again on this bloody stage, I hate this one!" Grönholm grumbled at the stop line. The leading Subaru then added another 4.3 seconds to his advantage in the day-ending SS14, Hagfors Sprint 2, with the lead gap now standing at 12.6 seconds to set up an exciting final day. There was action aplenty behind the lead pair too, Loeb maintained his place in third throughout the day but he would start to struggle with an overheating engine during the afternoon loop, the failing head gasket would haunt him later. Behind the Citroën, Galli was relieved of fourth in SS9 by Loeb's teammate Francois Duval and the Italian then had a spin in SS10, which allowed the Peugeot of Markko Märtin to pass him also. The Estonian leapt to fourth as Duval damaged a wheel in SS10 and had to stop mid-stage to change the buckled rim, the Belgian tumbled down the leaderboard with a loss of four minutes after struggling with some recalcitrant wheelnuts. Märtin's grasp on fourth place would only last one stage as a hydraulic leak robbed his Peugeot of its first two gears and cause the car's active differentials to malfunction. He would still end the day in fourth, however, as a puncture for Galli in SS13 costs the Italian over a minute.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC 2:14:27.9
2. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautianen - Peugeot 307 WRC +12.6
3. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën Xsara WRC +34.3
4. Markko Märtin/Michael Park - Peugeot 307 WRC +2:05.8
5. Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen - Ford Focus WRC +3:18.6
6. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud - Ford Focus WRC +3:21.8
Leg 3 - Rally leader Petter Solberg got the final day underway in rapid fashion, adding 0.4 seconds to his lead in SS15, Lesjöfors 1, to stretch his cushion to 13.0 seconds. Grönholm entered SS16, Rämmen 1, even more determined to catch the leading Subaru but in the opening half of the stage the Peugeot bottoms out whilst cutting a medium left, bouncing the car wide into a ditch and rolling over. The Finn is able to get the battered 307 WRC moving again but is soon forced to stop for good with the left-front wheel barely attached - he would incur the wrath of rally leader Petter Solberg, however, when the Norwegian caught up with the hobbled Peugeot and struggled to find a way past. Behind this drama, Loeb's engine worries would start to worsen as the Citroën's overheating engine started to seriously affect his pace, with Märtin's Peugeot sat just over a minute behind after SS17, Malta 1, having started the day 1 minute 31.5 seconds down. The Frenchman managed to minimise the time loss through SS18, Lesjöfors 2, to just 1.4 seconds but the engine cried enough on the following road section with its head gasket blown. The Citroën's retirement, along with teammate Grönholm's terminal roll, promoted Märtin to second and the works Ford Focus WRC of Toni Gardemeister to third at the finish - the Finn having steadily pulled away from 2001 Swedish Rally winner Harri Rovanperä throughout the last day. Freed from the pressure of the fight for the rally win with Grönholm, Petter Solberg reeled off the five remaining stages to seal his first victory in Sweden, along with Subaru and Pirelli's first since 1997, by a comfortable 2 minutes 11.1 seconds.
Top 10 Results
1. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC 3:00:52.1
2. Markko Märtin/Michael Park - Peugeot 307 WRC 3:03:03.2 +2:11.1
3. Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen - Ford Focus WRC 3:04:06.8 +3:14.7 +1:03.6
4. Harri Rovanperä/Risto Pietiläinen - Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 3:04:18.5 +3:26.4 +11.7
5. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud - Ford Focus WRC 3:04:21.9 +3:29.8 +3.4
6. Daniel Carlsson/Mattias Andersson - Peugeot 307 WRC 3:04:34.6 +3:42.5 +12.7
7. Gigi Galli/Guido D’Amore - Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 3:04:56.1 +4:04.0 +21.5
8. Roman Kresta/Jan Tománek - Ford Focus WRC 3:05:31.7 +4:39.6 +35.6
9. Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka Škoda Fabia WRC 3:06:03.2 +5:11.1 +31.5
10. Mattias Ekström/Stefan Bergman - Škoda Fabia WRC 3:07:56.3 +7:04.2 +1:53.1
Solberg quote - "It's incredible, incredible! It's been, uhh, it's been a dream for me, big dream. You know, it's all the fans who supported me from Norway, Sweden, everywhere just comes here and look what they have done and, uhh, it's just incredible!"
Leg 1 - A distinct lack of snow preceded the event but snowfall at the eleventh hour, on the Wednesday of rally week, meant that there would be a light covering of the white stuff on the stages, minus the snowbanks on which the crews like to lean. 2004 world champion Sébastien Loeb set off into SS1, Likenäs 1, fearing he would lose a lot of time clearing the freshly fallen snow from the stage surface but, as it was, he would go second fastest, 5.4 seconds down on stage winner Petter Solberg. He would do so again in SS2, Hara 1, and SS3, Torntorp 1, to slot into second place at service. Petter Solberg continued his stage-winning form into SS2, which gave the Norwegian a 7.5-second lead, but a failed set-up change and his choice of a longer studded tyre not suiting the conditions contributed to the Subaru man losing a hefty 12.1 seconds in SS3 to the Peugeot of new rally leader Marcus Grönholm. The Impreza slipped down to third behind Loeb as the top three were covered by a miniscule 0.2 seconds after SS3. Into the afternoon loop and Loeb would be the first of the leading crews to slip up, overshooting a junction in SS4, Likenäs 2, with a loss of 18 seconds. Petter Solberg moved back up to second as a consequence, 3.8 seconds down on Grönholm, before the Subaru reduced the margin to 3.1 seconds after SS5, Hara 2. SS6, Torntorp 2, saw Italian Gigi Galli set his first fastest stage time in the WRC, a marked improvement in form for the factory Mitsubishi team as both of their cars went out of the rally on the opening day in 2004. SS6 also saw a change of leader as Petter Solberg aced Grönholm by 3.2 seconds to hit the front by all of 0.1 seconds! The lead changed hands again though after SS7, Hagfors Sprint 1, with Grönholm going through 0.3 seconds faster than the Subaru, which gave the Finn an advantage of just 0.2 seconds overnight. Loeb remained in touch, 10.2 seconds away from the leading Peugeot.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautianen - Peugeot 307 WRC 58:20.8
2. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC +0.2
3. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën Xsara WRC +10.2
4. Gigi Galli/Guido D’Amore - Mitsubishi Lancer WRC +18.9
5. Francois Duval/Stéphane Prévot - Citroën Xsara WRC +28.0
6. Markko Märtin/Michael Park - Peugeot 307 WRC +36.9
Leg 2 - The tooth-and-nail battle at the front continued into the second day, Grönholm added 1.1 seconds to his lead in SS8, Sundsjön 1, as Loeb nibbled 1.8 seconds from the deficit to Petter Solberg but the Citroën ace then had a spin in SS9, Vargåsen 1, to give away 7.6 seconds to the stage-winning Subaru. That stage win also moved the Norwegian into the rally lead by 8.4 seconds, having beaten Grönholm by 9.7 seconds as the Finn complained about his tyres overheating. The next three stages saw the pendulum swing back towards the Peugeot man, taking the lead by a slim 0.1 seconds after SS11, Lejen, then adding another 0.6 seconds in SS12, Sundsjön 2, so held a slender 0.7-second margin heading into SS13, Vargåsen 2 - his nemesis from the morning loop. Lightning would indeed strike twice as Petter Solberg blitzed through 9.0 seconds faster to grab back the lead by 8.3 seconds, "Again on this bloody stage, I hate this one!" Grönholm grumbled at the stop line. The leading Subaru then added another 4.3 seconds to his advantage in the day-ending SS14, Hagfors Sprint 2, with the lead gap now standing at 12.6 seconds to set up an exciting final day. There was action aplenty behind the lead pair too, Loeb maintained his place in third throughout the day but he would start to struggle with an overheating engine during the afternoon loop, the failing head gasket would haunt him later. Behind the Citroën, Galli was relieved of fourth in SS9 by Loeb's teammate Francois Duval and the Italian then had a spin in SS10, which allowed the Peugeot of Markko Märtin to pass him also. The Estonian leapt to fourth as Duval damaged a wheel in SS10 and had to stop mid-stage to change the buckled rim, the Belgian tumbled down the leaderboard with a loss of four minutes after struggling with some recalcitrant wheelnuts. Märtin's grasp on fourth place would only last one stage as a hydraulic leak robbed his Peugeot of its first two gears and cause the car's active differentials to malfunction. He would still end the day in fourth, however, as a puncture for Galli in SS13 costs the Italian over a minute.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC 2:14:27.9
2. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautianen - Peugeot 307 WRC +12.6
3. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën Xsara WRC +34.3
4. Markko Märtin/Michael Park - Peugeot 307 WRC +2:05.8
5. Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen - Ford Focus WRC +3:18.6
6. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud - Ford Focus WRC +3:21.8
Leg 3 - Rally leader Petter Solberg got the final day underway in rapid fashion, adding 0.4 seconds to his lead in SS15, Lesjöfors 1, to stretch his cushion to 13.0 seconds. Grönholm entered SS16, Rämmen 1, even more determined to catch the leading Subaru but in the opening half of the stage the Peugeot bottoms out whilst cutting a medium left, bouncing the car wide into a ditch and rolling over. The Finn is able to get the battered 307 WRC moving again but is soon forced to stop for good with the left-front wheel barely attached - he would incur the wrath of rally leader Petter Solberg, however, when the Norwegian caught up with the hobbled Peugeot and struggled to find a way past. Behind this drama, Loeb's engine worries would start to worsen as the Citroën's overheating engine started to seriously affect his pace, with Märtin's Peugeot sat just over a minute behind after SS17, Malta 1, having started the day 1 minute 31.5 seconds down. The Frenchman managed to minimise the time loss through SS18, Lesjöfors 2, to just 1.4 seconds but the engine cried enough on the following road section with its head gasket blown. The Citroën's retirement, along with teammate Grönholm's terminal roll, promoted Märtin to second and the works Ford Focus WRC of Toni Gardemeister to third at the finish - the Finn having steadily pulled away from 2001 Swedish Rally winner Harri Rovanperä throughout the last day. Freed from the pressure of the fight for the rally win with Grönholm, Petter Solberg reeled off the five remaining stages to seal his first victory in Sweden, along with Subaru and Pirelli's first since 1997, by a comfortable 2 minutes 11.1 seconds.
Top 10 Results
1. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC 3:00:52.1
2. Markko Märtin/Michael Park - Peugeot 307 WRC 3:03:03.2 +2:11.1
3. Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen - Ford Focus WRC 3:04:06.8 +3:14.7 +1:03.6
4. Harri Rovanperä/Risto Pietiläinen - Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 3:04:18.5 +3:26.4 +11.7
5. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud - Ford Focus WRC 3:04:21.9 +3:29.8 +3.4
6. Daniel Carlsson/Mattias Andersson - Peugeot 307 WRC 3:04:34.6 +3:42.5 +12.7
7. Gigi Galli/Guido D’Amore - Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 3:04:56.1 +4:04.0 +21.5
8. Roman Kresta/Jan Tománek - Ford Focus WRC 3:05:31.7 +4:39.6 +35.6
9. Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka Škoda Fabia WRC 3:06:03.2 +5:11.1 +31.5
10. Mattias Ekström/Stefan Bergman - Škoda Fabia WRC 3:07:56.3 +7:04.2 +1:53.1
Solberg quote - "It's incredible, incredible! It's been, uhh, it's been a dream for me, big dream. You know, it's all the fans who supported me from Norway, Sweden, everywhere just comes here and look what they have done and, uhh, it's just incredible!"
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PWRC - Japanese Subaru driver Toshi Arai romped to a comfortable win of the supporting PWRC category, leading for the whole event and easing to victory by more than a quarter of an hour to open his successful 2005 title campaign. Italian duo Angelo Medeghini and Fabio Frisiero completed the podium after Arai's closest challengers fell by the wayside during the event. Firstly, Briton Mark Higgins crashed out of second place in SS8, Sundsjön 1, having sat 26.8 seconds behind Arai overnight and, secondly, Finn Aki Teiskonen suffered heartbreak on the penultimate stage, SS19 Rämmen 2, when his engine failed, having sat comfortably in second place since Higgins' demise.
1. Toshihiro Arai/Tony Sircombe - Subaru Impreza STi 3:15:51.9
2. Angelo Medeghini/Barbara Medeghini-Capoferri - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 3:33:40.9 +17:49.0
3. Fabio Frisiero/Giovanni Agnese - Subaru Impreza STi 3:34:05.6 +18:13.7
1. Toshihiro Arai/Tony Sircombe - Subaru Impreza STi 3:15:51.9
2. Angelo Medeghini/Barbara Medeghini-Capoferri - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 3:33:40.9 +17:49.0
3. Fabio Frisiero/Giovanni Agnese - Subaru Impreza STi 3:34:05.6 +18:13.7
S1600s - Outside of the WRC and PWRC fields was a combative group of four Super 1600 competitors. Reigning JWRC champion Per-Gunnar Andersson led home his works Suzuki teammate Guy Wilks by 3 minutes 09.8 seconds - the Briton having overcome Swede Jimmy Joge's Peugeot 206 during the final loop. The quartet was completed by the Suzuki Ignis of Peter Zachrisson, who ended up well adrift of the other three after losing a lot of time early in the event. The competitive nature of the group was demonstrated by each of them setting at least two fastest stage times for their class and PG finishing the rally in 18th overall, ahead of all but two of the four-wheel-drive N4 class crews and one place ahead of works Subaru WRC debutant Chris Atkinson.
1. Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson - Suzuki Ignis S1600 3:17:10.0
2. Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh - Suzuki Ignis S1600 3:20:19.8 +3:09.8
3. Jimmy Joge/Mikael Johansson - Peugeot 206 S1600 3:21:42.5 +1:22.7
1. Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson - Suzuki Ignis S1600 3:17:10.0
2. Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh - Suzuki Ignis S1600 3:20:19.8 +3:09.8
3. Jimmy Joge/Mikael Johansson - Peugeot 206 S1600 3:21:42.5 +1:22.7
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