Gronholm secures Finnish victory with one day to go
19-08-2006
21:47
Gronholm secures Finnish lead
After a relative normal day yesterday, the second day of the Neste Oil Rally of Finland brought a lot of problems too many of the contesters. The first stage of the morning, Vaheri, was still mild and calm. Markus Grönholm extended his time a bit on second placed driver Sebastién Loeb with 1.7 seconds. Behind de two gold medal fighters Petter Solberg (with a fixed Subaru) closed the gap to Mikko Hirvonen with a couple of seconds with 6.6 second to go. Then stage 11 was on the program.
11 will be the new number for bad luck for several drivers in Finland. Petter Solberg started the stage in full attack to get the third place back from Hirvonen but was struck with a completely damaged car not far of the start. Solberg: ““We were coming into a long left-hand corner, went over a crest with a little under-steer and then hit a rock face on the right-hand side. I thought it would be alright, but the car spun around and we ended up rolling. Phil and I are both okay, but the car was quite badly damaged. Despite this, I’m still feeling positive about everything we have done so far and know we have taken something good from this weekend.” Second Subaru driver Chris Atkinson also faced problems with his 2006 WRC finishing the 14 kilometre stage with only the third gear working. Xavier Pons rolled his Kronos Citroën Xsara WRC and had to retire.
A rock 5 kilometres before the end of the stage (the second part of the famous Ouninpohja stage [stage 12]) brought an end to the fight for the first place. Sebastién Loeb clipped a rock in a corner and that was the end of the front left tire of the Xsara WRC. Luckily for Loeb, the rim held it to the end of the stage but the gap between him and Grönholm grew with 32 seconds with the latter taking the scratch time on the 12th stage. Peugeot 307cc WRC driver and public favourite Gigi Galli showed what he is made af and finished second, 18 seconds behind Grönholm. Mikko Hirvonen battled with a broken front window and drove the stage with a brick under his throttle, finishing 5th, 22 seconds behind his team-mate.
After a quick check in the service area, stages 13, 14 and 15 had to be driven. The first stage of these three housed the biggest jump of the series. Midway Urria the huge jump (over 55 meters of air time) didn’t claim any victims and in front, al things were back to normal. Grönholm was first, with Loeb only 2.4 seconds away. Hirvonen, with a new front window, picked up the speed again and took the third spot. Henning Solberg in his Peugeot 307cc WRC was 4th quickest.
Daniel Sordo rolled his Xsara WRC on stage 14 and had to retire. Too bad for the young Spanish driver, after his successful appearance in the Deutschland Rally, one week ago.
Junior WRC top seed Kris Meeke, a protégée of Colin McRae, saw a firm win blown away after a misjump on stage 15. The young Citroën C2 Super 1600 driver had his warning the first time coming over the jump, landing on the nose of the car. The second time he got airborne, he wished he had corrected his pace notes. The C2 again fell on the nose and this time the car had enough.
The last 2 stages of the day brought no difference at the top positions. Markus Grönholm extended his first place at the end of the day on Sebastién Loeb 1 minute 8 seconds and a further 35 seconds on Mikko Hirvonen. The last four stages can be driven at ease by the Finnish driver securing a home victory and much needed points. Henning Solberg, Gigi Galli and Janne Tuohino can only hope for problems in the top three to come on the podium.
Results at the end of the second day: Gronholm 02:23:51.2 Loeb +01:07.8 Hirvonen +01:42.5 Solberg H +03:37.0 Gali +04:45.9 Tuohino +05:38.1 Valimakij +05:58.6 Kopecky +08:50.5
