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| Championship Standings |
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2003 Championship
After 14 of 14 Rounds |
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| Drivers Points |
| 1 |
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Petter Solberg |
72 |
| 2 |
 |
Sebastian Loeb |
71 |
| 3 |
 |
Carlos Sainz |
63 |
| 4 |
 |
Richard Burns |
58 |
| 5 |
 |
Markko Martin |
49 |
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Full Details... |
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| Manufacturers Points |
| 1 |
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Citroen |
160 |
| 2 |
 |
Peugeot |
145 |
| 3 |
 |
Subaru |
109 |
| 4 |
 |
Ford |
93 |
| 5 |
 |
Hyundai |
12 |
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Full Details... |
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2003|NEWS
TELSTRA RALLY AUSTRALIA |
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SUBARU RALLY AUSTRALIA LEG TWO WRAP
Manufacturer: Subaru
Press Release Type: Leg Two WrapSubaru's Norwegian hotshot Petter Solberg was in the thick of the action today, as he and fellow WRC youngster Sebastien Loeb tussled for the lead of the rally. The pair were inseparable for much of the Leg, each claiming four forest stage wins and pulling clear of the chasing pack. Loeb's advantage at the start of the day was a slender 3.9 sec, and tonight, 124 km later it is just 5.0 secs - roughly equivalent to a 150-metre head start going into tomorrow's final 117km. Solberg maintains he still has plenty in reserve for the final day, and is keenly anticipating the rain that's forecast tonight. Starting the Leg in fourth place, Tommi Mäkinen was unlucky to lose some time after his car clipped a bank and collected suspension damage. But ahead of the final stages the Finn is also locked in a thrilling points battle, as he fights with Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae for fifth.
Starters
38 of the original 49 starters left Perth's parc ferme this morning.
Route
Leg two was based predominantly in the countryside to the east of Perth and comprised 124 competitive kilometres and ten gravel stages. Four stages were run in the morning, and three of these were repeated in the afternoon after a midday service halt at Jarrahdale. The Leg finished with two runs around the floodlit Super Special in Perth City.
Weather
Patchy cloud, but dry and bright all day. Ground temperature of between 9 and 16 degrees Celsius.
SS11 0949hrs Beraking East 8.88km
The first test of day two took crews back to the forests of Western Australia, where Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb continued their duel for the lead of the rally. After saying yesterday that he was just warming up, Petter was quickest through the tree-lined SS11 to claw back more of Loeb's lead and reduce the overall gap to 2.7 sec. Sebastien was second-quickest, with World Championship leader Richard Burns third. Colin McRae was fifth, despite complaining of a continued braking problem that had affected his car for much of Leg 1.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 5:09.6
SS12 1012hrs Helena East 1 20.49km
Incredibly, after more than 173 stage kilometres, nothing separated Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb at all. Another stage win for the Norwegian on the 20km Helena section pulled him exactly level with Loeb on 1:40.44.2 to tie the overall lead of the rally. Richard Burns was next quickest, but the Englishman trailed the runaway leaders by 46 seconds in the overall standings, while Petter's Subaru team-mate Tommi Mäkinen held station in fourth.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 11.38.2
SS13 1045hrs Helena West 1 12.60km
Nip and tuck in the top five again. Loeb and Solberg continued to blaze a trail of red-dust though the outback as they fought their own battle, while McRae, Burns, Mäkinen and Martin jostled for the next places. This time though a half-spin 2kms from the start cost Petter a couple of seconds, and his French adversary won the stage to pull 2.6 sec clear at the top. His brake problems seemingly remedied, McRae was the best of the rest, although his overall seventh position overall was unaffected. A gear selection glitch for Makinen's Subaru cost him a little time, but Tommi still managed fourth fastest, to remain fourth overall.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Loeb (Citroen) 7:18.4
SS14 1103hrs Helena South 1 17.31km
The relentless pace of the lead pair continued. This time Solberg was quickest, but his winning margin of 0.5 sec wasn't enough to overturn Loeb's overall lead, which now stood at 2.1 sec. Burns was third fastest though the stage to keep himself comfortably in third on the leader-board. While Mäkinen, still troubled with the gear selector problem, put in a brilliant drive to hold fourth. After the stage, crews headed back to Jarrahdale for a 20-minute service.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Solberg (Subaru) 8:55.2
SS15 1412hrs Beraking West 9.42km
Fresh from Jarrahdale, crews embarked on the first of four stages run without a service halt. Once again, Loeb and Solberg set the pace, with Solberg taking the win this time. Loeb however wasn't far behind, and although the gap on the leaderboard fell to 1.1 sec, Loeb still held the top spot. Markko Martin was third fastest over the high-speed forest tracks, and this was enough for him to move into fourth overall, ahead of Mäkinen who dropped to fifth.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 4:38.7
SS16 1435hrs Helena East 2 20.49km
In perfect rallying conditions, and more than a minute clear of the rest of the competition, Loeb and Solberg continued to trade stage wins. Loeb had the edge on this occasion and extended his lead to 2.7 sec. His time through the repeated Helena East stage was almost 15 seconds quicker than the morning when it was run as SS13. Elsewhere in the top-10, Colin McRae replaced his Citroen team-mate Carlos Sainz in sixth, when the Spaniard missed a junction and had to turn around after mishearing a pace note. Problems too for Tommi Mäkinen, when he slid wide on a slow corner and hit a bank, knocking the right-rear suspension of his Impreza out of alignment. The Finn was able to continue, but his speed suffered.
Fastest Time: Loeb (Citroen) 11:23.8
SS17 1508hrs Helena West 2 12.60km
Another close run thing, and another win for Loeb. Solberg was 0.3 sec back in second while the third-fastest drive came from Markko Martin - a further 6.3 sec back. Colin McRae closed the gap on fifth overall Tommi Mäkinen, who was hampered by the suspension damage sustained on the previous stage, while Sainz closed the gap on McRae from five to three seconds.
Fastest Time: Loeb (Citroen) 7:10.6
SS18 1526hrs Helena South 1 17.31km
The final proper stage of the day brought another stage win for Loeb, and meant that Sebastien and Peter shared four wins apiece. Over the day the pair had seemed inseparable and after 10 forest stages, Loeb had increased his winning margin over Solberg by just 1.5 seconds. Colin McRae was in full flight on SS18 and finished third fastest. The performance was enough to take fifth place from Mäkinen on the final stage before Subaru technicians could fix his car's suspension.
Fastest Time: Loeb (Citroen) 8.46.6
SS19 and SS19 1940hrs and 1950hrs Perth City Super 3 and Super 4 2.45km
The final two blasts around the Super Special Stage at Gloucester Park brought no major upsets to the leading WRC competitors. In perfect dry conditions, and in front of a capacity crowd, Solberg and Loeb maintained their close rivalry. Petter just bettered Sebastien's time on both runs, although the overall order remained unchanged.
Fastest Time: Martin (Ford) 1:31.7 and 1:31.8
Tomorrow's Leg
The final leg of Rally Australia starts tomorrow from Perth City Parc Ferme. The first car will leave at 0700hrs and head to the central service at Jarrahdale, before travelling 50km southeast to the legendary Bannister stages, based in the Sotico pine plantations. Competitors will contest four more stages and a total of 117 competitive kilometres. Included tomorrow are the famous Bunnings jumps where last year the Subaru Impreza WRC's jumped two metres off the ground and flew 50 metres through the air. The first stage is due to start at 0906hrs.  Click here for a printable version of this news Item
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