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WORLD
CHAMPIONS Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen lead the
opening round of the 2003 World Rally Championship at the
end of the first leg.
The pair
hold a 20.6 second advantage over Citroen hotshots Sebastien
Loeb and Daniel Elena while 1995 World Champions, Colin McRae
and Derek Ringer, are third in their first competitive outing
for Citroen. The Scotsman held second position after the first
couple of stages but dropped time over stages four and five
to finish the leg more than one minute adrift of team-mate
Loeb.
Richard
Burns and Robert Reid hold fourth position ahead of Carlos
Sainz and Marc Marti who were lucky to escape from a close
encounter with the Monte Carlo scenery.
Markko
Martin and Michael Park are upholding Ford honours in sixth
position while Cedric Robert and Gerald Bedon are seventh
in their privateer Peugeot 206 WRC. The final points position
is held by Hyundai's Armin Schwarz and Manfred Hiemer. Top
ten and stage notes at the end of leg one (six stages):
|
1
|
Marcus
Gronholm / Timo Rautiainen |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
2hrs
07mins 24.7secs |
|
2
|
Sebastien
Loeb / Daniel Elena |
Citroen
Xsara WRC |
2hrs
07mins 45.3secs |
|
3
|
Colin
McRae / Derek Ringer |
Citroen
Xsara WRC |
2hrs
08mins 41.3secs |
|
4
|
Richard
Burns / Robert Reid |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
2hrs
09mins 18.6secs |
|
5
|
Carlos
Sainz / Luis Moya |
Citroen
Xsara WRC |
2hrs
09mins 20.4secs |
|
6
|
Markko
Martin / Michael Park |
Ford
Focus WRC |
2hrs
09mins 55.4secs |
|
7
|
Cedric
Robert / Gerald Bedon |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
2hrs
12mins 05.8secs |
|
8
|
Armin
Schwarz / Manfred Hiemer |
Hyundai
Accent WRC |
2hrs
12mins 28.5secs |
|
9
|
Roman
Kresta / Milos Hulka |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
2hrs
12mins 33.8secs |
|
10
|
Francois
Duval / Jean-Marc Fortin |
Ford
Focus WRC |
2hrs
12mins 41.7secs |
- Gilles
Panizzi was given a one minute penalty before the
start of the event after the GPS system in his Peugeot
malfunctioned during a recce. He didn't inform the
stewards of the problem.
- Gilles
Panizzi lost time on stage one when he hit a rock
hidden beneath the snow.
- Tommi
Makinen stalled at the start of stage one.
- Markko
Martin stalled at a hairpin on stage two after spinning
his Ford.
- Carlos
Sainz lost time with a spin on stage two.
- Skoda's
Toni Gardemeister retired with mechanical problems
on stage two.
- Petter
Solberg hit a bridge on stage four.
- Francois
Duval went off the road and hit a tree on stage four
but managed to reach the service area while limping
on three wheels.
- Petter
Solberg retired on stage five after understeering
off the road.
- Tommi
Makinen retired on stage five after going off the
road.
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