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PETTER
SOLBERG and Phil Mills are the 2003 World Rally Champions!
The Norweigan
and the Welshman entered the final round of the series with
one aim - to win the event and win the Championship. Solberg
was fastest on the opening Superspecial but it was Loeb who
topped the timesheets after the first two stages on Friday
morning. Solberg upped his pace on the following tests and
after regaining the lead on stage four, the Subaru pilot kept
his cool to lead until the finish. In fact, out of 18 stages
Solberg set fastest times on 13 and was second fastest on
the rest. It was a brilliant display of driving from a worthy
Champion.
Sebastien
Loeb and Daniel Elena finished second overall and runner-up
in the Championship. Their second position helped to secure
the Manufacturers' Championship for Citroen. Tommi Makinen
finished third on his final World Championship event as a
works driver. The four times World Champion had a lucky escape
on the final stage when he momentarily lost his concentration
after being told that Colin McRae had stopped to change a
wheel. His Subaru ran wide at a corner and the engine stalled
but he survived to take the final podium position.
Colin
McRae and Derek Ringer finished fourth in what is possibly
their final World Championship rally as works competitors.
McRae is taking a year's sabbatical from the sport but rumours
suggest that he has signed a contract to compete in next year's
Paris-Dakar Rally.
Francois
Duval and Stephane Prevot finished fifth in their Ford Focus
WRC. The result secured a record for Ford - they completed
all 14 rounds of the series with at least one of their crews
in the points for the second consecutive season. In sixth,
Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets had a sterling drive. After being
drafted in at the last minute following Richard Burns' withdrawal,
Loix used the event as a learning period and finished as the
leading Peugeot driver.
| 1 |
Petter
Solberg / Phil Mills |
Subaru
Impreza WRC |
3hrs
28mins 58.1secs |
| 2 |
Sebastien
Loeb / Daniel Elena |
Citroen
Xsara WRC |
3hrs
29mins 41.7secs |
| 3 |
Tommi
Makinen / Kaj Lindstrom |
Subaru
Impreza WRC |
3hrs
31mins 56.9secs |
| 4 |
Colin
McRae / Derek Ringer |
Citroen
Xsara WRC |
3hrs
34mins 26.2secs |
| 5 |
Francois
Duval / Jean-Marc Fortin |
Ford
Focus WRC |
3hrs
36mins 14.2secs |
| 6 |
Freddy
Loix / Sven Smeets |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
3hrs
37mins 04.6secs |
| 7 |
Manfred
Stohl / Ilka Minor |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
3hrs
37mins 46.5secs |
| 8 |
Roman
Kresta / Jan Tomanek |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
3hrs
38mins 00.7secs |
| 9 |
Juuso
Pykalisto / Risto Mannisenmaki |
Peugeot
206 WRC |
3hrs
38mins 51.7secs |
| 10 |
Jari-Matti
Latvala / Miika Antilla |
Ford
Focus WRC |
3hrs
41mins 23.4secs |
- Freddy
Loix lost time with a spin on stage 16.
- Harri
Rovanpera retired with tranmission problems before
the start of stage 16.
- Toni
Gardemeister went off the road and retired on stage
16.
- Kris
Meeke rolled down a hillside on a sweeping right-hand
corner midway through stage 17.
- Anthony
Warmbold had a spin and an overshoot on stage 18.
- Colin
McRae was forced to stop with a puncture on stage
18.
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- Gilles
Panizzi retired before the start of stage eight with
transmission problems.
- Didier
Auriol lost time with a spin on stage eight.
- Petter
Solberg damaged his suspension and steering on stage
14.
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- Petter
Solberg, Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb hit an armco
barrier on stage one.
- Carlos
Sainz spun while warming his tyres before the start
of stage one.
- Mikko
Hirvonen retired on stage three after taking a wheel
off his Focus.
- Carlos
Sainz retired on stage three when he went off the
road.
- Markko
Martin was forced to retire with mechanical problems.
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