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Citroen Storms Into The Lead
The first scheduled run through the twisty Les 4
Chemins stage was cancelled due to spectator
congestion. Cars drove slowly through an alternate
route to the start of SS8, which was delayed by five
minutes.
Following his stage win on SS6, Citroen’s
Sebastian Loeb sped through the 25.15km of Saint
Antonin and set the fastest time, slashing 7.8
seconds from Marcus Gronholm’s overall lead. At
the end of the stage, just 12.8 seconds separated
the pair and with six stages remaining it looked set
to be a thrilling battle for the top spot.
Loeb’s team-mate Colin McRae was second, with the
third Citroen driver, Carlos Sainz, finishing fifth
to move up to fourth place overall. The test was to
be the last of the event for Gilles Panizzi. Lying
nine minutes behind the leaders and suffering with
both low blood pressure and flu-like symptoms, the
Frenchman struggled with the stage’s demanding mix
of twisty uphill sections, hairpins and fast
straights and withdrew after the finish.
Drama for overnight leader Marcus Gronholm in SS9.
The Finn hit a rock 10km in and damaged the steering
of his Peugeot 206. He stopped mid-stage and managed
to repair the damage, but dropped more than 30
minutes in the process and all chances of victory.
Capitalising on his rival’s misfortune, Sebastian
Loeb charged through the stage to clinch the fastest
time and snatch the overall lead. Ford’s Markko
Martin finished third and moved to fourth overall,
dislodging Richard Burns who was off the pace
following a bad tyre choice.
The icy stage brought further works retirements,
this time for Ford and Hyundai. Mikko Hirvonen’s
Focus WRC skidded on a patch of ice and rolled near
to the finish, while Freddy Loix, also caught out by
the ice, slid his Hyundai into a ditch 9km in.
The second run through the demanding Saint Antonin
stage saw Citroen claim yet another stage win. This
time it was Carlos Sainz who took the fastest time,
followed by Colin McRae in second and Ford’s
Markko Martin in third.
There were no further works retirements, but Richard
Burns continued to lose time following his earlier
tyre choice and finished ninth. At the end of the
test, Citroen held the overall top three positions
with Sebastian Loeb leading, followed by Colin McRae
1:07.9 seconds behind in second and Carlos Sainz
third, a further 37.1 seconds back.
The only other major retirement was Toni
Gardemeister (Skoda) who stopped in the second stage
with engine problems.
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