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RALLY
14 of 14: Wales Rally of Great Britain , NOV 6-9, 2003
2003 SEASON
- Condition: changeable
weather, muddy, gravel road, fast
SCHEDULE
- total
distance 1574.52 km; 376.81 km special stages
- Thu:
SS1, Cardiff ; Fri: SS2 - SS7
- Sat:
SS8 - SS15 ; Sun: SS16 - SS18
MAKINEN'S
FINAL RALLY
4 times world rally champion Tommi
Makinen will retire after this rally: "... It's
a very, very strange feeling knowing that this is my last event
as a full time WRC driver ... It's strange - I really don't know what
to say and how to express my feelings. I'm hoping it will be a good
feeling for me in GB, I think it will be, but at the same time I know
it will be strange ... I like GB as an event; I've been there lots of
times before and will be attacking the stages from the start. It would
be good to finish on the podium, but we will see - I will be doing the
best I can .... I'm very, very pleased for Petter, the Championship
is looking very good for him. He won here last year, and I think he
has a little bit of an advantage over Carlos and Sebastien .... It will
be difficult in his position now, and the pressures on him will be quite
a lot, but I think it should be a good result. I'll be doing everything
I can to help .."
3 WAY BATTLE
FOR CHAMPIONSHIP
- Sebastien
Loeb, Carlos Sainz or Petter Solberg will be crowned 2003 world
rally champion this weekend.
- SAINZ (CITROEN),
equal championship leader: "... I've been in this position plenty
of times
before - I'm just going to try and enjoy the rally. Obviously I will
be going flat out to do what I can on the rally.."
- LOEB (CITROEN),
equal championship leader: "... This is the fourth time I have
done this rally, so for me the experience is not going to be a problem
... but a lot depends on the weather - it probably will rain at some
point during the event, when it does it's really hard to judge the level
of grip. You can be in the middle of a corner, find a patch of mud and
then the car starts sliding .."
- SOLBERG
(SUBARU), winner 2002: "... With just one point between
me, Sebastien and Carlos, I will be trying very, very hard on this event
... I know it won't be easy, Sebastien has shown his pace on gravel,
Carlos has so much experience. It's set to be a thriller, but that's
when it's good, you know. We will get out there and try to do what we
can .."
- BURNS
TO MISS RALLY OF GB
Richards Burns will miss the final rally of 2003 (Wales Rally of Great
Britain) due to illness. He fainted while driving with fellow rally
driver Markko Martin. Burns will be replaced by Freddy Loix.
FORD: "... Richard didn't feel very well and fainted - between
the two of them (Burns & Martin) they managed to get the car over
without hitting anybody."
PEUGEOT: "... On the advice of doctors, Richard will not be taking
part in this weekend's Rally Britain....."
PEUGEOT(Provera): ".. This is a terrible way for Richard and Robert
to end their year. They have worked hard all year and led the championship
for most of it. I feel so sorry for them - the main thing now is for
Richard to get better ..."
PREVIOUS WINNERS
- 2002 winner: Petter
Solberg, Subaru
- 2001 winner: Marcus
Gronholm, Peugeot
- 2000 winner: Richard
Burns, Subaru
JUNIOR
WORLD RALLY TITLE DECIDER BETWEEN TIRABASSI & CANELLAS
-
-
- 2 Spain's Salvador
Canellas (SPA) + 7 points
LAST YEAR'S RESULT
(2002)
- 1 SOLBERG,
SUBARU
2 MARTIN, FORD +24s
3 SAINZ, FORD +1m 35s
4 MAKINEN, SUBARU +2m 37
5 C McRAE
6 HIGGINS, FORD
PRE
RACE QUOTES
- MAKINEN
(SUBARU) - his final rally before retirement: "... It's
a very, very strange feeling knowing that this is my last event as a
full time WRC driver ... It's strange - I really don't know what to
say and how to express my feelings. I'm hoping it will be a good feeling
for me in GB, I think it will be, but at the same time I know it will
be strange ... I like GB as an event; I've been there lots of times
before and will be attacking the stages from the start. It would be
good to finish on the podium, but we will see - I will be doing the
best I can .... I'm very, very pleased for Petter, the Championship
is looking very good for him. He won here last year, and I think he
has a little bit of an advantage over Carlos and Sebastien .... It will
be difficult in his position now, and the pressures on him will be quite
a lot, but I think it should be a good result. I'll be doing everything
I can to help .."
- SAINZ (CITROEN),
equal championship leader: "... I've been in this position plenty
of times
before - I'm just going to try and enjoy the rally. Obviously I will
be going flat out to do what I can on the rally.."
- LOEB (CITROEN),
equal championship leader: "... This is the fourth time I have
done this rally, so for me the experience is not going to be a problem
... but a lot depends on the weather - it probably will rain at some
point during the event, when it does it's really hard to judge the level
of grip. You can be in the middle of a corner, find a patch of mud and
then the car starts sliding .."
- SOLBERG
(SUBARU), winner 2002: "... With just one point between
me, Sebastien and Carlos, I will be trying very, very hard on this event
... I know it won't be easy, Sebastien has shown his pace on gravel,
Carlos has so much experience. It's set to be a thriller, but that's
when it's good, you know. We will get out there and try to do what we
can .."
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