FIA RALLY: McRae and Sainz put Ford in control in Greece
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
June 16, 2001Ford Martini drivers Colin McRae and Nicky Grist and team-mates Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya held the top two places after an intriguing opening leg of the Acropolis Rally in Greece today. The British pair, driving a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, headed their Spanish colleagues by 21.1sec after a tough day's competition over hard and rocky gravel mountain roads north of the rally base in Itea.
This seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship offered similar conditions to the previous round in Cyprus earlier this month. Clear blue skies and sizzling temperatures were offset by a strong breeze which helped keep drivers and cars cooler than expected as they battled amid the parched and dusty Greek countryside.
McRae, winner of the last two rounds, started cautiously but upped his pace as the day went on, posting fastest time on the fourth and sixth speed tests. Loose gravel on the road hindered the early cars, including McRae and Sainz, as they swept the road for the benefit of those behind but the disadvantage was not as great as expected.
Both Ford drivers ignored the possibility of tactical games from others who could have slowed on the final stage to drop down the leaderboard in the belief that a lower running order tomorrow would bring cleaner roads.
"I've been pushing very hard this afternoon," admitted 32-year-old McRae. "The car felt good, the Pirelli tyres have worked well in difficult conditions and we had little option but to attack hard. The drivers behind us could monitor our times and react accordingly so we decided to go as quick as we could and try to build up a good lead. It's not a disaster to be first on the road tomorrow because today the disadvantage hasn't been as big as we thought."
Sainz spent much of the day in sixth, the experienced Madrid-based driver keeping clear of trouble. But he climbed four places on the final stage, despite a Greek drama just before the test. His Focus unexpectedly stopped on a liaison section and Sainz reacted quickly to reduce the car's high-technology settings to ensure he completed the 27km stage without further problems.
Second fastest time was the result and Sainz said: "I'm just happy not to have lost any time, mainly due to the superb advice I received from our engineers by telephone. We switched the semi-automatic gearbox and the fly-by-wire throttle to manual settings because it appeared a sensor had failed and it worked. I expected to be further behind the leader tonight given the disadvantage we had with the conditions so we must wait and see what tomorrow brings.
François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup, driving a third Focus RS, put in a brave performance, the French driver in discomfort after a mountain bike accident yesterday while training. He fell, badly spraining his right wrist and the team's medical staff added strapping and gave painkillers to ease Delecour's pain.
His troubles were not helped when a first stage puncture cost 90 seconds but he fought back to hold 12th tonight. "It's not been easy driving like this and I completed most of the final stage with just one hand on the steering wheel," said Delecour. "It's worst when I have to push the gearlever to change down the gearbox and Daniel has been changing gear for me on liaison sections."
It was a disastrous day for Peugeot, the reigning world champions losing both nominated drivers with less than three stages completed. Didier Auriol stopped just 5km into the first stage with a broken clutch while Marcus Grönholm hit a rock and holed his car's sump two stages later. World championship leader Tommi Mäkinen (Mitsubishi) had a frustrating day. Running first on the road, the Finn had the worst of the conditions but suspension settings that were too soft this morning did not help. Subaru performed well, the only cloud on their horizon being the retirement of Toshihiro Arai after a broken propshaft caused a fire on stage four. Team-mate Petter Solberg led for most of the day until a gearbox problem on the final test dropped him down the order. Markko Martin posted fastest time on the previous test, his first at world championship level. In contrast Kenneth Eriksson and Alister McRae (both Hyundai) endured a difficult leg. Turbo boost and power steering problems cost Eriksson more than 16 minutes while turbo boost troubles this morning provided a setback for McRae. Citroen returned to the series for their first rally since March and Philippe Bugalski and Thomas Rådström held top 10 places until Rådström retired with electrical problems on the final stage.
FIA Super 1600 Cup
Ford Pumas have been in control of the junior world championship category from the very start. Paraguay's Alejandro Galanti led initially before Benoit Rousselot took the lead on the third stage only for François Duval to move ahead on the final test. Patrick Magaud held second before losing a wheel on the final stage but, despite the gruelling conditions, all seven Pumas that started are still running.
Tomorrow's Route
The second leg covers similar territory north of Itea. After re-starting at 07.00, drivers face seven more stages, three of which they will be tackling for a second time, covering 123.36km before returning to the coastal town at 20.24.
Text provided by Mark Wilford
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