RALLY: McRae takes control for Ford in Portugal sunshine
23 March 1999
Colin McRae and Nicky Grist dominated the Rally of Portugal today in their Ford Focus World Rally Car to lead by 49.2 seconds at the end of the opening leg. The Ford Martini World Rally Team partnership set four more fastest times to add to their quickest time on yesterdays first test to set a pace that their FIA World Rally Championship rivals could not match.McRae and Grist, who powered the Ford Focus to its maiden victory on last months Safari Rally in Kenya, continued where they left off by setting fastest time on three of the opening four stages today to establish a strong lead. They were then able to adopt a fast but comfortable pace over the remaining sun-baked gravel tests to preserve their advantage.
The Ford Focus, still in the early stages of development and consequently around 70kgs heavier than its rivals, is tackling only its fourth rally and this is its first event on smooth gravel roads, the surface which makes up the bulk of the 14-round FIA World Rally Championship. Huge crowds flocked to the side of the dusty stages in northern Portugal to watch the action, with thousands more following McRaes progress live on Portuguese television.
Thirty-year-old McRae was naturally delighted with the days competition. Yes, its been a superb day for me and the Ford Martini team. After our pre-rally tests we knew the Ford Focus would be quick on this type of surface but Im surprised just how quick its been today. I dont think running first through tomorrows stages will be a problem because the roads are not too dusty and loose, he said.
Ford Martini team director Malcolm Wilson was equally taken aback by the pace of McRae and the Focus. I said when we won in Kenya that I was lost for words and I am again today. Theres no way I expected the car to be this quick. Our times in testing were good compared with last year but everyone makes progress. Colin pushed very hard on the first two stages this morning and then controlled things from the front. I would like him to adopt the same tactics in the morning, he said.
Ford Martini team-mates Petter Solberg and Philip Mills are 14th in the second Focus, the 24-year-old Norwegian driver finding it difficult to acclimatise to the pace and technical difficulties of a sprint-type European rally. Some drivers here have competed on the Rally of Portugal seven or eight times, said Solberg. This is only my fifth world championship event in all and its my first on smooth gravel like this so its a big learning experience. We dropped around 20 seconds on the last stage after a spin and had a few problems when the car started jumping out of gear but once that was fixed it was like driving a new car again.
News from our Rivals
Behind McRae, just 5.3 seconds cover the next three drivers. An untroubled Richard Burns (Subaru) heads the trio, less than a second ahead of Carlos Sainz, who bent a left rear hub on his Toyota on stage six, with Toyota team-mate Didier Auriol close behind in fourth. Marcus Gronhlm (Mitsubishi), replacing the injured Freddy Loix, has impressed en route to fifth but team-mate and world championship leader Tommi Mkinen is down in ninth after daylong problems with his cars front differential. Seat duo Harri Rovanper and Piero Liatti have never been separated by more than a handful of seconds all day while Skodas Armin Schwarz and Emil Triner are both out after clutch problems led to retirement, Schwarz on the startline of the final stage and Triner before the start of that last test.
Tomorrows Route
Its another 06.00 start as the rally heads south-east for 10 more stages covering 180km, the longest leg of the four-day event. A repeated loop of two stages in the classic Portuguese rallying territory around Arganil ends the days action before the drivers face the long journey back to Porto, arriving at 22.40 after almost 740km behind the wheel.
Key Stage
Nicky Grist: The third stage tomorrow, Aguieira, is not only a new one but also the longest of the leg. Its twisty and technical and it will be very easy to make a mistake there. Traditionally something always happens to one of the frontrunners on the Arganil - Coja stage, which is used twice tomorrow afternoon, so thats another to watch out for.