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RALLY: 55th Network Q Rally of Great Britain, End of Leg 1

22 November 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The Battle of the Brits was put on hold today as Juha Kankkunen & Juha Repo driving a Subaru Impreza showed them all how it was done - three stage wins and they lead the Network Q Rally of Great Britain at the end of the first Leg. Kankkunen: "Today has been very good, good compound, good grip. We tried some different tyres at the end of the day, but everything was OK. Really, all we did today was set good times, it's as simple as that."

Today was really a show day with 7 relatively short special stages designed to entertain the huge number of spectators at the rally. Stages were conducted at the Blenheim Palace, Silverstone circuit and the Cheltenham racecourse. Given the conditions and the general nature of the stages, many drivers preferred to simply get through the day and settle in before the 'real' rally action which starts tomorrow in the Welsh forests.

The conditions were extremely slippery and the mixed surface created some difficulties for drivers tyre choices. There were early dramas for both Colin McRae and Richard Burns. McRae clipped a gate post on the first stage and smashed the drivers window - and it was a very cold 3 hours before the window (and front door) could be replaced. McRae also had problems selecting 3rd gear and the gearbox was changed as a precaution and he finished the day in 8th position.

Richard Burns spun on SS2 and stalled the engine which cost him time but he finished in 4th position, only 8 seconds behind Kankkunen. Burns: "I've been going for it all day, but mistakes early on cost us time."

Two Peugeots finished in a strong 2nd and 3rd position. Gronholm: "We've had a good day, but really it's very easy to be here at the end of the first day. We will go for it tomorrow, but the stages may not suit us as well."

World Champion, Tommi Makinen had a poor day as he explains: 'I'm not very happy. We made some stupid mistakes with the set up which we fixed at the first service, and the car was OK after that. Then we made some tyre mistakes. I didn't realise that we would be re-seeded for Blenheim in reverse, and we had tarmac tyres. But everyone in front of us cut the corners so much bringing mud onto the road. By the time we went through we could hardly find any tarmac!"

Tomorrow the action heads into the Welsh forests for 8 special stages.

Provisional Results after Leg 1

1 Kankkunen Subaru Impreza 27:00,7
2 Delecour Peugeot 206 27:04,2
3 Gronholm Peugeot 206 27:05,2
4 Burns Subaru Impreza 27:08,8
5 Sainz Toyota Corolla 27:17,5
6 Auriol Toyota Corolla 27:23,9
7 Makinen Mitsu Lancer 27:24,4
8 McRae Ford Focus 27:24,6
9 Solberg Ford Focus 27:27,9
10 Rovanpera Seat Cordoba 27:33.2

Group N
1 Stohl Mitsu Lancer 28:56,0
2 Easson Mitsu Lancer 29:14,0
3 Stacey Subaru Impreza 29:29.7

2-Litre
1 Kytolehto Vauxhall Astra 29:08,2
2 Laukkanen Renault Megane 29:13,8
3 McRae A. Hyundai Coupe 29:15,9

Teams Cup
1 Holowczyc Subaru Impreza 28:06,3
2 Climent Subaru Impreza 28:17,0
3 Bakashab Toyota Corolla 29:03,3

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.