FIA RALLY: 33rd TAP Rally of Portugal 2000 , End of Leg 2 Report
19 March 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The second full day of the Rally of Portugal took the action south
to the famous Arganil region. Notoriously hard on cars and tyres,
the first three stages were immediately repeated before the route moved
north to Mortagua and then back to Porto. Richard Burns launched his
big attack this morning and moved into second place with a storming
time on the opening stage before gradually cutting back Marcus Gronholm's
overnight lead and moving ahead on SS17. Gronholm fought back though,
winning the final two stages to lead the rally at the end of the second
leg - "I'm going very quickly at the moment, quite fast enough" said
Gronholm.
Subaru
Burns was fastest on five of the first six stages today. He gained the lead after SS17 but lost it after being slowed by visibility problems on the final 2 stages. "The only responsible option was to slow down and reduce the risk of hitting the spectators. I'm annoyed at losing the lead in this way - but feel sure I can get the lead back tomorrow" said Burns.
Peugeot
Marcus Gronholm maintained his overnight lead despite coming under severe pressure from the chasing Richard Burns. I can't do anything about Richard, he admitted. He's driving too fast. However, we'll have our new engine in Catalunya and then we'll be able to increase the pace significantly. Both Peugeots have suffered mechanical problems today. Francois Delecour's car coasted to the end of SS14 after its fuel pump failed and he also found that the clutch was not working properly. He also complained that the brakes were lacking feel. Local driver Adruzilo Lopes was slowed on SS17 when a shock absorber broke and punched its way through the bonnet.
Ford
Petter Solberg continued to set fast times today and moved into fourth place behind team leader Carlos Sainz over the opening three stages. This is the first event where the team hasn't told me to take care of the car and it seems to be going quite well, he said. When asked could he go any faster, the Norwegian replied: Obviously I can't challenge Carlos but I'm sure I could drive quicker. There's not a scratch on my car and that's not good. You should always have some marks to show that you've been trying! Sainz explained that today's stages are not as sandy as yesterday's. They are rocky, although not rough, and so road position isn't quite so critical. On the second batch of stages today Solberg claimed his first fastest time, beating Burns by just 0.1s but was fortunate at the service area after SS17 when he reached the control with no fuel left in the tank!
Mitsubishi
Freddy Loix suffered brake problems on the second stage today after a wheel bearing failed and this spoiled what might have been a run of quick times for the Belgian driver. He had set the fourth fastest time on the opening stage but his progress was pegged by the problems although, thanks to other drivers hitting trouble, he was still able to move up the leaderboard. The car was working well for the first 20kms, he explained. Then the brake pedal just went straight to the floor and got worse. By the end of the stage I didn't have any brakes at all so I had to rely on the handbrake. On the first stage of the second section Loix suffered again and the problem was diagnosed as a loose brake fluid pipe. The crew had spares in the car so that they could attempt a repair between stages.
Skoda
Armin Schwarz continued his trouble free run today, his only complaint being the Octavia's lack of power when pulling out of tight corners. His team mate Luis Climent was unable to do much about his overall position as he was forced to tackle today's stages behind Group N leader Miguel Campos and had no option but to run in the dust from the slower Mitsubishi. Because of non-registered drivers ahead of them, Skoda completed the day with Schwarz in a Championship points-scoring position.
SEAT
Didier Auriol was slow on today's stages when his SEAT developed dramatic handling problems. A broken drive shaft was just one of the Frenchman's problems but fellow competitors described how the SEAT was snaking from one side of the road to another as it accelerated from the start line of SS13. Auriol reached the end of SS15 with front-wheel drive only. Toni Gardemeister, in the second Cordoba WRC E2, has been suffering with brake problems all through the rally and the team attributed the fault to an electronic link between the brakes and the transmission that was causing the systems to lock up every time Gardemeister tried to brake.
Hyundai
Unfortunately Hyundai's promising event with the Accent WRC came to an end in the first run on the Gois stage this morning when clutch problems forced Kenneth Eriksson to abandon the competition. A fluid leak started a fire under the car and the team believes that it was the fire damage that ultimately cost the Swede any chance of continuing, rather than the clutch problem itself. Australian Michael Guests finished the day in the lead of the 2-Litre category.
Other Teams
The Group N contenders were decimated on the Arganil stages today when Uwe Nittel, Gabriel Mendez, Gustavo Trelles and Pedro Leal all retired. Leal's accident caused SS14 to be halted. Miguel Campos was therefore left with a two minute lead over Manfred Stohl after the first section. In the FIA Teams Cup contest, Frederic Dor began to put overnight leader Serkan Yazici under pressure and finally eased his Subaru ahead. Thomas Radstrom retired from the event last night after going OTL changing the centre diff.
Text provided by FIA
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