FIA RALLY: 47th Acropolis Rally; Round 7 of the FIA World Rally Championship
9 June 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The FIA World Rally Championship reaches its halfway point with the Acropolis Rally, one of the oldest and toughest rounds of the 14 round series. The rally base has moved once more to the coastal town of Itea although many teams have chosen to stay at the historic town of Delphi, home of the famous oracle of ancient Greece. Temperatures in the 30s are doubled inside the rally cars and that will bring its own increased stress levels for crews who, from this event onwards, must now wear FIA approved triple layer overalls. The Acropolis is a rally where, like the Safari in Kenya, the slightest error can have dramatic effects on the outcome with the cars' suspension especially vulnerable on the rough and rocky Greek roads. Position on the road is expected to be critical and tactical positioning can be expected to avoid running first (and cleaning the loose gravel off the surface for the benefit of following drivers) any more than is absolutely necessary.
Subaru (54 points)
Whatever happens on this year's Acropolis Rally, FIA World Rally Championship leader Richard Burns will not be overtaken as he is 14 points clear in the Drivers' series. That's a nice position to be in but it doesn't mean you can relax for a moment, he said before the start of a rally he won last year. People are saying that I'm the pre-event favourite but there's no such thing as an easy win in rallying - they're all difficult! Team mate Juha Kankkunen admitted that this was one of his favourite events (he first won here in 1986) but added: I guess you have to have rough events like this one to make the others seem smooth! For Subaru this is a special moment as it marks the tenth anniversary of its link with Prodrive. The first Prodrive Subaru appeared on the 1990 Acropolis Rally in the hands of Markku Alen. I think we learned more about rallying in those few days than in all of the years since, admitted team principal David Lapworth.
Ford (31 points)
After a strong showing in Argentina, Ford's Carlos Sainz is hoping to enjoy a tenth anniversary party of his own in Greece. I've won here three times, the last time with Ford in 1987, but this was also the place where I won my first World Championship Rally in 1990, he explained. It's one of my favourite rallies because it always brings back good memories. For Colin McRae the challenge is to finish this especially tough event. He's won twice before, in 1996 and 1998, but the Scot is not enjoying a great deal of reliability at present. The situation is getting better, he insisted, so I'm looking forward to challenging for victory. A top finish should be possible but the big question will be the pace of the Subaru. It should be a very competitive event. Ford has again entered a third car for Petter Solberg who is making his first entry on the Greek classic.
Peugeot (29 points)
One year ago Peugeot gave the 206WRC its gravel debut on the FIA World Championship. On that occasion Marcus Gronholm set fastest time on the opening stage but failed to complete many more. This year the Finn is lying second to Burns in the FIA Drivers Championship and Peugeot is third in the Manufacturers' series so a more competitive result is to be expected. However, Gronholm's early departure last year means that there are still many stages that are new to him at competitive speeds. I may have to take things steady at times so I don't know what kind of result to expect, he admitted. Team mate Francois Delecour likes the event and says: This time we will be on equal footing with our rivals which has not always been the case to date. A third Peugeot 206WRC is being entered for Irish driver Mark Fisher, winner of the British Peugeot Challenge. This is his Acropolis debut and part of his prize for winning that series.
Mitsubishi (29 points)
The Acropolis Rally is one of the few events that FIA World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen has yet to win. That's something I'd quite like to put right this time! he said. The stages aren't so rough this year and we've got some new suspension that is just what I asked for so I'm feeling pretty confident. Position on the road will be quite important I think. Team mate Freddy Loix doesn't fully share Makinen's opinion about the roads: It's not that much smoother than last year but the organisers have taken out the roughest stages. Behind the battle for outright victory Mitsubishi is anxious to claim its seventh successive Group N win of the season and maintain its perfect record. Manfred Stohl leads the Group N World Championship but his failure to finish in Argentina means that World Champion Gustavo Trelles is now quite close behind.
SEAT (7 points)
SEAT team leader Didier Auriol is another driver who has won this event (in 1992) but he knows that he has enjoyed both good and bad luck here. I'm much more confident with the Cordoba now, he insisted, and I think we're quite close to finding the set-up we want. During yesterday's shakedown tests Auriol spent a long time fine-tuning the front suspension settings for the car to his liking. You need the strongest and fastest car possible, he added. You can't avoid the rocks here so you have to drive flat out and hope for some good luck. Team mate Toni Gardemeister is again attempting an event for the first time. I've never even been to Greece on holiday so everything is new to me. It will be quite difficult on the fast sections because those are the hardest to make pace notes for until you really know the roads.
Skoda (5 points)
One year after Skoda's Octavia WRC scored its first FIA World Championship points (Skoda and Mitsubishi were the only two teams on last year's Acropolis to get both cars home in the points) the Czech team is back and aiming to push harder. It's a severe test, said Armin Schwarz and we must find a sensible pace, especially on the stage that are being run twice. Team mate Luis Climent has recently been confirmed in the second car for the rest of the season (his position was believed in jeopardy with the loss of personal sponsor Airtel). Last year I was in the FIA Teams Cup and missed my first points by just six seconds so I want to make up for that here, he explained. Skoda is, however, fearful that it will be let down by its Speedline wheels that broke 15 times during yesterday's 3-hour shakedown. The team has confirmed that it is to evaluate some customer-specification O.Z. rims during the event.
Hyundai (1 point)
Alister McRae is in buoyant mood heading into this weekend's event. I'm really looking forward to it after our points-scoring event in Argentina. We've made good progress recently but we know that this will be a tough test and very hard on our cars. Hopefully we've identified any problem areas. Last year McRae's team mate Kenneth Eriksson won the 2-litre 'Formula 2' category on this event but now he's hoping to score his own first points with the Hyundai Accent WRC. I see this event as part of our development process and we'll be going as fast as we can in the conditions. Hyundai has a third car entered in Greece, a two-wheel drive Coupe, for Australian driver Michael Guest. This is part of his Winfield-backed development programme.
Other teams
This year's Acropolis Rally has received arguably the best ever entry for the FIA Teams Cup with no less than six teams registered. Toyota drivers Serkan Yazici and Abdullah Bakhashab represent Team Atakan and Toyota Team Saudi Arabia respectively while the Subarus of Krzystof Holowczyc, Frederic Dor, Toshihiro Arai and former Group N competitor Hamed Al Wahaibi represent in turn the Wizja TV Turning Point, F Dor, Spike Subaru and Arab World teams. Al Wahaibi hasn't competed for five months after finishing second in last season's Group N competition but is returning in a two-year programme again backed by his country. Citroen is also preparing for possible future entries on this event by sending Philippe Bugalski to Greece with a Saxo kit car while Kenyan Champion Alistair Cavanagh makes his debut on the event, 10 years after another Kenyan champion, Ian Duncan, did the same.
Text provided by FIA
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