Märtin leads Swedish Rally for Ford as winter melts away

Ford BP Rallye Sport drivers Markko Märtin and Michael Park led the
Swedish Rally by almost half a minute after the opening leg of the
three-day event. Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car was twice fastest
on today's key speed test to return to the rally base in Karlstad with
a 23.3sec advantage over Sebastien Loeb on this second round of the FIA
World Rally Championship. Ford has three Focus cars in the points with
Janne Tuohino and Jukka Aho fifth and François Duval and Stéphane Prévot
eighth.

As the only true winter rally in the 16-round championship, the pine
forests of central Sweden are usually covered in heavy snow and a thick
layer of ice. However, pre-event temperatures as high as 7°C have seen
much of the Scandinavian winter disappear. As a result parts of today's
five speed tests, covering 145.80km, were muddy gravel even before the
action began, and in other areas the studded tyres cut through the
fragile ice to expose the loose surface beneath.

However, the roads in the daunting 52.57km Granberget special stage,
the most northerly of the rally and the third longest in the entire
championship, were icy for both the morning and afternoon tests. It was
here that Märtin and Park built their lead, their Castrol-backed Focus
RS unrivalled to win the stage on both occasions. Lying third overall
after the opening two stages, they were fastest by 9.0sec on the first
run to take the lead, recording an incredible average speed of more than
127kph. They were then quickest by 3.1sec this afternoon to stretch
their advantage.

"I took care early this morning and just needed a couple of stages to
settle into the rally," said the 28-year-old Estonian driver. "The
Focus has been reliable all day. The only problem was a driver one when
I stalled the engine at the start of the second stage but we didn't
lose much time. The two Granberget stages were really good fun, in fact
the whole day has been enjoyable. This morning we were the second car
through the stage and there were no lines or ruts from other cars so I
was able to play with the car a little and choose exactly the line that
I wanted. To be first with a lead of more than 20sec is better than I
expected."

Heavy rain during the final service tonight threatens to wash away
even more of the snow and ice on tomorrow's stages, which are slightly
further south than today. "Tomorrow could be very difficult if the
weather doesn't change tonight. It won't be much fun if it is like
this," added Märtin.

Finnish duo Tuohino and Aho, driving an M-Sport run Focus RS but
nominated to score points for Ford, took no risks on their debut rally
in the latest specification car but still posted a top six time on
every stage. "We made no mistakes although maybe we were too sideways
in places on the second stage this morning," said Tuohino. "I drove at
maximum speed but didn't take any risks. I call it safety speed and
everything has gone normally. It's not a bad position to be the leading
Finn on a winter rally. I will try to go a little faster tomorrow and
brake a little less but I must be careful because the Focus has more
potential than I know about."

Duval and Prévot are competing in Sweden for the first time together but
the Belgians gained in confidence and experience as the day progressed.
"It was good fun to drive on these roads and the conditions were better
than we expected," said 23-year-old Duval. "The roads were about 70%
gravel on the first two stages but the lack of ice and snow hasn't
altered the way I drive.

"We worked hard on perfecting our pace notes on the first pass through
Granberget and that showed because they were fantastic on the second
run. We were much quicker than our first attempt when all the other
leading drivers were slower. I had a good feeling with the Focus but
like everyone else I am concerned about what the rain will do to the
roads we use tomorrow."

Ford BP team director Malcolm Wilson said all three Focus RS cars had
been given a routine maintenance only at the final service park in
Hagfors tonight. "Our cars are where I expected them to be had the
conditions been consistent. But the roads have been so variable and
unpredictable that I'm even more delighted with the way the day has
gone. Markko drove superbly on both occasions in the long stage, Janne
has driven sensibly to end the day inside the top six and François
showed how much he has learned about his pace notes when you compare his
times through the long stage," he said.

News from our Rivals

Monte Carlo Rally winner Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) won the final stage
to hold off Petter Solberg (Subaru) for second, the Norwegian losing
time on the second stage with a spin. Carlos Sainz (Citroen) was Loeb's
main challenger until he opted for tyres with long studs rather than the
better-suited shorter version for the second pass through Granberget and
dropped to fourth. Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot), winner in Sweden three
times in the last four years, led after the opening two tests but power
steering failure 20kms after the start of the first 52.57km Granberget
cost a minute and he ended the day in sixth, 3.3sec behind Tuohino.
It was a troubled day for Gilles Panizzi and Kristian Sohlberg (both
Mitsubishi). Sohlberg spun twice on the first stage and went off into
a snowbank on the second, losing four minutes in total. He spun again
on the penultimate test and dropped a further minute, ending the day in
35th. Gearbox troubles for Panizzi forced the team to fit a replacement
after the second stage but that also broke and the original was put
back in after the next test. However, he stopped with more transmission
problems 2km from the end of the penultimate stage and was the only
major retirement.

Tomorrow's Route

The second leg is the longest of the three days of competition. After
leaving Karlstad at 05.30, drivers head north to Hagfors again, around
which eight stages, covering 152.40km, are located. Two tests are
tackled twice and the final stage will be a repeat of the short sprint
around the rallycross circuit at Hagfors which closed today's action.
Drivers return to Karlstad for the final overnight halt at 19.36.

-ford-


http://www.motorsport.com -- your source for motorsport news on the Internet



--- FIDOGATE 4.4.9