Long-time leaders Markko Märtin and Michael Park had their hopes of
becoming the first non-Nordic drivers to win the Swedish Rally dashed this
afternoon when their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car slid into a snowbank and
broke the rear suspension.  Although the Ford BP Rallye Sport duo managed
to recover and stay in a points-scoring position, it is Finns Janne Tuohino
and Jukka Aho who lead the Ford challenge on this second round of the FIA
World Rally Championship in fourth place.

Tuohino, driving an M-Sport-run Focus RS and making his debut for Ford, has
kept clear of trouble in treacherous conditions which have caught out many
of the top drivers.  Märtin lies eighth but Ford BP team-mates
François Duval and Stéphane Prévot dropped to 46th after spending
almost 45 minutes in a ditch when they were caught out in the snowy
conditions.

Fears that last night's heavy rain would accelerate the recent thaw in the
pine forests of central Sweden proved unfounded.  As temperatures dropped,
the rain turned to snow and the drivers awoke this morning to find a fresh
layer of snow covering the fragile ice, with temperatures hovering around
-2°C all day.  Despite the return of the wintry weather, there were
still sections where exposed gravel ensured that conditions would remain
unpredictable.

Eight speed tests covering 152.40km comprised the longest leg of the
three-day rally, which Märtin and Park started with a 23.3sec lead in
their Castrol-backed Focus RS.  They extended that to a maximum of 30.0sec
until their victory bid ended shortly after the start of the 20.78km
Sundsjön test.

"I leaned the car into a snowbank but hidden in it was a rock and the
impact shattered the rear left suspension," said Märtin.  "The car ended
in the middle of the road with the rear wheel folded underneath but
eventually we were able to finish the stage, although there was no drive on
that side of the car because of the damage.  It wasn't a particularly quick
bend, maybe third gear, but we went into it slightly too fast.  Leaning on
snowbanks is part of the tactics on this rally but they're so soft because
of the mild weather that the car doesn't bounce off them in the normal
manner.  You can't trust them."

The 28-year-old Estonian dropped six minutes and the Ford BP mechanics
faced a race against time to rebuild the rear of the Focus RS during the
following service.  They completed a superb job in the 20 minutes allowed,
replacing the brakes, shock absorber, suspension arm and rear differential,
to enable Märtin to re-enter the fray without further penalties.  "The
impact had pushed the driveshaft into the differential and broke it," said
team director Malcolm Wilson.  "That damage was only discovered 10 minutes
into the service and so we had to replace the differential as well.  The
technicians did a fantastic job, especially in these cold and snowy
conditions."

Märtin dropped to ninth but climbed one position to end the day back in
the points.  "The result was there on a plate for us but now it has gone
and that was my mistake.  I just leaned a bit harder than everyone else on
that snowbank.  I'm really disappointed and sorry for the team.  Tomorrow
we must make sure we can bring some points back," he added.

Tuohino escaped several brushes with the snowbanks this morning.  "I hit
them on three separate occasions because I pushed too hard," said the
28-year-old Finn.  "Twice we slid sideways into the banks and on the other
occasion I went in forwards."  But having been too aggressive, he ended the
day annoyed with himself after being too cautious through the long 39.95km
Vargäsen to lose third place.  "I was far too careful and that was
stupid.  Then I stalled the engine twice in the final stage.  Tomorrow I'm
going to have to go as fast as I can, without taking too many risks, to try
to regain third.  The problem is that I'm not sure I can do that safely
because I still don't know the car so well."

Duval maintained his overnight eighth until he was caught out on the fourth
stage of the day.  "I had a big understeer going into a corner and then
went into a ditch," said 23-year-old Duval.  "Maybe my pace notes were too
optimistic for that section.  There was only one spectator there and he
carried on filming!  It was 30 minutes before any other people arrived to
help.  My time loss wasn't so important.  Just to be here and try to finish
and gain more experience is what is important.  We've made many alterations
to our pace notes and that will help us enormously in the future."

Duval emphasised his point by setting fourth fastest time through
Sundsjön, a test tackled earlier in the morning when he made
modifications to his pace notes that were reflected by an improved
performance during the second pass.

It was a disappointing day for Wilson.  "A potentially great result has
gone from our grasp.  Markko was controlling his lead but made a costly
mistake.  But Janne is driving exceptionally well and we still have both
our cars in the points so we must aim to consolidate that tomorrow," he
said.

News from our Rivals

Märtin's disappointment was joy for Sebastien Loeb (Citroen).  He
inherited the lead and after winning three speed tests, he ended the day
with an advantage of 40.6sec over Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot).
Grönholm recovered well from yesterday's power steering failure to win
four stages.  However, a spin near the start of the 39.95km Vargåsen
cost 15 seconds.

Petter Solberg (Subaru) went off the road for 45 seconds
on the opening stage and later hit the same rock as Märtin, but the
damage was less serious and he lies third.  Carlos Sainz (Citroen) lies
fifth behind Tuohino, despite losing nearly a minute when he went off the
road this morning and had to stop and clear snow from his radiator.

Another to go off was Mikko Hirvonen (Subaru) who dropped six minutes after
sliding into a snowbank and getting stuck.  He is ninth.  Kristian Sohlberg
(Mitsubishi) retired after exceeding his permitted time following
transmission problems in service before the opening stage while Freddy Loix
(Peugeot) dropped almost two minutes after going off on the second test.
He then retired on the penultimate stage with engine problems.

Tomorrow's Route

The final leg of the rally is the shortest with just 96.60km of
competition.  After leaving Karlstad for the second consecutive day at
05.30, drivers face two loops of two stages close to the Hagfors service
park.  They return to Karlstad for the finish ceremony at 16.38.


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