Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart A. McRae / D. Senior

The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Alister McRae and David Senior now head the team’s assault on the Swedish Rally, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship. In an intense fight to get into the top six, the British crew lie eighth, while former team leaders Jani Paasonen and Arto Kapanen have dropped back to 17th after losing a wheel earlier in the day. François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup continue to make progress, but their focus is now on gaining experience and greater understanding of the Lancer Evolution WRC.

Sixty-eight crews left Karlstad under the cover of darkness this morning and headed north to Hagfors, base for the six stages and 129 competitive kilometres. Temperatures rose considerably overnight to around five degrees Centigrade resulting in very tricky stages, melting snow and ice and even standing water in places. Few escaped unscathed in some way and, with temperatures set to remain warmer, tomorrow’s final leg could well prove to be the sting in the tail.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart A. McRae / D. Senior

McRae and co-driver David Senior powered from an overnight 11th to eighth within the first stage and, by the end of the following stage, Alister had climbed to sixth, trading luck with brother Colin who had to stop and change a wheel in stage 7. Going into the following stage, the difference between Sainz in third and Burns in eighth position was a mere 20 seconds, such is the level of competition, and a handful of seconds dropped by Alister resulted in him ultimately slipping back to eighth, just 1.2 seconds behind Janne Tuohino and less than 27 seconds adrift of fourth position.

"The car has felt better in the twisty stuff after changing some of the transmission settings yesterday", said Alister. "In general the stages have been very soft and slushy, but the last three were better because they hadn’t been used before. Overall it’s been a good day and I’ve built a bit more of gap to Juha (Kankkunen) but it’s still not enough to safeguard us from any problems. It’s all pretty close so tomorrow’s target is to keep it clean, no mistakes and get into the points".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Paasonen / A. Kapanen

Team-mates Jani Paasonen and Arto Kapanen, driving the team’s third Lancer Evolution WRC in Sweden, had previously set the pace but, after clouting a rock embedded in a snowbank in stage 7, they lost a wheel and dropped from an impressive fourth to 17th limping through the stage. "The conditions have been very difficult today and although its frustrating to have dropped three minutes, there could have been a lot more damage", said Jani. "I’m not so happy. Tonight I have a good sleep, tomorrow is a new day and I’ll push harder, but also make sure we get to the finish. That is important".

François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup continue to make progress, but the pair are now focused on competitive testing and gaining more experience in the Lancer Evolution WRC. "We’ve been making slight changes to the car to improve traction and have made real progress", said François. "The stages are in a very bad condition by the time we go through and it’s very frustrating knowing we’re not in the running. Tomorrow our aim is to carry on pushing hard and learn a bit more about the car".

Meanwhile...

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Delecour / D. Grataloup

Marcus Grönholm continues to dominate the Swedish Rally, fastest on all but one of the six stages, and has pulled out a comfortable 50 second lead over team-mate Harri Rovanperä. Even so, the two Peugeots are in a rally of their own, Rovanperä 90 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Carlos Sainz (Ford) powered into third place when team-mate Colin McRae slipped off the leaderboard after stopping to change a broken wheel in stage 7. And, like McRae who is now 11th, a number of other drivers appear to have hit the same rock, all with varying consequences. Freddy Loix (Hyundai) continues to be the revelation of the rally, the Belgian holding fourth overall despite hobbling round on crutches while recovering from a broken ankle. Richard Burns (Peugeot) has also moved up the leaderboard into fifth position and Kenneth Eriksson (Skoda) currently holds the final point-scoring position. Competition between this group is however intense, everyone with something to fight for, and Finnish privateer Janne Tuohino holds a slim 1.2 second advantage over Alister McRae going into tomorrow’s final leg. Leading retirements today include Petter Solberg, the Norwegian adding to Subaru’s woes when he was forced out with an engine problem. Toni Gardemeister (Skoda) was the only other major retirement, the Finn going off the road late this afternoon.

Still to come...

The third leg of the Swedish Rally starts from Karlstad at 06:00 hrs for the concluding five stages and 128 competitive kilometres. The mild weather is forecast to stay and the final day of competition could prove a wet affair for the remaining crews.

Mitsubishi Motors drivers Juha Kangas and Daniel Carlsson are locked in combat in a thrilling battle for supremacy in the Production Car class on the Swedish Rally, the first round of the series in the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship. Both men are driving Mitsubishi Carisma GTs and lead a host of fellow Mitsubishi competitors, who not only top the championship classification after two of the rally’s three legs, but hold 10 of the first 11 places in the category.

Competitors have faced exceptionally difficult conditions in the second leg of the Karlstad- based rally, as higher temperatures and rain have replaced the earlier snow. However, most of the route is still frozen and drivers have had to deal with standing water and gravel, as well as snow and ice. There has been no margin for error and the least mistake has been punished severely on such a competitive rally. The action has thrilled vast crowds, quite undeterred by the hostile conditions.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT Gr.N J. Kangas / M. Ovaskainen

Rivalry between Swedes and Finns is traditionally intense and Juha Kangas struck a blow for Finland in the second leg, driving his Carisma GT superbly to pull ahead of Carlsson.

"The car has been really good and we have attacked a bit today. It’s not easy though. The grip isn’t very consistent and there’s a still long way left tomorrow", Kangas warned.

Carlsson is one of Sweden’s most promising talents and has proved his worth by trading seconds with Kangas throughout the rally in his Carisma GT, narrowing the gap to just four seconds after two days.

"Kangas is driving very fast and it won’t be easy to catch him, but our car has quite low gearing too and that has been a disadvantage on the really fast stages", Carlsson said.

Third belongs to top Swede Kenneth Backlund, despite spinning his Carisma GT and getting a puncture, while another Finn, Kristian Sohlberg, holds fourth in the class in his Carisma GT and has a secure lead in the World Championship standings. Promising Swede Oscar Svedlund is fifth and Italy’s Alex Fiorio is gaining confidence in eighth. A misfire cost local star Stig-Olov Walfridson the category lead.

The last leg runs north of Karlstad once more and includes just four stages, but it will certainly be tough, for the last stage of the rally is close to 40 kilometres. Competitors will get no chance to relax until the finish.