ScotlandWalesNorthern Ireland
BBCiCATEGORIES  TV  RADIO  COMMUNICATE  WHERE I LIVE  INDEX   SEARCH 

BBC SPORT
You are in: Motorsport: World Rally  
News imageNews image
Front PageNews image
FootballNews image
CricketNews image
Rugby UnionNews image
Rugby LeagueNews image
TennisNews image
GolfNews image
MotorsportNews image
StatisticsNews image
Formula OneNews image
World RallyNews image
MotorbikesNews image
BoxingNews image
AthleticsNews image
Other SportsNews image
Sports TalkNews image
In DepthNews image
Photo GalleriesNews image
TV & RadioNews image
BBC PunditsNews image
Question of SportNews image
Funny Old GameNews image
News image

Around The Uk


Commonwealth Games 2002

BBC News

BBC Weather

SERVICES 
 Friday, 17 May, 2002, 23:52 GMT 00:52 UK
Gronholm extends lead
Marcus Gronholm won in Sweden and Cyprus
Gronholm won in Sweden and Cyprus
  Latest standings

World Rally championship leader Marcus Gronholm extended his advantage in the Rally of Argentina on Friday.

The Finn set the best time on five of the nine stages on the opening leg, opening up a one minute and 41.3 seconds lead over compatriot Tommi Makinen.

  Gronholm signs new deal

Britain's Richard Burns, the reigning world champion, is third overall for Peugeot, but is more than two minutes down on Gronholm.

Peugeot driver Gronholm's dominance was underlined by finishing the penultimate stage 45 seconds clear.

Gronholm said: "The car has felt very good and we have made no mistakes.

"The roads are a bit slippery and I've tried to push hard since the rally started."

Norwegian Petter Solberg, driving for Subaru, moved up to fourth at the expense of Peugeot's Finnish driver Harri Rovanpera, who dropped to eighth after the final two stages of the day.

  Drivers standings
M Gronholm (Fin) 31
G Panizzi (Fra) 20
R Burns (GB) 19
T Makinen (Fin) 14
C Sainz (Spa) 9
H Rovanpera (Fin) 9

Briton Colin McRae, who won the event last year, lost more than 30 seconds after spinning his Ford at the third stage and finished the day in 10th.

He is more than four minutes off the pace.

He said: "We spun at a fourth gear left-hand bend and the nose of the car ended up tight against a bank.

"The road was narrow at that point so we had to edge backwards and forwards several times to get going again."

The first stage of the rally had been cancelled because of overcrowding on the course, and the second stage was delayed by 17 minutes.

The drivers tackle the same nine stages used on the opening leg on Saturday before four tests make up Sunday's final leg.


Leading times after the opening leg of the Rally of Argentina

1 Marcus Gronholm (Finland) Peugeot one hour, 29 minutes, 42 seconds
2 Tommi Makinen (Finland) Mitsubishi, 1:40.3 seconds behind
3 Richard Burns (Britain) Peugeot 2:01.0
4 Petter Solberg (Norway) Subaru 2:07.6
5 Carlos Sainz (Spain) Ford 2:21.5
6 Freddy Loix (Belgium) Hyundai 2:48.6
7 Giles Panizzi (France) Peugeot 3:14.1
8 Harri Rovanpera (Finland) Peugeot 3:34.5
9 Toni Gardemeister (Finland) Ford 3:53.3
10 Colin McRae (Britain) Ford 4:08.6
Back to top

 WATCH/LISTEN
 ON THIS STORY
News image BBC Sport's Greg Strange
"Gronholm demolished his rivals"
World Rally Championship
This year's rallies:

TOP TEAMS AND DRIVERS
News image
 
News image
News image
News image
News image
 
News image
See also:

15 May 02 |  World Rally
Armed guard for Argentina Rally
21 Apr 02 |  World Rally
Gronholm punishes McRae
03 Feb 02 |  World Rally
Gronholm wins in Sweden
Internet links:


The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

Links to more World Rally stories are at the foot of the page.

 

E-mail this story to a friend

Links to more World Rally stories

News image
News image
^^ Back to top