Rally Catalunya 2000
LEG ONE
With a tight schedule the teams continued from Portugal to Catalunya for the first pure tarmac rally of the season. Peugeot renewed their equipment with new engines hoping to match the Subarus which seemed to have gained a performance advantage in Portugal. At Mitsubishi, the pressures seem to be adding up and rumours of Freddy Loix being close to getting sacked are flying high.
Subaru's Richard Burns was fastest on the first stage in rainy conditions. His team-mate Juha Kankkunen was again unlucky as alternator problems caused him to arrive 13 minutes late at the time control prior to the stage and he got a two minute penalty. Francois Delecour was second with the Peugeot, four secs behind Burns.
On the second stage Burns was again fastest, extending his lead to 11.5 secs. Ford's Colin McRae moved past Delecour into the second spot. SS3 was won by McRae's team-mate Carlos Sainz, who then took the third position. Delecour was now 4th, followed by Tommi Makinen and Marcus Gronholm, who had started his first Rally Catalunya nicely.
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| Richard Burns in the sea of umbrellas (Photo by SWRT) |
Burns made a blinding time on SS 4 and increased his lead to almost 24 secs. Makinen also was on the move and passed Delecour. Markko Martin with the privately entered Toyota was again very fast, he had taken the 7th position among all the works drivers. The hard rain had now seized but the roads were treacherous with slippery patches of mud on corners.
On SS5 Burns lost the 12 secs he gained on the previous stage as McRae cut the margin to 13.8 secs. Makinen was now only 0.3 secs behind Sainz. The stage was won, quite surprisingly, by Skoda's Armin Schwartz, who rose to 8th place. Gilles Panizzi, who had turbo problems in the morning was now charging and passed Martin.
The final stage of the day, SS6, was won by McRae and Burns' overnight lead was shrunk to 8 secs. Sainz and Makinen, still fighting hard with each other, also were faster than Burns. Panizzi was second fastest on the stage and closed on his team-mates. The Peugeots of Delecour, Gronholm and Panizzi start the second leg within 7 seconds in 5th, 6th and 7th position, respectively. Gronholm's performance was again notable; he is competing in his first Rally Catalunya as Peugeot's third driver not eligible for manufacturer points, with the older version of the 206.
Situation after 6 of 15 stages:
1. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru - 1.02.48,1
2. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +8,0
3. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +24,2
4. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +24,7
5. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot +53,6
6. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +54,6
7. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Peugeot +59,9
8. Markko Märtin (EST) Toyota +1.24,5
9. Armin Schwarz (GER) Skoda +1.25,9
10. Andrea Navarra (ESP) Toyota +1.29,8
11. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Seat +1.40,1
