Rally Finland 2000
Leg Two Stage by Stage
SS 11
The second leg of Rally Finland started with the 30 km Juupajoki
stage. Rally leader Marcus Gronholm was fastest on the stage beating Richard
Burns by 4.8 secs. That didn't matter, though, as right after the finish
line Burns drifted sideways on a slippery corner and rolled several times.
The Subaru was destroyed but the crew was unhurt, although disappointed.
This meant that Harri Rovanpera took the second position with his Grifone
prepared Toyota Corolla, and Colin McRae was third, 7.6 secs behind Rovanpera.
Markko Martin was third fastest on the stage, and he was now only 10 secs
behind Juha Kankkunen in 7th place. Toni Gardemeister of Seat retired
with technical problems before the start of the stage.
SS 12
Multiple Finnish Rally Champion Sebastian Lindholm was quickest on
stage 12 with the second works Peugeot 206. He was 1.2 secs faster than
his cousin, Marcus Gronholm. Rovanpera continued at an incredible pace;
he was third on the stage and increased the gap to McRae to 11.3 secs.
Behind McRae, the battle was hard. Lindholm moved into 4th spot, followed
by Kankkunen and Makinen just a few seconds adrift. Makinen complained
again a bad tyre choice. Markko Martin had an off caused by a puncture
and lost several minutes. Group N front runner Jouko Puhakka retired with
technical problems.
SS 13
Juha Kankkunen took his first stage win on SS 13. He was now only
0.3 secs behind Lindholm. McRae seemed to be losing ground slightly as
Lindholm and Kankkunen were closing on him. Gronholm was again second
fastest on the stage and fortified his secure lead of almost 40 seconds
SS 14
Colin McRae stroke back by winning stage 14. He was now 9.8 secs
behind Rovanpera and 9.7 secs in front of Lindholm, who was one second
faster than Kankkunen. Gronholm further increased his lead by being second
quickest on the stage once more.
SS 15
Juha Kankkunen was fastest on stage 15. Next came Rovanpera and Makinen,
who seemed to be gaining speed as the day progressed. Gronholm kept things
under control by finishing the stage 4th, 2.7 secs behind Kankkunen. Lindholm
lost 15 seconds with turbo charger problems and dropped back to 6th, three
secs behind Makinen. Kankkunen was now just 6 seconds behind McRae, so
the fight in the top six continued as exciting as ever.
 |
| The rally of the thousand jumps. Juha Kankkunen shows how to do it. (Photo by SWRT) |
SS 16
Stage 16 was the legendary Ouninpohja, the longest stage of the rally with 34 kms, which was made extra difficult by rain in parts of the stage while other parts remained dry. As usual, the fast and tough stage took its toll, as Juha Kankkunen punctured and had to change the wheel on the stage. He lost more than five minutes. The stage was won by Marcus Gronholm, who extended his lead to almost 50 seconds. Rovanpera was second quickest and extended his lead over Colin McRae to 20 seconds. Tommi Makinen kept Lindholm behind and climbed to 4th spot because of Kankkunen's problems.
SS 17
Despite leading the rally with a vast margin, Gronholm kept pressing
on and took the stage win also on SS 17. His lead with only the short
super special to go on the second leg was 55.9 secs. Harri Rovanpera was
still trying to keep McRae behind him, this time McRae was 3.7 secs faster
than the Toyota driver. Tommi Makinen was second fastest on SS 17 and
pulled the gap to Lindholm to 10 secs. Francois Delecour had risen to
6th place with others' misfortunes, he was more than a minute behind Lindholm,
though. Tapio Laukkanen retired from 9th position with oil pressure problems
in his Ford Focus.
SS18
The Killeri horse track super special ended the day again. The stage
was won by Gronholm, but the differences were small and didn't affect
the overall situation.
Situation after stage 18 of 23:
1. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot - 2.24.33,3
2. Harri Rovanperä (FIN) Toyota +56,2
3. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +1.13,1
4. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +1.25,8
5. Sebastian Lindholm (FIN) Peugeot +1.36,3
6. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot +2.49,3
7. Didier Auriol (FRA) Seat +3.46,8
8. Pasi Hagström (FIN) Toyota +4.01,3
