Rally Catalunya 2001
LEG THREE
The final leg of Rally Catalunya featured six special stages, like the previous legs. Third placed Peugeot driver Gilles Panizzi was fastest on SS 13, putting some time between him and Tommi Makinen who had been closing dangerously. Citroen's Philippe Bugalski continued in the lead of the rally.
On stage 14 Bugalski's Xsara T4 developed a clutch problem, which made it hard for the Frenchman to start stage 15. Once he had got his car going from the uphill start he posted the fastest time on the stage, but received a two minute penalty for starting late. This dropped him to 4th place, and the new leader of the rally was Didier Auriol, who also was fastest on SS 14. Freddy Loix jumped from 7th to 5th position on SS 15 as Carlos Sainz suffered from punctures and Francois Deleceour got a ten second penalty for jump start.
 |
| Didier Auriol / Denis Giraudet (Photo by Peugeot Sport) |
Rally leader Didier Auriol was fastest on stage 16. Bugalski was second fastest, but he was 38 seconds behind Tommi Makinen, so podium finish seemed out of reach to him. The situation remained quite stable on stage 17, which was won by Gilles Panizzi.
Philippe Bugalski was fastest on the final stage of the rally, but the winner of Rally Catalunya was Peugeot's Didier Auriol, a great reward for the experienced driver after so many years of not being able to compete in the highest level of the sport. Gilles Panizzi secured one-two for Peugeot with his second place, while Tommi Makinen increased his championship lead finishing third.
After the rally Citroen asked for clarification on the penalty given to Philippe Bugalski. The team presented in-car footage from Bugalski's car that was supposed to prove that his penalty should only have been one minute. The stewards took a look at the footage and, in fact, found a reason to double the penalty to four minutes! After getting the car going Bugalski started straight from the position the car had been pushed to, not the actual start line. That counted for false start and the Frenchman dropped to 8th place.
So, no points for Citroen, even though the potential of the new Xsara was certainly shown. The debate over Jesus Puras' illegal recceing, which continued even after his retirement, left somewhat of a bitter smack of Citroen's debut, though.
Freddy Loix showed some good speed and kept Carlos Sainz behind on the final stages, and finally after all penalties were counted he found himself finishing fourth. For the Ford and Subaru teams Catalunya spelled trouble this year, although Carlos Sainz scored two points by finishing 5th and Francois Delecour took the final point. Richard Burns never got on top of the Catalunyan roads with the Subaru and finished 7th.
Results of Rally Catalunya:
1. Didier Auriol (FRA) Peugeot - 3.40.54,7
2. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Peugeot +23,2
3. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +1.01,4
4. Freddy Loix (BEL) Mitsubishi +2.16,7
5. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +2.35,7
6. Francois Delecour (FRA) Ford +2.43,7
7. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +3.02,8
8. Philippe Bugalski (FRA) Citroen +3.25,7
9. Simon Jean-Joseph (FRA) Peugeot +4.59,3
10. Bruno Thiry (BEL) Skoda +6.03,9
11. Alister McRae (SCO) Hyundai
12. Adruzilo Lopes (POR) Peugeot
