Swedish Rally 2001
LEG
THREE
5 stages
Stage 13
After overnight snowfall prior to the final leg of the rally, a question
on everyone's lips was whether Harri Rovanpera would be able to defend
his lead against Tommi Makinen and Thomas Radstrom. On the first stage
of the day Rovanpera was doing fine, posting second fastest time, only
beaten by Subaru's Richard Burns. Rovanpera's lead was now 12.4 secs.
Stage 14
Richard Burns and Colin McRae, despite losing their chances already
on the first leg, headed the field again on SS 14. Rovanpera was also
shining and extended his lead to 17.2 secs. Radstrom was losing ground
and being threatened by Carlos Sainz, who was only 6 secs behind the Swede.
Toni Gardemeister in the 7th spot was charging and quickly catching Didier
Auriol and Francois Delecour.
Stage 15
Didier Auriol joined the retirees with a broken transmission, and
Gardemeister was elevated to 6th. In the front Makinen was two seconds
faster than rally leader Rovanpera. Sainz closed on Radstrom; their difference
was now only 2.1 secs.
Stage 16
Burns was again fastest on SS 16 as he had been on all of the day's
stages. His team-mate Markko Martin was also charging and posted the second
fastest time. He, too, was out of contention because of early problems.
With one more stage to go, Harri Rovanpera seemed to be heading for his
first WRC victory as he extended his lead over Tommi Makinen to 18.6 secs.
Radstrom was fighting back to Sainz and was 2 secs faster than the Spaniard.
Stage 17
Some drama was reserved also for the final stage of the eventful
rally. Tommi Makinen made a rare mistake and lost the car, rolling off
the road. The four-time World Champion was out of the event from the second
position with just 19 kilometers to go. This meant that Harri Rovanpera
had no trouble to take his first victory in front of all the WRC regulars.Thomas
Radstrom put on a good time on the final stage, taking the second place
ten seconds in front of Carlos Sainz. Toni Gardemeister made another fine
drive with the Grifone Peugeot 206, passing Francois Delecour and taking
4th spot.
Results:
1. Harri Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot - 3.27.01,1
2. Thomas Rådström (SWE) Mitsubishi +27,9
3. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +37,0
4. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Peugeot +2.05,3
5. Francois Delecour (FRA) Ford +2.25,2
6. Petter Solberg (NOR) Subaru +2.48,5
7. Daniel Carlsson (SWE) Toyota +3.18,2
8. Kenneth Eriksson (SWE) Hyundai +3.35,8
9. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +4.28,8
10. Bruno Thiry (BEL) Skoda +5.23,6
