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The 2001 Swedish Rally Story by Colin Courtney and pictures by Robert Chambers - February 2001. Last year in Sweden a Finnish driver won his first WRC round in a team that he was not the number 1 driver, and wasn't even contracted for the full championship. This year had yet another familiar ring to it, but the story was completely different. The Finn this time was Harri Rovanpera, driving a Peugeot 206 WRC, but it wasn't as dominant a win as Gronholm's was last year. The typical Swedish weather was back in temperatures of 30 degrees below freezing as Makinen led the field away from the start in Karlstad, but it was last years winner Marcus Gronholm who took the lead in the slippery conditions. Makinen, running first on the road, was 13th overall sweeping a clean line for the other drivers running behind him. Team mate Thomas Radstrom, contracted for the one rally to Citroen, was fairing better in 4th place, but regular team mate Freddy Loix was languishing in 34th place, struggling in the snow. Gronholm's regular team mate Didier Auriol was in 8th place overall, while his other team mate for this rally, Harri Rovanpera was 6th after the first stage, and set fastest time on stage 2 to take the lead. On that same stage however, Richard Burns put his Impreza off the road for 13 minutes losing any chance of winning the rally, and he wasn't alone having problems, when Marcus Gronholm parked his 206 WRC up with a blown engine on the same stage. Colin McRae had been lying 3rd after the second stage, but he too had problems when, on stage 3, he tried to use a snow bank to his advantage when it weakened, dragging him off the road and losing him 6 minutes and again any chance of victory. McRae was then 48th, while Burns was 71st. After 3 stages and going into first service there was a surprise leader in the rally. Swede Thomas Radstrom was leading by 2 seconds in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, with Harri Rovanpera 2nd in the 206 WRC. Carlos Sainz was lying third while Markko Martin, Tommi Makinen and Kenneth Eriksson rounded off the top 6. On stage 4 it was Freddy Loix's turn to go off the road and get stuck in a snow bank losing 3 minutes, while Hyundai's Alister McRae was having problems dropping him out of contention and into 16th place overall. Meanwhile with nothing to lose Colin McRae was on a real charge setting fastest times on the next few stages, with Richard Burns in a similar position setting second fastest times to the Scot. After stage 4 Radstrom still led, with Carlos Sainz in 2nd place 3.5 seconds behind him. Rovanpera had dropped to 3rd in the Peugeot but was still 7 seconds ahead of Makinen the former World Champion. Swede Kenneth Eriksson in the other Hyundai had got up to 5th, while Peugeot's other works driver Didier Auriol had climbed up to 6th. Colin McRae set yet more fastest stage times, and running down the order he was benefiting from clear roads, as was Richard Burns who was still setting second fastest times along the way. Over stages 5 and 6, Kenneth Eriksson dropped to sixth place, while Tommi Makinen dropped to 5th. This allowed Didier Auriol to gain two places and get up to 4th at the end of the day. Thomas Radstrom suffered from running further down the order, and ended leg 1 running in near darkness, and for this reason he finished the day in 3rd, allowing Harri Rovanpera up to 2nd in the Peugeot, and leaving Ford driver Carlos Sainz in the lead by 13 seconds. Colin McRae started leg 2 in the way he finished leg 1 with two fastest times, still running well down the field. Carlos Sainz was now sweeping the roads clear and Harri Rovanpera who was still going well in the Peugeot cut his lead. Thomas Radstrom had a slight off at the start of the day and dropped to within 2 seconds of team mate Tommi Makinen in 4th. Francois Delecour in the Ford made his first appearance in the top six when he overtook both Kenneth Eriksson and fellow Frenchman Didier Auriol (suffering from the "flu"). Alister McRae, meanwhile, was not having a good day when he lost power eventually leading to his retirement with a holed piston and a loss of oil pressure. Skoda's Armin Schwarz was another driver who visited a snow bank, resulting in his retirement, the snow just pulling the whole car off the road, and the German unable to get the car unstuck. Carlos Sainz on stage 9 stalled the car at a hairpin, which dropped him to 4th place, handing Harri Rovanpera the lead in his debut for the Peugeot team. The other debutante, Thomas Radstrom, moved into second place in his Mitsubishi, followed close behind by his team-mate Tommi Makinen. Francois Delecour stayed in fifth place, but was now followed by the Hyundai of Kenneth Eriksson who had overtaken Didier Auriol for 6th place. Colin McRae was still flying though, moving up to 12th place overall with his 7th fastest stage time in succession, with Richard Burns also moving rapidly up the order with two more second fastest times. By the end of leg 2 the only significant change in the leaderboard was the rise of Tommi Makinen to 2nd place, now 7 seconds behind the leader Harri Rovanpera. Thomas Radstrom was in 3rd, 5 seconds down on Makinen. Dropping back in 4th was Sainz, and Delecour was a minute behind the Spaniard in 5th, with flu-ridden Didier Auriol getting back into 6th before the end of the day. Colin McRae had made his way up to 11th, while Richard Burns had got up as high as 21st. The battle for the final day came down to two Finns and a Swede, all three looking to take the victory, and all of them in with a very good chance. Sainz was pretty much resigned to 4th, although he couldn't be discounted with three drivers ahead of him sweeping the roads clear of snow. In the end though, snow was still falling and all drivers ended up with similar conditions. Richard Burns set fastest time on the first stage of leg 3, but Rovanpera kept his advantage by setting 2nd fastest time, while Tommi Makinen pulled out a further 4 seconds on his team-mate Thomas Radstrom. Carlos Sainz was flying though, and closed right up to within 6 seconds of the Mitsubishi. Delecour and Auriol held station back in 5th and 6th respectively. Over the next two stages Rovanpera and Makinen fought an intense battle with the more experienced Finn trying hard for his 22nd WRC victory. Radstrom meanwhile was closing in on Makinen in third and coming up close in fourth was Carlos Sainz. Colin McRae got within the fight for points for the manufacturers championship when he closed on Kenneth Eriksson, the Scot fighting his way back up to 8th place. Richard Burns took over where Colin McRae left off, winning the first four stages of the day to bring himself ever further up the order. Didier Auriol joined Marcus Gronholm on the list of retirements when the transmission gave up on his Peugeot 206. A brave fight from someone fighting against the "flu". The retirement of the Frenchman meant that Toni Gardemeister in a Grifone-run Peugeot 206 WRC got into the points when he moved up to 6th place overall. This left one stage to decide the positions in the hard-fought battle. The younger Finn, Harri Rovanpera went into the final stage desperately trying to keep Tommi Makinen at bay, and drove sensibly through the final stage in the hope that he wouldn't lose too much time. Makinen charged into that final stage trying to make as much time as possible, but threw the rally and a guaranteed 2nd place away when he overcooked it on one corner, and rolled the Mitsubishi into a snow bank and out of the rally. This left the way clear for Rovanpera to take victory from Makinen's team-mate Thomas Radstrom, and allowed Carlos Sainz onto the podium in his Ford Focus. Toni Gardemiester moved ahead of Francois Delecour to take 4th at the finish, leaving Delecour in 5th place, while Petter Solberg moved into the top six gaining the last driver's point and 4 manufacturer's points for Subaru. Kenneth Eriksson eventually finished 8th with 3 points for Hyundai, while Colin McRae fought on with a faulty gearbox to gain Ford 2 points. Bruno Thiry gained the final manufacturers point for Skoda. With Makinen taking no points from Sweden, it still leaves the championship wide open, but with Colin McRae and Richard Burns still failing to score driver's points they need to find a good results soon to help their championship hopes along. Young Finn Harri Rovanpera though, will probably not pull off the same feat as Marcus Gronholm before him, as he is likely to do the full championship with Peugeot, his next scheduled outing to be Portugal.
Driver's Championship Standings
Manufacturer's Championship Standings Relevant links: The 2001 WRC season |