Rally of Finland. (& predictions)

[Speeddemon555]

The Rally of Finland will belong to the Scandanavians.

1. Marcus Gronholm
2. Petter Solberg
3. Tommi Makinen
4. Harri Rovanpera
5. Colin McRae
6. Kenneth Eriksson

[gazzarallie]

i doubt kenneth will get 6th or higher, hes in the slugish octavia.

[Liz]

1. Harri coming off that splendid Kenya finish.
2. Solberg (hey, it's time he had some GOOD luck!)
3. Gronholm
4. Burns
5. Panizzi (also coming off good stuff in Kenya)
6. McRae -- who owes us a couple of barrel rolls as he was singularly upright in Kenya!

[R]

1. Makinen
2. Grönholm
3. McRae (Colin)
4. Solberg
5. Rovanperä
6. Eriksson

[Zep]

If Peugeot won't run into problems:

1. Grönholm
2. Mäkinen
3. Rovanperä
4. Burns
5. Cilin Colin
6. Kankkunen

Rovanperä's speed may not be up to it's fullest as regular co-driver Risto Pietiläinen will be out of the cockpit for two months. Vode Silander will be a replacement. To all you Britts as a Finn: Burns is quicker than Colin in Finland. Colin's pace in Finland has been some off since those Legacy times...

Young Finns who will post quick times:
Paasonen - Mitsubishi
Pykälistö - Peugeot
Tuohino - Ford

Hyundai will be a much stronger than expected and Citroën ain't ready yet - Pykälistö was faster in Mänttä with Corolla WRC!

[SJ Spode]

1. Gronholm
2. McRae, C.
3. Makinen
4. Solberg
5. Rovanpera
6. Burns

[domaza]

I expect great results from Ford youngsters Märtin and Duval.

1) McRae
2) Märtin
3) Solberg
4) Burns
5) Duval
6) Grönholm

[SJ Spode]

Originally posted by domaza
I expect great results from Ford youngsters Märtin and Duval.

Duval's participation in Finland could be in doubt as according to www.worldrallynews.com he has destroyed Ford's test car after a testing accident last Saturday.

A bad move for Duval, as not only did it prevent Carlos Sainz from testing but the test car was to be Duval's car in the rally.
Ford are hoping to strip & rebuild Markko Martin’s Safari car in time for scrutineering.

[Liz]

Never mind Panizzi; I've heard he has broken his collarbone and will have to sit this one out. But I think he would have done well if he'd taken part.

[Speedworx]

1. Marcus Gronholm
2. Harri Rovanpera
3. Tommi Makinen
4. Markko Martin
5. Richard Burns
6. Alister McRae

[Marcel ten Caat]

1 Burns
2 Sainz/Solberg
4 C. McRae
5 Gronholm
6 Rovanpera
7 Martin
8 Radstrom
9 Erikkson
10 Kankkunen
11 Makinen/Duval
14 A. McRae
15 Loix
16 Delecour
18 Loeb
20 Gardemeister
64 Schwarz

(source: WRC.com)

[SJ Spode]

After SS6

1. Richard BURNS (GB)
2. Harri ROVANPERÄ (FIN)
3. Marcus GRÖNHOLM (FIN)
4. Colin MCRAE (GB)
5. Petter SOLBERG (N)
6. Sebastian LINDHOLM (FIN)
7. Carlos SAINZ (E)
8. Markko MÄRTIN (EE)
9. Tommi MÄKINEN (FIN)
10. Freddy LOIX (B)


Apparently Ford have already given up the chase as barring problems it's going to be Peugeot's weekend.

"There's no chance of beating Marcus Gronholm unless he has a problem," Grist told World Rally Radio. "We were happy with what we've done, but there is just no answer to these Peugeots. We were quicker than we were on SS3 last year, but they have just gone that bit quicker."

[Laagri]

The differences between the three Peugeots are so small though. And Pykälistö was so close to them as well before the gearbox went on SS6...

Wonder what happened to Märtin on the first two or three stages? He said he was going for a risky setup, so did he just get it wrong?

[Adam43]

After SS8, only 8s cover the Peugeots! Wow. Two Finns against one Brit. It's now Burns-Gronholm-Rovanpera at the moment.

McCrae is nearly 1minute behind...