FocusCanada Forums

:o

Damn,

Markko Martin was forced to retire earlier today on SS3 of the Acropolis rally after he failed to make a sharp bend and flew off the road. His Focus WRC04 was virtually unscathed but, despite the assistance of spectators, he was unable to get the car back up the steep slope and had to retire.

Markko will be able to return to the rally tomorrow to compete but, will be ineligible for any points, thanks to new trials of the SupeRally WRC rules.

More rough luck for Ford as the Focus WRC03 of John Papadimitriou and the Focus RS02 of Roman Kresta joined Markko Martin in early retirement because of engine and mechanical problems..

Francois Duval is currently the only Ford driver still eligible for points. He is in 3rd place after day 1.

Current Standings--End Of Day 1--Acropolis Rally Greece

1. Petter Solberg - (Subaru)
2. Harri Rovenpara - (Peugeot)
3. Francois Duval - (Ford)
4. Marcus Gronholm - (Peugeot)
5. Sebastien Loeb - (Citroen)

Marcus Gronholm, who was in 4th place, has joined the growing list of causualties on the SS11 of the Acropolis Rally. Gronholm was forced to retire earler this morning with mechanical problems on his 307 Peugeot!!

Rally leader Petter Solberg got lucky on SS13 today. How lucky...?
His brakes went out about 10km past the start of SS13 and he was somehow able to drive about 25km using only his hand-brake!!

On top of that, he still managed to gain time and keep a commanding 53s lead!!


Current Standings--End Of Day2--Acropolis Rally Greece

1. Petter Solberg - (Subaru)
2. Harri Rovenpara - (Peugeot)
3. Sebastien Loeb - (Citroen)
4. Francois Duval - (Ford)

Francois Duval is behind Loeb by only 9s at the end of Day2!