Well, there’s been plenty of drama today on the Spanish stages of Rally Catalunya. Newly-crowned world champion Sebastien Loeb started the day off on a high by topping the times on the second leg’s opening test, but then went and ripped a hole in his Citroen’s sump causing him to retire before the morning was even two stages old. As a result, Ford’s Markko Martin, who had been on the tail-end of the lead fight yesterday, found himself in the lead with a relatively comfortable 42.9-second advantage to defend.
Despite the best interests of second-placed Peugeot ace Marcus Gronholm, the Estonian has managed that task ably, heading into Sunday’s final six stages with a still satisfyingly pleasant 39.7s lead over the double world champion. Retiring rally legend Carlos Sainz is also in the fight for the top three spots on the rally in his Citroen, just 12s behind Gronholm, and caused even more local excitement on his last assault on this event with the fastest stage time on the final test of the day.
It has also been a good day for some of rallying’s lesser-sung stars. French privateers Stephane Sarrazin and Nicolas Vouilloz have both been rapid in their Subaru Impreza and Peugeot 206, with Sarrazin currently running fourth overall ahead of the struggling works Subaru of 2003 champion Petter Solberg. Voiulloz also caused a stir by nearly topping the times on SS12, although he only lies eighth overall at the minute.
It has also been a good rally so far for Mitsubishi, returning to the World Rally Championship after a brief sabbatical to focus on development of the Lancer. Young guns Daniel Sola and Gianluigi Galli are both in the points in sixth and seventh, and have been showing impressive speed alongside team regular Gilles Panizzi, who is recovering from poor tyre choice on Friday’s opening leg.
The first of tomorrow’s final six stages is set to kick off at 07:31 local time (05:31 GMT). As ever, we’ll have the full service, with live timing from the stages, and instantly-updated news from the service park as the rally reaches its conclusion.
