ERC: Round nine halted after three stages

The 9th Round of the European Rally Championships - Rally halted after 3 stages...

The Final Official Classification--..

The 28th Achaia Elpa Rally, which ended abruptly after Stage 3 when it became clear that the Greek driver Dimitris Koliopanos had died after an accident on Stage 1, has now published the Final Official Classification.

1. Bruno Thiry.        23.51.2 min.

2. Miguel Campos.   23.57.4 min.

3. Evgeny Vasin.     25.16.0 min.

According to the rules of the Championship, the points will be awarded as follows, Bruno Thiry 200pts, Miguel Campos 160pts, and Evgeny Vasin 120pts. This means that Thiry has narrowed the gap to Campos and now trails by 120 pts.

The top of the Points Table now reads;
1. Miguel Campos 1240 pts.
2. Bruno Thiry 1120 pts.

Evgeny Vasin has doubled his points total and now has 240, which places him just outside the top 3.

After the tragic accident, The Organising Committee published the following announcement--. "----.The accident took place at about 09.15 (local time) when the car No. 35, which was driven in the closed to the public special stage of the rally by Dimitris Koliopanos (driver) and Theofanis Hasiotis (co-driver), went off the road and hit a double wooden high-voltage electricity pole--..the injured co-driver is already out of danger and he will receive the adequate medical treatment." It is the first time a driver has been killed in a rally in Greece.

The final co-efficient 20 rally in the Championship will take place in the South of France, in Antibe, 24th to 26th Oktober 2003.

The Organising Committee of the Achaia 28th Elpa Rally and all those either connected or participating in the rally, express their deep condolences to the drivers family.

-erc-