WRC
Cyprus Rally: Peugeot final summary
Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm has won the Cyprus Rally, round five of the World Rally Championship, sealing the first-ever victory for the all-new 307 WRC. His team mate Harri Rovanpera finished fifth. Marcus now leads the World Championship after ...
Published: May 17, 2004, 5:12 AM
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Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm has won the Cyprus Rally, round five of the World Rally Championship, sealing the first-ever victory for the all-new 307 WRC. His team mate Harri Rovanpera finished fifth. Marcus now leads the World Championship after a stunningly consistent drive through difficult conditions.
Marcus took the lead on stage four, and apart from a clutch problem on the afternoon of day one (which did not cost him any places) his Peugeot 307 WRC was totally reliable throughout the event. Cyprus is notorious for being one of the toughest rounds of the World Championship, with tight hairpin bends, rough rocks and temperatures in excess of 30 degrees centigrade. Despite these challenging conditions, neither Marcus nor his car missed a beat – winning by nearly a minute.
"It's been a fantastic rally for me, and of course it's a real privilege to take the first win with the 307," said Marcus. "We've come close to winning before this year, but this time it was a rally where everything went right for us. The car has been generally reliable and we haven't made any mistakes. The whole team has worked very hard and everybody deserves this result. Now we are looking forward to Greece, where of course we will be trying to win again."
Harri ended the first leg in second place, on the same pace as Marcus, but a gearbox problem and some road penalties after it was changed caused him to drop down the order. Harri incurred a further 30 seconds of penalties leaving service this morning, but he nonetheless kept up a consistent pace in order to consolidate Peugeot's strong points-scoring finish.
"I'm very pleased for Marcus and the entire team," said Harri. "It's also been a good rally for me: I could have been on the podium if we had not had some gearbox problems. Although that's disappointing, there are a lot of positive things to come out of this. I have been able to drive at the same speed as Marcus, and the car has clearly shown its potential. I feel more and more confident with the 307 WRC and I can't wait for the next rally!"
Peugeot Sport team principal Corrado Provera commented: "A victory was always going to happen and now it has – three rallies before we managed it with the 206! We have shown that we are on the right road, and now we have to continue this progress throughout the year. Marcus is now in the lead of the championship and Harri would also have been third here without the gearbox problems we put in his way. We are back, and it's going to be an interesting championship! "
Round six of the World Rally Championship, the Acropolis Rally, takes place from June 4-6 in Lamia, Greece. Conditions will be similar to those in Cyprus, so Peugeot Sport will be aiming for a second consecutive victory.
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