Can Subaru get a win ? after a real good Acropolis Rally ?
Will Ford pull it off again?
or will Peugeot come back fighting !!

also on SPEED channel Sunday 9pm EST

www.rally-live.com
www.wrc.com

Cyprus Rally Event Schedule:
Recce : From Monday 16 June.....To Wednesday 18 June

Shakedown : Thursday 19 June from 07h00 to 11h00

Leg 1 : Friday 20 June : 4 special stages (99.84 km)
Leg 2 : Saturday 21 June : 8 special stages (158.35 km)
Leg 3 : Sunday 22 June : 6 special stages (82.86 km)

given the similarities between the Cyprus and Acropolis rallies, it'd be foolish to bet against Marko Martin as long as his Focus stays in one piece. while i'd love to see Tommi or Petter win, i'm betting it's going to be a Ford/Citroen dominated rally.
anyone catch Rally XS on speed last night?

i would def. think martin could pull off a top 3, but i think as long as gronholms car stays together he could pull off a win. but i also think petter has a very strong chance as well. seeing as he did quite well the last round. it could be the beginning of good things to come!

-PJ

maybe mcrae won't get in solbergs way this time..... i hope it's martin again cause i'm pessimistic about subaru's chances, they're like the NY Rangers (hockey) they have a lot of potential but can never quite get it...

Gronholm is very much a win it or bin it type of driver. while i don't have any real hard data on hand to back that statement up, i swear that the guy either wins the rally or retires because of a crash or mechanical failure. given the harsh terrain in Cyprus, i'd expect Gronholm to retire with either a mechanical or a crash.

of the two Subaru drivers, i definitely think that Petter has a better chance of winning the event than Tommi. Petter has been on good form lately, while Tommi has been suffering for most of the season.

i agree with you about gronholm. that seems to be his style. take it all, or lose it all. the pugs may be fast little cars, but they don't seems to hold up too well under grueling conditions. i am curious to see how the new skoda platform, fabia, does this race. i have to say, the performed better in greece than i though, being the first actual rally for the car.

-PJ

i agree with you about gronholm. that seems to be his style. take it all, or lose it all. the pugs may be fast little cars, but they don't seems to hold up too well under grueling conditions

no kidding. notice that Burns went through two gearboxes in Greece, Gronholm had a mechanical, and Rovanperra had mechanical issues as well. Subaru, who has had some reliability issues as well, seemed to fare much better.

oh yeah, you're not the only one wondering about the Skoda -- though they ran the old car in greece.

nope, they ran the brand new pug/cit look-a-like.
i was reading a subaru press release from greece, about petters car. they pulled the engine lin like 15 mins. and just to be sure, they pulled the tranny, replaced the drive shaft, rear diff., and some other suspension components. now thats service!!!

-PJ

yeah, skoda definately ran the fabia in greece. what an ugly car. did well considering though. now that the WRX is the biggest car n the block somethings gonna happen isn't it?

SUBARU WINS CYPRUS!!!!!
Petter Solberg wins his second wrc event, and in great fasion, with over a 4m victory!!!! looking through the final listings, not many of the top wrc drivers were even still in the race. Toshi Arai managed a 9th place, with another privateer behind him. who cares how big the STi is, it has certainlly proved to be quite capable over the past few stages. and the rougher it gets, the more smaller cars fall out, the subaru keeps on plowing through. Petter now says he will fighting for the championship. with gronholm floundering, and only a few points above solbergs 4th place, he could very well de-thrown the champ!

-PJ

Congrats to solberg!!

that puts us in 3rd for manufacture pts ( 47 pts)
AND
petter is in 4th for drivers pts, and makinen has (*cough*) 8th