2003 Wales Rally GB

The 2003 Wales Rally GB (formally the 59th Wales Rally GB) was the fourteenth round of the 2003 World Rally Championship. The race was held over four days between 6 November and 9 November 2003, and was based in Cardiff, Great Britain. Subaru's Petter Solberg won the race, his 5th win in the World Rally Championship.^[1]

2003 Wales Rally GB 59th Wales Rally GB
Round 14 of the 2003 World Rally Championship season ← Previous event
Host country	Great Britain
Rally base	Cardiff
Dates run	November 6, 2003 – November 9, 2003
Stages	18 (376.81 km; 234.14 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	1,574.52 km (978.36 miles)
Statistics
Crews	75 at start, 39 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Petter Solberg Phil Mills 555 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03

Background

Entry list

No.	Driver	Co-Driver	Entrant	Car	Tyre
World Rally Championship manufacturer entries
1	Marcus Grönholm	Timo Rautiainen	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	M
2	Freddy Loix	Sven Smeets	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	M
3	Harri Rovanperä	Risto Pietiläinen	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	M
4	Markko Märtin	Michael Park	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '03	M
5	François Duval	Stéphane Prévot	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '03	M
6	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '02	M
7	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	P
8	Tommi Mäkinen	Kaj Lindström	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	P
14	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia WRC	M
15	Toni Gardemeister	Paavo Lukander	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia WRC	M
17	Colin McRae	Derek Ringer	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	M
18	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	M
19	Carlos Sainz	Marc Martí	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	M
World Rally Championship entries
20	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '01	M
21	Gilles Panizzi	Hervé Panizzi	Bozian Racing	Peugeot 206 WRC	M
22	Roman Kresta	Jan Tománek	Bozian Racing	Peugeot 206 WRC	M
23	Antony Warmbold	Gemma Price	AW Rally Team	Ford Focus RS WRC '02	M
24	Juuso Pykälistö	Risto Mannisenmäki	Bozian Racing	Peugeot 206 WRC	M
25	Daniel Solà	Álex Romaní	Citroën Sport	Citroën Xsara WRC	M
26	Jan Kopecký	Filip Schovánek	Škoda Matador Team	Škoda Octavia WRC	M
27	Steve Perez	Jonty Bolsover	Steve Perez	Ford Focus RS WRC '02	—
33	Alistair Ginley	Rory Kennedy	Alistair Ginley	Ford Focus RS WRC '01	—
34	Manfred Stohl	Ilka Minor	Stohl Racing	Peugeot 206 WRC	P
35	Tobias Johansson	Per Carlsson	Tobias Johansson	Toyota Corolla WRC	—
37	Andreas Eriksson	Pecka Svensson	Andreas Eriksson	Ford Focus RS WRC '02	—
38	Tapio Laukkanen	Harri Kaapro	Tapio Laukkanen	Subaru Impreza S7 WRC '01	—
103	Eamonn Boland	Francis Regan	Eamonn Boland	Subaru Impreza S7 WRC '01	—
104	Julian Reynolds	Ieuan Thomas	Julian Reynolds	Subaru Impreza 555	—
105	Jozef Béreš Jr.	Petr Starý	Jozef Béreš Jr.	Toyota Corolla WRC	—
106	Jimmy McRae	Pauline Gullick	Jimmy McRae	Subaru Impreza 555	—
107	Pentti Airikkala	Nigel Gardner	Pentti Airikkala	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	—
JWRC entries
51	Mirco Baldacci	Giovanni Bernacchini	Purity Auto	Fiat Punto S1600	M
52	Daniel Carlsson	Matthias Andersson	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	M
54	Kosti Katajamäki	Jani Laaksonen	Volkswagen Racing	Volkswagen Polo S1600	M
61	Brice Tirabassi	Jacques-Julien Renucci	Renault Sport	Renault Clio S1600	M
62	Oscar Svedlund	Björn Nilsson	Volkswagen Racing	Volkswagen Polo S1600	M
63	Massimo Ceccato	Mitia Dotta	Top Run SRL	Fiat Punto S1600	M
64	Ville-Pertti Teuronen	Mikko Markkula	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	M
65	Abdo Feghali	Joseph Matar	Astra Racing	Ford Puma S1600	M
67	Alessandro Broccoli	Giovanni Agnese	Sab Motorsport	Opel Corsa S1600	M
69	Salvador Cañellas Jr.	Xavier Amigó	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	M
70	Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Puma S1600	M
71	Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	M
74	Kris Meeke	Chris Patterson	Opel Motorsport	Opel Corsa S1600	M
76	Luca Cecchettini	Marco Muzzarelli	Top Run SRL	Fiat Punto S1600	M
Source:[2]

Itinerary

All dates and times are GMT (UTC±0).

Date	Time	No.	Stage name	Distance
Leg 1 — 164.24 km
6 November	19:30	SS1	Cardiff Super Special 1	2.45 km
7 November	07:51	SS2	Brechfa	23.12 km
	08:30	SS3	Trawscoed	27.97 km
	11:20	SS4	Rheola 1	32.58 km
	12:38	SS5	Resolfen 1	43.09 km
	15:48	SS6	Rheola 2	32.58 km
	19:32	SS7	Cardiff Super Special 2	2.45 km
Leg 2 — 138.71 km
8 November	07:47	SS8	Crychan 1	13.05 km
	08:14	SS9	Halfway 1	18.53 km
	10:27	SS10	Crychan 2	13.05 km
	10:54	SS11	Halfway 2	18.53 km
	13:13	SS12	Margam Forest	17.37 km
	13:46	SS13	Margam Park 1	12.64 km
	15:32	SS14	Resolfen 2	43.09 km
	19:38	SS15	Cardiff Super Special 3	2.45 km
Leg 3 — 73.86 km
9 November	07:48	SS16	Rhondda 1	30.61 km
	11:02	SS17	Rhondda 2	30.61 km
	13:04	SS18	Margam Park 2	12.64 km

Results

Overall

Pos.	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Team	Car	Time	Difference	Points
1	7	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	3:28:58.1		10
2	18	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:29:41.7	+43.6	8
3	8	Tommi Mäkinen	Kaj Lindström	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	3:31:56.9	+2:58.8	6
4	17	Colin McRae	Derek Ringer	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:34:26.2	+5:28.1	5
5	5	François Duval	Stéphane Prévot	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '03	3:36:14.2	+7:16.1	4
6	2	Freddy Loix	Sven Smeets	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	3:37:04.6	+8:06.5	3
7	34	Manfred Stohl	Ilka Minor	Stohl Racing	Peugeot 206 WRC	3:37:46.5	+8:48.4	2
8	22	Roman Kresta	Jan Tománek	Bozian Racing	Peugeot 206 WRC	3:38:00.7	+9:02.6	1

World Rally Cars

Classification

Position		No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Time	Difference	Points
Event	Class
1	1	7	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	3:28:58.1		10
2	2	18	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:29:41.7	+43.6	8
3	3	8	Tommi Mäkinen	Kaj Lindström	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	3:31:56.9	+2:58.8	6
4	4	17	Colin McRae	Derek Ringer	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	3:34:26.2	+5:28.1	5
5	5	5	François Duval	Stéphane Prévot	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '03	3:36:14.2	+7:16.1	4
6	6	2	Freddy Loix	Sven Smeets	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	3:37:04.6	+8:06.5	3
11	7	14	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia WRC	3:44:44.0	+15:45.9	0
Retired SS16		3	Harri Rovanperä	Risto Pietiläinen	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	Transmission		0
Retired SS16		15	Toni Gardemeister	Paavo Lukander	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia WRC	Accident		0
Retired SS4		1	Marcus Grönholm	Timo Rautiainen	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	Lost wheel		0
Retired SS4		4	Markko Märtin	Michael Park	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '03	Engine		0
Retired SS3		6	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Focus RS WRC '02	Accident		0
Retired SS3		19	Carlos Sainz	Marc Martí	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën Xsara WRC	Accident		0

Special stages

Day	Stage	Stage name	Length	Winner	Car	Time	Class leaders
Leg 1 (6 Nov)	SS1	Cardiff Super Special 1	2.45 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	2:08.7	Petter Solberg
Leg 1 (7 Nov)	SS2	Brechfa	23.12 km	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	13:19.6	Sébastien Loeb
	SS3	Trawscoed	27.97 km	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	16:23.4
	SS4	Rheola 1	32.58 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	17:58.6	Petter Solberg
	SS5	Resolfen 1	43.09 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	22:40.9
	SS6	Rheola 2	32.58 km	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	17:50.9
	SS7	Cardiff Super Special 2	2.45 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	2:06.4
Leg 2 (8 Nov)	SS8	Crychan 1	13.05 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	7:10.6
	SS9	Halfway 1	18.53 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	10:15.7
	SS10	Crychan 2	13.05 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	7:08.0
	SS11	Halfway 2	18.53 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	10:11.0
	SS12	Margam Forest	17.37 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	9:57.7
	SS13	Margam Park 1	12.64 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	7:08.8
	SS14	Resolfen 2	43.09 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	22:21.3
	SS15	Cardiff Super Special 3	2.45 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	2:05.1
Leg 3 (9 Nov)	SS16	Rhondda 1	30.61 km	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	16:25.5
	SS17	Rhondda 2	30.61 km	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Xsara WRC	16:21.1
	SS18	Margam Park 2	12.64 km	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza S9 WRC '03	7:07.4

Championship standings

• Bold text indicates 2003 World Champions.

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Manufacturers' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Manufacturer	Points
1		2	Petter Solberg	72		2	Phil Mills	72			Citroën Total WRT	160
2		1	Sébastien Loeb	71		1	Daniel Elena	71			Marlboro Peugeot Total	145
3		1	Carlos Sainz	63		1	Marc Martí	63			555 Subaru World Rally Team	109
4			Richard Burns	58			Robert Reid	58			Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	93
5			Markko Märtin	49			Michael Park	49			Škoda Motorsport	23

Junior World Rally Championship

Classification

Position		No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Time	Difference	Points
Event	Class
14	1	52	Daniel Carlsson	Matthias Andersson	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	3:57:29.8		10
15	2	51	Mirco Baldacci	Giovanni Bernacchini	Purity Auto	Fiat Punto S1600	3:59:04.2	+1:34.4	8
23	3	64	Ville-Pertti Teuronen	Mikko Markkula	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	4:04:51.6	+7:21.8	6
28	4	69	Salvador Cañellas Jr.	Xavier Amigó	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	4:14:50.3	+17:20.5	5
29	5	67	Alessandro Broccoli	Giovanni Agnese	Sab Motorsport	Opel Corsa S1600	4:20:58.2	+23:28.4	4
30	6	63	Massimo Ceccato	Mitia Dotta	Top Run SRL	Fiat Punto S1600	4:24:25.8	+26:56.0	3
Retired SS17		71	Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk	Suzuki Sport	Suzuki Ignis S1600	Driveshaft		0
Retired SS17		74	Kris Meeke	Chris Patterson	Opel Motorsport	Opel Corsa S1600	Accident		0
Retired SS16		62	Oscar Svedlund	Björn Nilsson	Volkswagen Racing	Volkswagen Polo S1600	Mechanical		0
Retired SS15		76	Luca Cecchettini	Marco Muzzarelli	Top Run SRL	Fiat Punto S1600	Engine		0
Retired SS13		54	Kosti Katajamäki	Jani Laaksonen	Volkswagen Racing	Volkswagen Polo S1600	Steering		0
Retired SS11		61	Brice Tirabassi	Jacques-Julien Renucci	Renault Sport	Renault Clio S1600	Engine		0
Retired SS5		65	Abdo Feghali	Joseph Matar	Astra Racing	Ford Puma S1600	Gearbox		0
Retired SS5		70	Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh	Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Puma S1600	Water pump		0

Special stages

Day	Stage	Stage name	Length	Winner	Car	Time	Class leaders
Leg 1 (6 Nov)	SS1	Cardiff Super Special 1	2.45 km	Mirco Baldacci Kris Meeke	Fiat Punto S1600 Opel Corsa S1600	2:25.0	Mirco Baldacci Kris Meeke
Leg 1 (7 Nov)	SS2	Brechfa	23.12 km	Kris Meeke	Opel Corsa S1600	15:45.5	Kris Meeke
	SS3	Trawscoed	27.97 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	19:11.2
	SS4	Rheola 1	32.58 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	20:28.2
	SS5	Resolfen 1	43.09 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	25:48.7	Daniel Carlsson
	SS6	Rheola 2	32.58 km	Brice Tirabassi	Renault Clio S1600	20:09.7
	SS7	Cardiff Super Special 2	2.45 km	Mirco Baldacci	Fiat Punto S1600	2:21.4
Leg 2 (8 Nov)	SS8	Crychan 1	13.05 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	8:06.1
	SS9	Halfway 1	18.53 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	11:26.0
	SS10	Crychan 2	13.05 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	8:02.6
	SS11	Halfway 2	18.53 km	Kris Meeke	Opel Corsa S1600	11:18.6
	SS12	Margam Forest	17.37 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	11:13.7
	SS13	Margam Park 1	12.64 km	Kris Meeke	Opel Corsa S1600	8:05.0
	SS14	Resolfen 2	43.09 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	25:18.6
	SS15	Cardiff Super Special 3	2.45 km	Kris Meeke	Opel Corsa S1600	2:18.5
Leg 3 (9 Nov)	SS16	Rhondda 1	30.61 km	Kris Meeke	Opel Corsa S1600	18:27.2
	SS17	Rhondda 2	30.61 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	18:24.9
	SS18	Margam Park 2	12.64 km	Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	8:09.4

Championship standings

• Bold text indicates 2003 World Champions.

Pos.	Drivers' championships
	Move	Driver	Points
1		Brice Tirabassi	38
2		Salvador Cañellas Jr.	36
3		Daniel Carlsson	33
4	3	Mirco Baldacci	20
5	1	Urmo Aava	20