Whistling Thorns B Service Notes

Schwarz reported that his Octavia felt a little spongy on the last 25km of the section. He also had problems with his intercom. While he could hear co-driver Manfred Heimer speak, Schwarz couldn't talk to him nor speak to the team helicopter.

(Ford) - third, +28.0s: "No real problems. It was a little bit muddy after the rain, but still quite rough."
When told of Richard Burns' retirement, McRae replied: "If you are going to have a full attack there, then it's easy to do damage at the start of that section."

(Subaru) - fourth, +33.0s: "It is very rough and I took no chances."

(Ford) - fifth, +1m49.0s: Sainz had a puncture 25km from the end of the section. "Apart from that it was quite good. It has softened a little bit because of the rain."

(Peugeot) - seventh, +3m05.0s: Rovanpera has a problem with the rear of his Peugeot 206 WRC. There was 10cm of play on the rear suspension, which made controlling the car very difficult.

(Skoda) - ninth, +4.07.0s: Thiry had difficulties with his Octavia's power steering from the very start of the section. He also had problems with the left rear shock absorbers. Despite this the Belgian is very happy. "This is the first time I've reached first service on the Safari in three attempts," he said.

(Peugeot) - 12th, +5m38s: The driveshaft on Auriol's 206 WRC broke after 20km but the Frenchman continued. However after that the car caught fire. Auriol stopped and was able to extinguish it, but found that his power steering had gone 15km from the end of the section.