2003 World Rally Championship

2003 World Rally Championship
Previous:	2002	Next:	2004

The 2003 World Rally Championship was the 31st season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Petter Solberg in a Subaru Impreza WRC, ahead of Sébastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz. The manufacturers' title was won by Citroën, ahead of Peugeot and Subaru.

Calendar

Round	Dates	Rally
1	23–26 January	Monte Carlo Rally
2	6–9 February	Swedish Rally
3	27 February-2 March	Rally of Turkey
4	10–13 April	Rally New Zealand
5	8–11 May	Rally Argentina
6	6–8 June	Acropolis Rally
7	20–22 June	Cyprus Rally
8	25–27 July	Rallye Deutschland
9	7–10 August	Rally Finland
10	4–7 September	Rally Australia
11	2–5 October	Rally Sanremo
12	16–19 October	Tour de Corse
13	24–26 October	Rally Catalunya
14	6–9 November	Wales Rally GB

Teams and drivers

Manufacturer teams
Team	Constructor	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Rounds
Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot	206 WRC	M	1	Marcus Grönholm	All
				2	Richard Burns	1–13
					Freddy Loix	14
				3	Gilles Panizzi	1, 8, 11–13
					Harri Rovanperä	2–7, 9–10, 14
Ford Motor Co	Ford	Focus RS WRC 02/03	M	4	Markko Märtin	All
				5	François Duval	All
				6	Mikko Hirvonen	All
				20	Jari-Matti Latvala	6, 8–9, 14
555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2003	P	7	Petter Solberg	All
				8	Tommi Mäkinen	All
Hyundai World Rally Team	Hyundai	Accent WRC	M	10	Armin Schwarz	1–10
				11	Freddy Loix	1–10
				12	Jussi Välimäki	2, 4, 6, 9
					Justin Dale	7
					Manfred Stohl	8
				20	Manfred Stohl	6, 10
				22	Justin Dale	8, 10
Škoda Motorsport	Škoda	Octavia WRC Evo3 Fabia WRC	M	14	Didier Auriol	All
				15	Toni Gardemeister	All
				22	Matthias Kahle	8
				26	Jan Kopecký	8, 14
				32	Gabriel Pozzo	5
Citroën Total	Citroën	Xsara WRC	M	17	Colin McRae	All
				18	Sébastien Loeb	All
				19	Carlos Sainz	All
				20	Philippe Bugalski	8, 11–13
				25	Daniel Solà	6, 14

Major entries not registered as manufacturers
Team	Constructor	Car	Drivers	Rounds
Bozian Racing	Peugeot	206 WRC	Roman Kresta	1-2, 6, 8, 11, 13-14
			Gilles Panizzi	3, 6-7, 14
			Juuso Pykälistö	2-3, 6-7, 9, 14
			Ari Vatanen	9
Equipe de France FFSA			Cédric Robert	1, 8, 11-13
Peugeot Sport Finland			Sebastian Lindholm	9
Team BSA			Alexandre Bengue	12
Stohl Racing			Manfred Stohl	4, 12, 14
AW Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 02	Antony Warmbold	1–2, 4–10, 12–14
ADR Motorsport			Alistair Ginley	3, 6–9, 12–14
LPM Racing			Janne Tuohino	2, 9
Tomasz Kuchar			Tomasz Kuchar	2, 4, 6
Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe	Mitsubishi	Lancer WRC	Alister McRae	4
Jani Paasonen			Jani Paasonen	8
Mitsubishi Motor Sports			Kristian Sohlberg	2, 4, 8

JWRC entries

No	Entrant	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
51	Purity Auto	Mirco Baldacci	Giovanni Bernacchini	Fiat Punto S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
52	Suzuki Sport	Daniel Carlsson	Mattias Andersson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
64		Ville-Pertti Teuronen	Harri Kaapro		1, 3, 6, 9, 11
			Mikko Markkula		13–14
69		Salvador Cañellas	Xavier Amigó		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
71		Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
53	Schmidt Racing	David Doppelreiter	Ola Fløene	Peugeot 206 S1600	1
54	Volkswagen Racing	Kosti Katajamäki	Miikka Anttila	Volkswagen Polo S1600	1, 3, 6
			Jani Laaksonen		9, 11, 13–14
62		Oscar Svedlund	Björn Nilsson		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
73		Krum Donchev	Ruman Manolov		14
78		Vladan Vasiljevic	Sebastian Geipel		1, 3, 6, 9, 11
55	Ford Motor Co	Martin Stenshorne	Clive Jenkins	Ford Puma S1600	1, 3, 6
70		Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
57	Auto Sport Italia	Dimitar Iliev	Petar Sivov	Peugeot 206 S1600	1, 3, 6
			Yanaki Yanakiev		9, 11, 13–14
73		Krum Donchev	Ruman Manolov		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13
58	Top Run SRL	Marcos Ligato	Rubén Garcia	Fiat Punto S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
63		Massimo Ceccato	Mitia Dotta		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
76		Luca Cecchettini	Marco Muzzarelli		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
59	Astra Racing	Beppo Harrach	Michael Kölbach	Ford Puma S1600	1, 3, 6, 11, 14
65		Abdo Feghali	Joseph Matar		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
60	Jolly Club	Pavel Valoušek	Pierangelo Scalvini	Citroën Saxo S1600	1, 3
61	Renault Sport	Brice Tirabassi	Jacques-Julien Renucci	Renault Clio S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
66	Citroën Sport	Sébastien Ceccone	Julien Giroux	Citroën Saxo S1600	1, 3, 6
67	Sab Motorsport	Alessandro Broccoli	Simona Girelli	Opel Corsa S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11
			Giovanni Agnese		13–14
68	Renault Croatia	Juraj Šebalj	Toni Klinc	Renault Clio S1600	1, 3, 6
72	Errepi Racing	Jader Vagnini	Lorenzo Granai	Fiat Punto S1600	1
74	Opel Motorsport	Kris Meeke	Chris Patterson	Opel Corsa S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
75	Orlen Team	Dariusz Chudobinski	Przemysław Szulc	Citroën Saxo S1600	1
77	Chicco d'Oro	Filippo Suessli	Loris Pala	Fiat Punto S1600	1

PWRC entries

No	Entrant	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
51	Petronas EON Racing Team	Karamjit Singh	Allen Oh	Proton Pert	2, 4–5, 7–8, 10
52	Mauro Rally Tuning	Daniel Solà	Álex Romaní	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	12
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5, 7–8, 10
53		Ramón Ferreyros	Javier Marin		5, 8, 12
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4, 7, 10
57		Giovanni Manfrinato	Claudio Condotta	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	7–8, 10
54	Subaru Production Rally Team	Toshihiro Arai	Tony Sircombe	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4–5, 7, 10, 12
62		Peter 'Possum' Bourne	Mark Stacey		2, 4
55	David Sutton Cars Ltd	Martin Rowe	Trevor Agnew	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 7–8, 10, 12
65		Stig Blomqvist	Ana Goni		2, 4, 7–8, 10, 12
57	Top Run SRL	Giovanni Manfrinato	Claudio Condotta	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4–5
58		Marcos Ligato	Rubén Garcia	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5, 7–8, 10, 12
59		Stefano Marrini	Massimo Agotinelli		2, 5, 7–8
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	10, 12
63		Luca Baldini	Alessandro Floris		2, 4–5
60	Neil Allport Motorsports	Niall McShea	Chris Patterson	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4–5, 7–8, 10, 12
61	Mobil 1 Team Poland	Janusz Kulig	Jarosław Baran	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 4
			Dariusz Burkat		7–8
			Maciek Szczepaniak		10, 12
64	Millbrooks World Rally Team	Joakim Roman	Tina Mitakidou	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 4, 7–8
			Ragnar Spjuth		10, 12
66	Stohl Racing	Hamed Al Wahaibi	Nicky Beech	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5
72		Constantin Aur	Silviu Moraru		2
			Adrian Berghea		4, 7–8, 10, 12
67	Orlen Team	Krzysztof Hołowczyc	Łukasz Kurzeja	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 4–5, 7–8
68	Kuchar Team Poland	Tomasz Kuchar	Maciek Szczepaniak	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	–
69	Guy Colsoul Rallysport	Bob Colsoul	Tom Colsoul	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 5, 7–8, 12
77		Alfredo De Dominicis	Giovanni Bernacchini		5
70	Errani Team Group	Riccardo Errani	Stefano Casadio	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4–5, 7–8, 10, 12
71	Racing Team Burgaltabac	Georgi Geradzhiev	Nikola Popov	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 4–5, 7–8, 12
73	Hanácký Rally Klub	Stanislav Chovanec	Karel Holaň	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2
74	Motoring Club	Fabio Frisiero	Loris Roggia	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5
			Giovanni Agnese		7–8, 12
75	PK7 Competicio	Joaquim Manresa	Miquel Amblás	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	–
76	Subaru Rally Team Canada	Patrick Richard	Martin Headland	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
			Mikael Johansson		4–5, 7
			Ola Fløene		8, 12
77	Ralliart Italy	Alfredo De Dominicis	Giovanni Bernacchini	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 5, 7–8, 12
78	First Motorsport	Łukasz Sztuka	Per Carlsson	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2
			Zbigniew Cieslar		4–5, 8
79	Advan-Piaa Rally Team	Fumio Nutahara	Satoshi Hayashi	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	–
80	Triviño Racing	Ricardo Triviño	Jordi Barradés	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 4–5, 7–8, 12

Results and standings

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR  Pts  1 Petter Solberg Ret 6 Ret 3 5 3 1 8 2 1 Ret 1 5 1 72 2 Sébastien Loeb 1 7 Ret 4 Ret Ret 3 1 5 2 1 13 2 2 71 3 Carlos Sainz 3 9 1 12 2 2 5 6 4 5 4 2 7 Ret 63 4 Richard Burns 5 3 2 2 3 4 Ret 3 3 3 7 8 Ret 58 5 Markko Märtin 4 4 6 Ret Ret 1 Ret 5 1 DSQ 3 Ret 3 Ret 49 6 Marcus Grönholm 13 1 9 1 1 Ret Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret 4 6 Ret 46 7 Colin McRae 2 5 4 Ret Ret 8 4 4 Ret 4 6 5 9 4 45 8 Tommi Mäkinen Ret 2 8 7 Ret 5 Ret Ret 6 6 10 7 8 3 30 9 François Duval 7 Ret 3 9 8 Ret Ret 7 Ret 10 5 3 4 5 30 10 Gilles Panizzi Ret 5 7 Ret 10 2 6 1 Ret 27 11 Harri Rovanperä Ret Ret Ret 4 6 2 Ret 7 Ret 18 12 Toni Gardemeister Ret 8 7 5 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 12 Ret 9 13 Didier Auriol 9 18 Ret 8 6 9 Ret Ret Ret 12 12 Ret Ret 11 4 14 Freddy Loix Ret 10 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 10 8 DNS DNS DNS 6 4 15 Cédric Robert 6 9 9 12 11 3 16 Alister McRae 6 3 17 Mikko Hirvonen Ret 11 Ret 10 16 Ret 6 13 Ret 9 Ret 10 14 Ret 3 18 Armin Schwarz 8 13 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 12 12 13 DNS DNS DNS DNS 3 19 Janne Tuohino 17 7 2 20 Manfred Stohl Ret 11 18 DNS Ret 7 2 21 Alistair Ginley 12 15 8 Ret 23 Ret 23 Ret 1 22 Sebastian Lindholm 8 1 23 Philippe Bugalski Ret 8 9 10 1 24 Roman Kresta 10 14 Ret Ret 11 13 8 1 Pos Driver MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR  Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (DNF) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

Manufacturer Teams must enter at least two cars.^[1] This allowed Manufacturers to have three or four cars registered on a single event, but only their best two result would count to the championship.

Pos. Manufacturer No. MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRE CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR Points 1 Citroën Total World Rally Team 17 2 5 4 Ret Ret 7 4 4 Ret 4 (6) 5 (9) 4 160 18 1 7 Ret 4 Ret Ret 3 1 5 2 1 (12) 2 2 19 (3) (9) 1 (10) 2 2 (5) (6) 4 (5) 4 2 7 Ret 20 Ret (8) (9) (10) 2 Marlboro Peugeot Total 1 8 1 8 1 1 Ret Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret 4 6 Ret 145 2 4 3 2 2 3 4 Ret 3 3 3 6 (8) Ret 6 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret (4) 6 2 (9) Ret 6 2 6 1 Ret 3 555 Subaru World Rally Team 7 Ret 6 Ret 3 4 3 1 7 2 1 Ret 1 5 1 109 8 Ret 2 7 6 Ret 5 Ret Ret 6 5 7 7 8 3 4 Ford Motor Co 4 3 4 5 Ret Ret 1 Ret 5 1 Ret 3 Ret 3 Ret 93 5 5 Ret 3 8 7 Ret Ret 6 Ret 9 5 3 4 5 6 Ret 10 Ret 9 8 Ret 5 (12) Ret 8 Ret 8 (12) Ret 5 Škoda Motorsport 14 7 12 Ret 7 5 8 Ret Ret Ret 11 8 Ret Ret 7 23 15 Ret 8 6 5 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret 9 9 Ret 6 Hyundai World Rally Team 10 6 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 9 8 12 12 11 Ret 9 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 7 7 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret (13) Ret Pos. Manufacturer No. MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRE CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (DNF) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

• Results in "()" means the car finished the rally, but two others of the same Manufacturer Team reached a better result.

JWRC Drivers' championship

Pos Driver MON TUR GRE FIN ITA ESP GBR  Pts  1 Brice Tirabassi 1 Ret 1 2 Ret 1 Ret 38 2 Salvador Cañellas Jr. Ret 2 4 5 2 3 4 36 3 Daniel Carlsson Ret Ret 2 1 Ret 4 1 33 4 Urmo Aava 4 Ret 3 4 Ret 5 Ret 20 5 Mirco Baldacci 7 Ret Ret Ret 1 Ret 2 20 6 Ville-Pertti Teuronen Ret 4 Ret Ret 4 6 3 19 7 Guy Wilks Ret 3 6 3 6 11 Ret 18 8 Alessandro Broccoli 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 5 13 9 Marcos Ligato 2 Ret Ret 7 Ret 10 10 Kosti Katajamäki EX 1 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 11 Massimo Ceccato 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 6 8 12 Luca Cecchettini 9 5 Ret Ret 5 10 Ret 8 13 Dimitar Iliev Ret 7 Ret Ret 3 Ret 8 14 Kris Meeke 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 Ret 8 15 Abdo Feghali 10 3 Ret Ret 7 7 Ret 7 16 Oscar Svedlund Ret Ret 5 8 Ret Ret 5 17 Juraj Šebalj 6 Ret 3 18 Beppo Harrach 8 Ret Ret 1 Pos Driver MON TUR GRE FIN ITA ESP GBR Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (DNF) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Events

Round	Rally Name	Start-End Date	Podium Drivers (Finishing Time)	Podium Cars
1	71ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo	24 January-26 January	Sébastien Loeb (4h:29m:11.4s) Colin McRae (4h:29m:49.5s) Carlos Sainz (4h:30m:03.6s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Citroën Xsara WRC
2	52nd Uddeholm Swedish Rally	7 February-9 February	Marcus Grönholm (3h:03m:28.1s) Tommi Mäkinen (3h:04m:18.9s) Richard Burns (3h:04m:46.0s)	Peugeot 206 WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Peugeot 206 WRC
3	4th Rally of Turkey	27 February-2 March	Carlos Sainz (4h:32m:14.1s) Richard Burns (4h:33m:02.0s) François Duval (4h:34m:00.6s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 206 WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 02
4	33rd Propecia Rally New Zealand	11 April-13 April	Marcus Grönholm (3h:45m:21.2s) Richard Burns (3h:46m:29.9s) Petter Solberg (3h:47m:31.0s)	Peugeot 206 WRC Peugeot 206 WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2003
5	23º Rally Argentina	8 May-11 May	Marcus Grönholm (4h:14m:45.0s) Carlos Sainz (4h:15m:11.6s) Richard Burns (4h:15m:57.8s)	Peugeot 206 WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 206 WRC
6	50th Acropolis Rally	6 June-8 June	Markko Märtin (4h:53m:40.5s) Carlos Sainz (4h:54m:26.5s) Petter Solberg (4h:54m:33.2s)	Ford Focus RS WRC 03 Citroën Xsara WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2003
7	31st Cyprus Rally	20 June-22 June	Petter Solberg (5h:09m:12.6s) Harri Rovanperä (5h:13m:26.6s) Sébastien Loeb (5h:13m:29.4s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Peugeot 206 WRC Citroën Xsara WRC
8	22. ADAC Rallye Deutschland	25 July-27 July	Sébastien Loeb (3h:46m:50.4s) Marcus Grönholm (3h:46m:54.0s) Richard Burns (3h:47m:10.1s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 206 WRC Peugeot 206 WRC
9	53rd Neste Rally Finland	7 August-10 August	Markko Märtin (3h:21m:51.7s) Petter Solberg (3h:22m:50.6s) Richard Burns (3h:22m:51.8s)	Ford Focus RS WRC 03 Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Peugeot 206 WRC
10	16th Telstra Rally Australia	4 September-7 September	Petter Solberg (3h:32m:07.1s) Sébastien Loeb (3h:32m:33.7s) Richard Burns (3h:34m:00.1s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 206 WRC
11	45º Rallye Sanremo - Rallye d'Italia	3 October-5 October	Sébastien Loeb (4h:16m:33.7s) Gilles Panizzi (4h:17m:02.0s) Markko Märtin (4h:17m:28.3s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 206 WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 03
12	47ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France	17 October-19 October	Petter Solberg (4h:20m:15.3s) Carlos Sainz (4h:20m:51.9s) François Duval (4h:20m:57.0s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Citroën Xsara WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 03
13	39º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España)	24 October-26 October	Gilles Panizzi (3h:55m:09.4s) Sébastien Loeb (3h:55m:22.4s) Markko Märtin (3h:55m:23.0s)	Peugeot 206 WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 03
14	59th Wales Rally of Great Britain	6 November-9 November	Petter Solberg (3h:28m:58.1s) Sébastien Loeb (3h:29m:41.7s) Tommi Mäkinen (3h:31m:56.9s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Citroën Xsara WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2003

References

1. http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/World-Rally-Championship-123401.html

See also

• FIA World Rally Championship 2003 at rallybase.nl