RALLY: China Rally Subaru Leg Two Information

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555 SUBARUS ON COURSE FOR REPEAT 1-2 IN CHINA

555 China Rally - Leg 2 Information - 21 June, 20:58 +0700

A day of dramas at the head of the leaderboard in the 555 China Rally
saw the lead change yet again and although the Italian 555 Subaru
World Rally Team crew of Piero Liatti and Fabrizia Pons led for seven
of today's eight stages they dropped to second position with a
broken right rear drive-shaft on the penultimate stage of the day.
Team-mates Colin McRae and Nicky Grist have fought hard, pushing the
Italians all the way, but suffered with power-steering and overheating
problems throughout the course of today's 148 competitive
kilometres. Liatti's misery was however to McRae's benefit
and, with only six stages remaining, the Scot leads the crews out for
the final day.

China, the world's third largest country (after Canada and
Russia) - is playing host to its second World Championship format
international rally and, like many of this year's events, is
living up to all expectations by providing challenging stages and
spectacular scenery for the foreign crews, many of whom have travelled
from Europe and Japan to compete here. Colin McRae and Nicky Grist,
winners of the inaugural 555 China Rally in 1997, have had a day of
misfortune, but a healthy overnight lead kept the all-British pair in
second position throughout the day. Intermittent power-steering
problems and an overheating engine conspired to keep the Scot behind
his team-mate and it was not until the final stage that the Scot
benefited from his team-mates misfortune.

"The power-steering was not right this morning when we re-started and
the team had to change all the steering components at the service
before the first stage today," said Colin. "We incurred two minutes of
penalty for leaving the service late but there was no way we could
have continued without the power-steering so it was obviously worth
it. We were fastest on the first stage but then on the next the engine
started to overheat and then the ignition fuse jumped out and the car
lost power momentarily. It's just been one of those disastrous
days - we've had the same problems on and off all day and
we're lucky to still be here. Piero was unlucky this evening and
we've had our share of problems all day - that's just the
way it goes sometimes but we were both lucky to have a healthy lead."

Piero Liatti, on his debut outing in the 555 China Rally, won five of
yesterday's stages and with two fastest stage times today, was on
course to finish back in Huairou with the lead tonight. A trouble-free
run in the three-time World Championship-winning Subaru Impreza 555
gave the all-Italian crew the lead they were looking for but, with
only two stages to go, they ran into trouble. A broken rear
drive-shaft lost them valuable time on SS15 and SS16 and, coupled with
burst anti-deflation mousse on the last stage, dropped them back into
second position.

"Everything had been perfect today," said a disappointed Piero. "Some
of today's stages have been very fast and we have pushed hard all
the way with absolutely no problems. Then the drive-shaft broke on the
second to last stage and we lost our lead. For me it is obviously very
disappointing because it would have been fantastic to win here on my
first outing. Tomorrow we will still go flat out and see what
happens."

The third and final leg of the 555 China Rally starts at 07:00 hrs
(local) on Monday, 22 June for the concluding six special stages that
take the crews back to Huairou Stadium for the finish of the event at
15:30 hrs (local).

DRIVER CAR TOTAL TIME DIFF STAGES WON
1 Colin McRae Subaru Impreza 555 WRC98 3.32.47.1 1,4,9,12,13,15,16
2 Piero Liatti Subaru Impreza 555 WRC98 3.33.43.6 56.5 2,3,5,6,7,11,14
3 Yoshio Fujimoto Toyota Celica GT-4 3.43.56.0 11.08.9
4 Yoshihiro Kataoka Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III 3.45.09.5 12.22.4 8,10
5 Ningjun Lu Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV (GpN) 4.02.24.2 29.37.1
6 Chi Wah Chan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V (GpN) 4.06.05.5 33.18.4
7 Yau Kwan Wong Subaru Impreza 555 (GpN) 4.06.17.1 33.30.0
8 Zhi Guo Ren Peugeot 106 Rallye (GpN) 4.22.22.1 49.35.0
9 Fan Wen Ford Escort RS Cosworth (GpN) 4.24.23.0 51.35.9
10 Fui On Sing Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III (GpN) 4.24.56.1 52.09.0