2003 World Rally Championship

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[]

The 2003 championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, Asia, South America and Oceania.

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

Teams and drivers[]

hideManufacturer teams
Team	Constructor	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Co-drivers	Rounds
Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot	206 WRC	M	1	Marcus Grönholm	Timo Rautiainen	All
				2	Richard Burns	Robert Reid	1–13
					Freddy Loix		14
				3	Gilles Panizzi		1, 8, 11–13
					Harri Rovanperä		2–7, 9–10, 14
				21	Gilles Panizzi		6–7, 14
Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford	Focus RS WRC 02	M	4	Markko Märtin	Michael Park	1-3
		Focus RS WRC 03					4-12
		Focus RS WRC 02		5	François Duval		1–2
							3
		Focus RS WRC 03					4-12
		Focus RS WRC 02
				6	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	All
				20	Jari-Matti Latvala		6
						Miikka Anttila	8–9, 14
555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2003	P	7	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	All
				8	Tommi Mäkinen		All
Hyundai World Rally Team	Hyundai	Accent WRC3	M	10	Armin Schwarz		1–10
				11	Freddy Loix		1–10
				12	Jussi Välimäki		2, 4, 6, 9
					Justin Dale		7
					Manfred Stohl	Ilka Minor	8
				20			6, 10
				22	Justin Dale		8, 10
Škoda Motorsport	Škoda	Octavia WRC Evo3 Fabia WRC	M	14	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	All
				15	Toni Gardemeister		All
				22			8
				26	Jan Kopecký		8, 14
				32	Gabriel Pozzo		5
Citroën Total	Citroën	Xsara WRC	M	17	Colin McRae	Derek Ringer	All
				18	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	All
				19	Carlos Sainz	Marc Martí	All
				20	Philippe Bugalski		8, 11–13
				25	Daniel Solà		6, 14

hideMajor entries not registered as manufacturers
Team	Constructor	Car	Drivers		Rounds
Bozian Racing	Peugeot	206 WRC			1, 8, 11–13
			Gilles Panizzi		3
			Roman Kresta		1–2, 6
					8, 11, 13–14
			Juuso Pykälistö		2–3, 6–7, 9
				Risto Mannisenmäki	14
			Ari Vatanen		9
Stohl Racing			Manfred Stohl	Ilka Minor	4, 12, 14
Peugeot Sport Finland			Sebastian Lindholm		9
Team BSA			Alexandre Bengue		12
AW Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC	Antony Warmbold		1–2, 4–10, 12–14
LPM Racing			Janne Tuohino		2, 9
Kuchar Team Poland			Tomasz Kuchar		2, 4, 6
Wrüth Sport					2
					9
Ford Motor Hellas					2, 6
			Armodios Vovos		6
OMV Best Racing Team					3, 10
Ford Hazirkart Rally Team					3
ADR Motorsport			Alistair Ginley		3, 6–9, 12–14
Dom Buckley Motorsport	Subaru	Impreza WRC			1, 14
Morgan Motorsport			Tapio Laukkanen		14
Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe	Mitsubishi	Lancer Evo WRC2	Kristian Sohlberg	Jakke Honkanen	2, 4, 8
			Alister McRae	David Senior	4
			Jani Paasonen		8

JWRC entries[]

No	Entrant	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
51		Mirco Baldacci		Fiat Punto S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
52	Suzuki Sport	Daniel Carlsson		Suzuki Ignis S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
64					1, 3, 6, 9, 11
					13–14
69		Salvador Cañellas			1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
71		Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk		1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
53			Ola Fløene	Peugeot 206 S1600	1
54	Volkswagen Racing	Kosti Katajamäki	Miikka Anttila	Volkswagen Polo S1600	1, 3, 6
					9, 11, 13–14
62					1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
73					14
78					1, 3, 6, 11
55	Ford Motor Co Ltd			Ford Puma S1600	1, 3, 6
70		Guy Wilks			1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
57				Peugeot 206 S1600	1, 3, 6
					9, 11, 13–14
73					1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13
58	Top Run SRL	Marcos Ligato		Fiat Punto S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
63					1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
76					1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
59				Ford Puma S1600	1, 3, 6, 11, 14
65					1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
60	Jolly Club	Pavel Valoušek		Citroën Saxo S1600	1, 3
61	Renault Sport	Brice Tirabassi		Renault Clio S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
66	Citroën Sport			Citroën Saxo S1600	1, 3, 6
67				Opel Corsa S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11
					13–14
68	Renault Croatia	Juraj Šebalj		Renault Clio S1600	1, 3, 6
72				Fiat Punto S1600	1
74	Opel Motorsport	Kris Meeke	Chris Patterson	Opel Corsa S1600	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13–14
75				Citroën Saxo S1600	1
77				Fiat Punto S1600	1
78	Peugeot Dealer Team Sweden			Peugeot 206 S1600	9

PWRC entries[]

No	Entrant	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
51	Petronas EON Racing Team	Karamjit Singh		Proton Pert	2, 4–5, 7–8, 10
52		Daniel Solà		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	12
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5, 7–8, 10
53					5, 8, 12
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4, 7, 10
56		Gustavo Trelles			4
57				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	7–8, 10
54	Subaru Production Rally Team	Toshihiro Arai		Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4–5, 7, 10, 12
62		Peter 'Possum' Bourne			2, 4
55		Martin Rowe		Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 7–8, 10, 12
65		Stig Blomqvist	Ana Goñi		2, 4, 7–8, 10, 12
57	Top Run SRL			Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4–5
58		Marcos Ligato		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5, 7–8, 10, 12
59					2, 5, 7–8
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	10, 12
63		Luca Baldini			2, 4–5
60		Niall McShea	Chris Patterson	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4–5, 7–8, 10, 12
61	Mobil 1 Team Poland	Janusz Kulig		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 4
					7–8
					10, 12
64				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 4, 7–8
					10, 12
66	Stohl Racing			Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5
72		Constantin Aur			2
					4, 7–8, 10, 12
67		Krzysztof Hołowczyc		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 4–5, 7–8
68	Kuchar Team Poland	Tomasz Kuchar		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	–
69				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 5, 7–8, 12
77					5
70				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4–5, 7–8, 10, 12
71				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 4–5, 7–8, 12
73				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2
74				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4–5
					7–8, 12
75				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	–
76		Patrick Richard		Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
					4–5, 7
			Ola Fløene		8, 12
77	Ralliart Italy			Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2, 5, 7–8, 12
78				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	2
					4–5, 8
79		Fumio Nutahara		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	–
80	Triviño Racing	Ricardo Triviño		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 4–5, 7–8, 12

Results and standings[]

Drivers' championship[]

hidePos. Driver MON NZL  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 6 4 15 6 9 9 12 11 3 16 Mikko Hirvonen Ret 11 Ret 10 16 Ret 6 13 Ret 9 Ret 10 14 Ret 3 17 Alister McRae 6 3 18 Armin Schwarz 8 13 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 12 12 13 3 19 Manfred Stohl Ret 11 18 DNS Ret 7 2 20 Janne Tuohino 17 7 2 21 Philippe Bugalski Ret 8 9 10 1 22 Roman Kresta 10 14 Ret Ret 11 13 8 1 23 Alistair Ginley 12 15 8 Ret 23 Ret 23 Ret 1 24 Sebastian Lindholm 8 1 Pos. Driver MON NZL  Pts

hideKey Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from 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.

hidePos. Manufacturer No. MON NZL 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 NZL Points

hideKey Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from 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  Pts  1 Brice Tirabassi 1 Ret 1 2 Ret 1 Ret 38 2 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 Ret 4 Ret Ret 4 6 3 19 7 Guy Wilks Ret 3 6 3 6 11 Ret 18 8 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 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 6 8 12 9 5 Ret Ret 5 10 Ret 8 13 Ret 7 Ret Ret 3 Ret 8 14 Kris Meeke 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 Ret 8 15 10 3 Ret Ret 7 7 Ret 7 16 Ret Ret 5 8 Ret Ret 5 17 Juraj Šebalj 6 Ret 3 18 8 Ret Ret 1 Pos. Driver MON Pts

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

Events[]

hideRound	Rally Name	Start-End Date	Podium Drivers (Finishing Time)	Podium Cars
1	Monte Carlo Rally	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	Rally Sanremo	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	Tour de Corse	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	Rally Catalunya	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	Wales Rally GB	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[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2003 in World Rally Championship.

• FIA World Rally Championship 2003 at ewrc-results.com