Rally Oz underway

WA's final Rally Oz got underway last night with the hot favorite, Finn Marcus Gronholm, winning both super special stages at Perth's Gloucester Park and starting today's competition with a 1.9-second advantage over his teammate and countryman, Mikko Hirvonen. Subaru's Petter Solberg is third, with Peugeot's Manfred Stohl and Citroen's Daniel Sordo fourth and fifth respectively and Atkinson ninth in his Subaru.

Today the field faces nine stages and 121km of competition, with the rally heading south of Perth for a group of stages clustered around Dwellingup before a loop east of the city and two more passes over the Gloucester Park super special stage, followed by two more legs over the weekend.

"It's a great thrill to drive on these (WA) roads -- they're narrow and fast and that's the kind of thing that gets a driver going," Atkinson says. "It's a shame it's going (from Perth). There's been plenty of innovation from this rally. We all know about the super special at Langley Park (that revolutionised world rallying, bringing the sport into a major city) and the way this event has made such a success of that. We have to remember all of that and all of the people who have worked hard on this event. It's important, though, that we have world rallying in Australia (with the introduction of the proposed Brisbane event in '08)."

Atkinson insists he is not under any extra pressure this weekend, despite being the Australian star. "For me the pressure's no different or any greater than the pressure I put myself under," he says. "And sometimes you can go better under the pressure. We showed we had speed on this event last year (when he led), but there were a few problems. If we can do that again this time without the problems it could be good."

Subaru has been fighting an uphill battle against the Fords and Citroens lately. "We're making steps forward though," Atkinson says. "It's not going be easy and we all know that. The steps are small, but they're helping with confidence in the car for Petter and I. These faster rallies towards the end of the season (New Zealand Britain follow Australia) will suit our cars and tyres a little bit better. It's going to be difficult with Marcus, and if Sébastien (Loeb, Citroen's injured French world champion) comes back. They're at a really high level and confident with their cars. I hope it's not too far away before it's all working right and we can fight a bit more. It would be good to get on the podium and get back to where we were at the end of last year."

Rally Oz drivers are showing no signs of easing off on the WA roads in the wake of Peter Brock's death in the Targa West tarmac rally in early September. "You have to forget the trees and put your brain in the back seat of the car and go flat out," one competitor says.

Gilmour, from Dunedin, had the driver's side windscreen wiper fail on the Subaru -- a car previously campaigned in tarmac events by West Australian Dean Herridge -- during an early stage but still led at the end of the first day. On day two Darryl Thompson, one of her three rostered co-drivers for the event, got terribly car sick -- "things were far from pleasant for either of us," Emma says -- and her father, Alistair, had to take his place. Yesterday she had an "off" after misjudging a crest in the Taihape district and lost two minutes.

McAndrew, winner of a London-to-Sydney marathon but whose best in Targa NZ was second last year, held a 50-second lead over former Queensland rally champion Vandersee with two days remaining, while Gilmour was 1 minute 46 seconds further back. Today's leg is from Palmerston North to Hastings, while Saturday's final leg is based around Hawkes Bay.

After Targa, Gilmour will switch back to her own Subaru for Rally NZ, the penultimate round of the world championship in mid-November.

A 30-second commercial on RTL during the Brazilian Grand Prix cost advertisers US$147,000 but post-Schumi is unlikely to command much more than US$100,000.

"With Schumacher we have lost a safe bank," RTL marketing manager Florian Ruckert says.

Andretti, 66, and originally from Istria -- formerly part of Italy but ceded to Yugoslavia after World War II and now divided between Slovenia and Croatia -- was acknowledged for his public service and achievements as a racing driver and his enduring commitment to his Italian heritage.

Lawrence Auriana, chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation and who made the presentation, said Andretti's great skill and courage were exemplified by the 1976 Japanese GP, the final race that season, in which Niki Lauda, then Ferrari's world champion, pulled into the pits and forfeited his chance to retain the title because of a monumental downpour and fog. Andretti continued the race and won -- and two years later he became world champion for Lotus, but his teammate and great friend Ronnie Petersen died the same day. "Mario's domination of the skill of automobile racing is best exemplified by the fact that he is the only driver in history to have won the NASCAR Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, and the World Formula One Driving Championship," Lawrence Auriana said.

Andretti's career spanned five decades and he was a four-time Champ Car champion, USAC dirt track champion and three-time winner of the Sebring 12-hour sports car race. He was named Driver of the Year in three different decades, Driver of the Quarter Century, and Driver of the Century by the Associated Press and RACER Magazine.

His son Michael runs an Indy Racing League team and his 19-year-old grandson, Marco, came close to winning this year's Indy 500 and was named Rookie of the Year by the IRL.