European Rally Championship '09

[HaCo]

And we have a new leader again, because Basso lost 1:45

He is now 45 secs behind the Evo of Papadimitriou...

[HaCo]

Solowow missing on SS9?

[N.O.T]

No greek driver is at the level of the europeans yet, as always greek champions are only champions in words and its hard to realise the truth with all the yes men surounding them....even tourists like solowow are better....

Papadimitriou leads in this nerve wrecking rally...lets see what lies ahead.

[Wim_Impreza]

The third man in the rally, Fontana, is more than 9 minutes behind the leader.

Nioras lost 5 minutes in SS7 due to a puncture.

[harriswrc]

FLASH SS9
Michal Solowow retired after hitting on a rock; the sump guard of the 207 S2000 has been broken and lost a gear. Now, Giandomenico Basso, who after all set the fastest time in the stage, is 33,9 behind Ioannis Papadimitriou, has only to take care of the car until the finish. Corrado Fontana climbed third overall.

[harriswrc]

Papadimitriou is the winner!!! Congratulations!
It's the first time that a Greek driver (with a San Marino flag) wins ELPA rally after 2001 when Vovos was the winner.

[PLuto]

On http://www.rally-erc.com added some new photos...

[Jarek Z]

Papadimitriou is the winner!!! Congratulations!
It's the first time that a Greek driver (with a San Marino flag) wins ELPA rally after 2001 when Vovos was the winner.

First Greek since 2001. That is exactly why I didn't believe in a Greek victory in this rally. But I was wrong. Congratulations to Papa!

Here is a video showing what happened to Solowow on SS9. They hit some rock with the bottom of their car and it destroyed the gearbox.
http://www.cersanitrally.pl/data/Pli...a2009_SS09.wmv

ERC standings after ELPA Rally:
http://www.rally-erc.com/standings.php

[tolis]

It was a very nice rally, I enjoyed it a lot!!!The weather on Saturday was rainy and foggy!!! It was like RAC!!! I liked Basso's driving!!! He was very fast but the puncture didn't allow him to fight for the win on day 2. Solowow was also very nice to see (he tried as much as he could). Very nice performance by Slavov with his Clio R3, although he has no experience on gravel. Papadimitriou and Vovos were very fast and aggressive. On the other hand, I was disappointed by both Fontana and Tlustak. Jan Cerny's car was very weak on the first SS that I saw him.
Congratulations to Papadimitriou. It was a pity that Vovos retired on the first day and couldn't fight for the win...
Nice to meet PLuto on the SP!!! See you again mate!!!
Photos:
http://2009.elparally.gr/el/category/3
http://www.xwmatinos.gr/Gallery/09/elpa_rally.htm
http://www.r40.gr/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=62233
http://s881.photobucket.com/albums/a...albumview=grid

[Mirek]

Solowow's retirement: http://www.youtube.com/v/p8RyKRiwQDg