Host country United Kingdom Stage surface Gravel | Stages 19 | |
Rally base Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom Dates run 16 September 2004 – 19 September 2004 Overall distance 1,298.12 km (806.61 mi) | ||
The 2004 Wales Rally GB (formally the 60th Wales Rally of Great Britain) was a rallying autosports race held over our days between 16 and 19 September 2004 and operated out of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It was the twelfth round of the 2004 World Rally Championship (WRC) and the 60th running of the event. Contested over 19 stages, the rally was won by Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg. Sébastien Loeb finished second for the Citroën World Rally Team and Ford driver Markko Martin came in third.
Background
The 2004 Wales Rally GB was the twelfth round of the 2004 World Rally Championship after taking a two-week break since the previous race of the season in Japan. It was held over four days from Thursday, 16 September to Sunday, 19 September 2004. Before the race, Sébastien Loeb led the Drivers' Championship with 84 points, ahead of Petter Solberg in second and Markko Martin third. Carlos Sainz was fourth on 51 points, and Marcus Gronholm was four points adrift in fifth. Citroen were leading the Manufacturers' Championship with 137 points; Ford stood in second on 102 points, 33 in front of Subaru. Peugeot were fourth on 68 points.
With pressure from the South Wales Police who initiated a campaign against speeding, the rally was under threat from cancellation as several drivers had been caught exceeding the speed limit in the 2002 event, and the sports governing body the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced it would investigate whether the roads were suitable for the large amount of rally traffic. On 12 December 2003 Wales Rally GB was granted a provisional place on the 2004 WRC calendar which was pending a formal road review by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) after the FIA chose not to downgrade the event which would have made the event illegible to count for championship points. Five towns in England were mooted as alternative bases in the event Wales was deemed unusitable.
87 crews registered to compete in the rally. The starting order for Leg 1 was "Priority 1" (P1) and P2 WRC drivers in the order of the current classification following the previous race of the 2004 season, followed by all other drivers as decided by the MSA. Solberg, the previous season's champion, set off first, followed by Loeb, then Sainz.