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Gronholm wins in Sardinia
20/05/2007 14:08 - (SA)
Milan - Marcus Gronholm won the Rally of
Sardinia on Sunday to take over the lead in the championship
from Sebastien Loeb after the triple world champion crashed out.
Finland's Gronholm, in the main BP-Ford works team, won by
29.2 seconds from Ford's Mikko Hirvonen in second. Spain's Dani
Sordo in his Citroen finished third.
Gronholm now leads Loeb by seven points at the top of the
drivers' standings after the Frenchman spun into a ditch on the
first stage of the final leg.
Citroen driver Loeb, who had been chasing his fourth win in
a row this year and third successive victory in Italy, led the
race after day one and two and had looked set to extend his
overall advantage.
Gronholm, recording his second win of the season after
victory in Sweden, triumphed despite failing to win a stage on
the final day.
Hirvonen won three stages but was too far adift to threaten
Gronholm's position.
Norway's Henning Solberg in the Stobart-Ford also claimed
two stages on the day but missed out on a podium place as Sordo
picked up his third top three finish of the season, his second
in the last three races.
Henning's brother Petter ended up in fifth spot in the
Subaru.
Champions Ford are now 21 points clear of Citroen in the
manufacturers' standings. The rally of Sardinia was the seventh
in the 16-race calendar.
- Reuters
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