WRC Rally Finland: Gronholm and Peugeot break Loeb/Citroen winning run

Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm has taken a magnificent fifth victory in his native Rally Finland, his seventeenth WRC win in his career, and boosted himself to second in the drivers' championship. Team-mate Markko Martin completed a great team result to end the rally in third place, less than 30 seconds behind runaway championship leader Sebastien Loeb who finished second. Peugeot’s strong team showing has enabled the marque to retake the lead of the Manufacturers Championship by a single championship point over Citroen.

For Loeb, who has taken all before him this year, his seventh consecutive victory was not to be. For practically two full days of competition and over sixteen stages, he matched the pace of the local star and pushed him to his limits before accepting 2nd spot with panache.His Citroen finished 66.7 seconds down on Gronholm.

"We gave him a very close run and we come away with eight valuable points," said Seb at the finish, before adding with his customary frankness: "In championship terms, this is an excellent result… but it's not a victory. Whenever a winning run like this comes to an end – even if you know it will stop one day – is bound to be a little bit sad. That said, I am very happy and proud to have been able to take the fight to Marcus over stages he has competed on every year since 1989. You have to know when to accept being beaten by an opponent of his calibre on his home ground. We put in a very good run… and he put in a flawless performance.”

Continuing the process of rebuilding his confidence with a view to contributing valuable support in the events to come, François Duval and his co-driver Sven Smeets had the satisfaction of producing a faultless run in Finland: "We didn't put a foot wrong on an event where it is so easy to make a mistake," said the young Belgian. "We also achieved the objective we were set and we are looking forward to doing better still in Germany which stands out as a more straightforward rally for us…» "We mustn't, you mustn't be disappointed," repeated Guy Fréquelin when congratulating Seb, Daniel and the team at the finish. The Citroën Sport boss recalls the Xsara's first visit to Finland just four years ago and is able to measure the considerable ground that has been covered since. He also kept a constant eye on proceedings in the JWRC category and was delighted with the C2 Super 1600's third win of the season, and the second for the promising Daniel Sordo. "This event was new for Dani, so what he has achieved this weekend over such notoriously difficult stages is simply exceptional. I am especially pleased that his talent is showcasing the potential of both the C2 Super 1600 and our Customer Competition team.»

The third and final leg did not produce any changes at the top of the leaderboard, as the gaps were too big for anybody to stand a realistic chance of making progress. Marcus drove carefully yet quickly to the finish, after having a final scare at first service in the morning. An oil leak was detected in the power steering, and the mechanics had to change the entire steering assembly as well as the engine mounts in less than 10 minutes.

Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, first: "It's been the perfect rally for us. We knew from the start that we could fight to win, but it was only last night, when we got a one-minute lead that we knew for sure that we were going to do it. It's not been an easy rally – we were always pushing hard and I was very worried about Timo. To avoid injuring his back any more I was definitely backing off over some of the bigger bumps, which cost us time. Although it's fantastic to win here, we still have to keep working hard to improve the car because Finland is not really typical of most events!" Markko Martin, Peugeot, third: "I'm very pleased – not so much with third place but more with the fact that we have been in a genuinely competitive situation here in Finland. This is down to many things, but above all the adjustments to the suspension have helped me a lot. For the first time I felt really confident with the car, and if we keep working hard and going down the correct route I am sure that there will be more good results to follow this."

Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Peugeot: "The rally has ended in a magnificent way with a fantastic victory for Marcus. The final day was more of a formality, leading to the result that we always wanted. The drivers have been fantastic, with Marcus who ruled in Finland and Markko putting in the best performance of his Peugeot career. Our Pirelli tyres have been competitive throughout all three days of the event. The conclusion is a result that allows Peugeot to retake the lead of the Manufacturers Championship, and face the last part of the season with iron resolve."

David Lapworth, Subaru World Rally Team Principal: "In the surprisingly warm conditions we've experienced this weekend it was always going to be difficult to secure a win, especially with Petter running first on the road on Leg one. Petter has driven very well all rally, he and Sebastien made it a two-horse race, but in the end Loeb's advantage on the second run through the stages proved too much. The eight points keep the Championship battle wide open and it will be interesting to see what happens on the forthcoming gravel rallies. The next three events form the toughest point of the season and they've been the focus of our preparations for the last few months. Chris and Stephane both stuck exactly to their pre-event plans, they've built their pace day-on-day, gained a lot of experience and have both shown a very impressive turn of speed. Chris's fastest stage time certainly attracted the spotlight today but Stéphane's times this afternoon, on his first ever gravel rally, were equally remarkable."

Petter Solberg, Subaru World Rally Team, fourth: "I am very happy actually. In the circumstances it's good to take second place and I'd like to thank everyone in the team for their hard work. It's been a good fight with Sebastien, but of course I'd hoped it would be a lot closer. But, it didn't happen like that and so I've got the best result I could. At this point in the Championship it's still very close and I think it's going to be a very interesting year. The key thing we have to do is work harder to find some more performance, but we have a good plan and I'm 100 per cent confident that we will succeed."

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