WRC: Gronholm closes gap

WRC: Gritty Gronholm closes on Loeb

Colin McRae was powerless to stop Marcus Gronholm taking full advantage of Sebastien Loeb’s absence in the Rally of Turkey.

Auto Express Car Reviews

19th October 2006

The Scot, standing in for Citroen’s injured world champion, was hampered by wrong tyre choices early on. He then retired on the last stage from sixth position with electrical failure. Ford has now overtaken Citroen in the manufacturers’ championship.

Meanwhile, ex-world champion Gronholm kept his slim title hopes alive with a strong win. The Finn never put a wheel wrong to finish well clear of Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen, with Henning Solberg in a privately entered Peugeot finishing third.

More importantly, Gronholm has cut the deficit to the injured Loeb to 25 points in the battle for the drivers’ title, with an available 30 remaining.

But realistically, he needs to win the final three rounds and also hope that theFrenchman’s broken arm takes longer than expected to mend. “There is a possibility on paper, and maybe we can do it,” said Gronholm. “We need to be 100 per cent in finishing. But it’s more important to win the manufacturers’ championship.”