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You are in: Special Events: 2000: Rally of Great Britain |
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Sunday, 26 November, 2000, 15:28 GMT
Gronholm takes world crown
Finn Marcus Gronholm wrapped up the title on Sunday
Marcus Gronholm clinched the world title despite Richard Burns securing a hat-trick of victories in the Rally of Great Britain.
Burns became the first Brit to win his home event three years in succession but second place for Marcus Gronholm was enough to give the Finn the title. Burns triumphed by one minute 5.6 seconds to complete an astonishing comeback on the muddy tracks of a rain-lashed south Wales. A mistake had left him in a lowly 21st place following Friday's opening stage. But the Subaru driver's fourth win of the season - and ninth of his career - still meant he was five agonising points adrift of Gronholm having been 14 points ahead of his rival earlier in the season.
Burns did all he could after being handed a lifeline when rally leader Colin McRae crashed out on Saturday by setting a series of blistering times on the special stages. Fears that over-zealous Burns fans would give Gronholm a welcome in the hillsides he would rather forget, by laying rocks and tree trunks in the path of his Peugeot 205, never materialised. Gronholm kept his nerve on the final three stages west of Cardiff on Sunday. He refused to take any risks over the 52 miles, knowing a top five finish was all he needed for the championship. Under pressure The 32-year-old comfortably achieved his target despite posting a time outside of the top 10 on the final stage at Margam before heading for the victory ceremony in the Welsh capital. "I do not begrudge Marcus the championship," said Burns after also becoming only the third man to win the famous event three years running, emulating Erik Carlsson (1960-62) and Timo Makinen (1973-75). "He has been under pressure here and in Australia but has not made any mistakes and deserves the title."
The Oxford-based driver will rue losing a championship he once led so handsomely until being hit by several costly retirements in the second half of the season. Gronholm, the sixth Finn to win the drivers' crown since its inception in 1979, said: "I'm very happy to win the title again for Finland. It's great. "But I never thought I could do this after the first rally in Monaco when the car did not start." He added: "It hasn't sunk in yet, but it's a good feeling of course," he said. "We didn't expect to win this year - I came to learn, but we won the title! "The team has been fantastic. They gave me a chance and we have worked well together." "I am already looking forward to next year - but first we have tocelebrate." Gronholm, who was 13 when his father, Ulf, was killed in a rally testing accident, was not expected to compete in every round this season.
That all changed following his maiden victory in Sweden in the second event of the season. The Espoo-born driver followed that up with successive wins in New Zealand and Finland to finally overhaul Burns' once massive points advantage to lead the title race. Gronholm's victory in Australia last time out, when he benefited from outgoing champion Tommi Makinen's disqualification, ensured he only needed a top five finish in the British rally to triumph. The success keeps the title in Finnish hands for a fifth successive year with Makinen having won for the past four seasons, while it gave Peugeot a clean sweep of the titles for the first time since 1986. Makinen finished third for Mitsubishi, little under 10 seconds adrift of Gronholm, with Spain's Carlos Sainz fourth in the Ford Focus. Finland's Juha Kankkunen was fifth for Subaru with Frenchman Francois Delecour sixth in a Peugeot. The three points picked up by Sainz was enough to give him third place outright in the drivers' standings ahead of team-mate McRae who would surely have won his home event for a fourth time had he not crashed out.
Rally of Great Britain final leaderboard
Final Championship standings
Manufacturers' standings
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See also:
26 Nov 00 | Motorsport
24 Nov 00 | Photo Galleries
23 Nov 00 | Rally of Great Britain
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