Marcus Gronholm battled through an unexpected shower to claim victory in the final stage on the opening day of the Tour de Corse and keep hot on the heels of leader Gilles Panizzi. The French asphalt expert secured four victories from the five special stages, but his Peugeot team-mate is just three seconds behind after a late win in the wet when Panizzi came home 12th, just over 13secs slower than the flying Finn.
Gronholm predicted before the competition began he had no chance of winning in Corsica, but ended the day ahead of world champion Richard Burns, 25.1secs off the lead, as Peugeot chased a clean-sweep. Burns has been steadily settling into the car over his first two events and is now well placed to challenge for his first victory as Peugeot team leader.
By contrast, fellow Brit Colin McRae has not had a happy day, ending the day in seventh spot, his Ford just over a minute behind Panizzi's mark. The only driver to seriously challenge the leading Peugeots was Subaru's Petter Solberg. Never outside the top three over the first trio of stages, Solberg then spun off the road on the penultimate stage. His rear suspension was damaged and it was touch and go if he would make it through the final stage, a sudden rain shower not helping his cause.
Philippe Bugalski finished the day eighth, almost ten seconds adrift of former world champion McRae. The Scot's younger brother Alister McRae, meanwhile, is struggling near the foot of the top 20. The Mitsubishi Lancer is still in the early phase of its development and brake problems slowed McRae dramatically on stage three.
Filed by Shane Murray
