Grönholm takes second win in Acropolis Rally

Nine-point advantage over Sebastien Loeb going into summer break

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Marcus Grönholm (Ford) met with no obstacles on the final day of the Acropolis Rally, and collected his second win in the event and his second successive WRC victory. The native of Inkoo in Southern Finland, who had taken to the lead in the race in Greece after the Friday service break, stayed in front until the finish line on Sunday.
      In the end it was a comfortable win: his closest rival, Sebastien Loeb (Citroën) of France, came in 38.6 seconds behind the Finn.
      Grönholm’s 28th career victory was his second in Greece. For Ford, who have tended to dominate the Acropolis rally in recent years, Grönholm’s win was the team’s 60th all-time victory. In the competition between manufacturers, Ford now enjoys a clear lead of 28 points over rivals Citroën.
      "We did well. No problems of any kind at any stage, which is somewhat rare in this rally", Grönholm, who won the race in 2006 as well, commented on his performance in Greece.
     
In the drivers' championship table the situation is much more pleasant from Grönholm’s point of view than at this stage a year ago. Last year, by the start of the summer break, Loeb had accumulated a commanding lead, and had it not been for an off-course injury, he would probably have gone on to win the title by a much larger margin than he eventually did. This year, however, things have evened themselves up quite a bit, and Grönholm now leads the Frenchman by nine points, 65 to 56.
      Grönholm is a two-time World Champion, though five years have elapsed since his previous overall victory. At that time the Finn was driving for Peugeot, a team which has since withdrawn from the sport.
      "It feels like a heck of a long time ago. We’re still a long way away from another championship, but at least we’re on the right track. But it’s really too early to talk about it yet", Grönholm continued.
     
He is wise to be cautious. The greatest obstacle in Grönholm’s way to a third overall title is a certain Citroën pilot called Loeb. After the break, four races on asphalt will follow on the heels of the Finnish event in August, and the Frenchman is frighteningly strong on harder surfaces.
      Grönholm revealed he would do a lot of testing on asphalt for the remainder of the season.
      Towards the end of June, however, there is time for some vacationing as well.
      During his summer break from racing and testing Grönholm plans to take it easy and mainly hang out with his family at home in Inkoo.
     
Behind Grönholm and Loeb, the rest of the usual suspects held on to their positions in the championship race.
      While Petter Solberg (Subaru) of Norway accompanied the Finn and the Frenchman onto the podium, another Finnish Ford pilot Mikko Hirvonen came in forth, ahead of the second Norwegian, Henning Solberg (Ford), in fifth place.
      In the championship table Hirvonen is comfortably in third place, but already 16 points adrift of Grönholm.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Marcus Grönholm enjoys change of luck in Sardinia (21.5.2007)
  Loeb wins Rally of Argentina for third consecutive time (7.5.2007)

Links:
  WRC
  Acropolis Rally

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