Victory in Greece ends Grönholm's dry spell

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Finnish rally driver Marcus Grönholm (Ford) took a welcome victory in the difficult Acropolis Rally in Greece over the weekend.
      The Finn dominated the season's eighth competition from the start, and beat the Frenchman Sebastién Loeb (Citroën), who followed him home, by a comfortable 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Simultaneously, Grönholm put an end to the runaway championship table leader Loeb's five-race winning streak.
      "It feels good to win at least the occasional race. In the overall championship fight we're still such a long way behind Loeb", Grönholm commented on the phone when asked about his 21st career victory.
     
Another Ford driver, Mikko Hirvonen, who finished third, assured Finland's dominance on the podium. Yet another Finn, Loeb's Citroën teammate Toni Gardemeister came in fourth.
      Grönholm won 11 of the 18 special stages of the rally, which was driven on extremely difficult dirt and gravel roads, but he remains 29 points behind the consistently performing Loeb in the WRC standings.
      "I'm afraid we would need some help from Loeb himself, if we wanted to narrow down his lead", Grönholm admitted.
      In the end Hirvonen trailed 3:43 behind Grönholm.
      "In the last three races the team has emphasised the importance of bringing the car home in one piece. But even without the team instructions, Marcus's speed would still be too much for me at this point", Hirvonen conceded.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Marcus Grönholm recovers to finish third in Catalonia Rally (27.3.2006)
  Victory in Swedish Rally crowns Grönholm´s birthday (6.2.2006)

Links:
  FIA World Rally Championship

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