Marcus Gronholm has won the Rally of Finland and thereby ended the barren spell that has dogged his season as the current World Champion. The Finn never looked in danger as he led for the latter half of the event. His cause was helped by the early departure from the event of his fellow countryman, Tommi Makinen. The Mitsubishi driver struck a tree stump on the inside of a corner on stage 1. This was, of course, also good news for title contender Colin McRae. The Scot took the conservative approach yet still finished in a highly respectable third place.
Other notable performances came from Richard Burns and Harri Rovanpera. Sadly for Harri, his Peugeot suffered suspension problems on the very last stage which saw him drop from second to fourth. This misfortune did allow Richard Burns to snatch second place but, as the Englishman so rightly said, you have to get yourself in a position to capitalise on that misfortune and this he had most certainly done.
Juha Kankunnen`s welcome return to the World Rally Championship came to an end on Leg 2 with brake problems which made it unsafe to continue.
Rally Results posted by
David Little
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