Norwegian Petter Solberg claimed his maiden world championship victory on Sunday after winning the season-ending Rally of Britain.
Subaru driver Solberg, 27, came home 24.4 seconds ahead of Ford's Estonian Markko Martin after the pair battled for the lead following champion Finn Marcus Gronholm's retirement on Saturday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Gronholm had been set for a record-equaling sixth win of the season to match Frenchman Didier Auriol's 1992 mark but crashed out when more than one minute ahead.
His exit meant Solberg started the final leg 1.6 seconds behind Martin, but the Norwegian took the lead on the opening stage of the day with a blistering pace through the 54.69km Resolfen stage.
Solberg was 22 seconds faster than Martin in the first test of the day and was never headed in the following three tests as he brought his Subaru home for a memorable victory.
"I never thought I had nerves before but I tell you I found them on that last stage," said an ecstatic Solberg, who arrived at the final service park hanging out of the door of his Subaru screaming in delight at the waiting crowds.
"Maybe before I tried to look like I was a tough guy but I'm no tough guy. I really was trembling and halfway through [the last stage] I thought I heard a bad noise coming from the engine.
"I had some bad luck in the past but I don't want to think about bad luck any more. I just want this to be the first of many more wins in the future. The feeling -- I can't describe it."
Martin settled for second place after being overtaken by Solberg and, despite saying he had been too cautious on the opening stage, he was happy with the lessons learned.
"Maybe if I'd driven a lot more aggressively on today's first stage it would have been much closer," Martin said.
"We got this rally 99.9 per cent right, but Petter got it 100 per cent right so he deserves his win. I've really learned that at this level you can't afford to drive too safely if you want to win."
Spaniard Carlos Sainz came home third in what could be his final event for Ford. He has not signed a contract for next year and has held talks with Citroen.
Sainz had been overtaken for third place by Briton Richard Burns, but the Peugeot driver was forced to retire on the penultimate stage after crashing off the road.
Burns said: "It was probably the smallest accident of my career. The car was fine but there was no way we were getting it back onto the road."
The retirement dropped outgoing world champion Burns down to fifth in the overall standings, the first time he has finished outside the top three for four years.
Finn Tommi Makinen claimed fourth place for Subaru to end a disappointing season for the four-time champion, with Britons Colin McRae and Mark Higgins fifth and sixth respectively for Ford.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS