McRae pushes Gronholm to limit
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A fine recovery from Colin McRae saw the Scot finish fifth in the Swedish Rally and claim a share of the lead in the world championship.
The reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm roared to victory, leading from the second stage to win by 50.8sec from the second-placed Tommi Makinen and Richard Burns in third. But McRae, who had slipped to 22nd after a spin into a snow bank on the second stage, is on top of the standings along with Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb.
The French driver, who won the Monte Carlo Rally two weeks ago, really attacked the final stage to gain two places and get into the points-scoring position that means he will start first on the road when the championship reconvenes in Turkey at the end of the month.
During yesterday's five stages McRae made some perfect tyre choices when the hard packed snow of the previous two days turned to slush as the temperature rose. He said: "It's been a good day for us and it was nice to set a new stage record on SS15.
"We came here knowing that there was a chance we could win but realistically there are too many new things to understand before I can attack as hard as I want. Having said that, to be sharing the championship lead after two strong performances is a great start to the season."
While Burns was again outclassed by team-mate Gronholm he drew confidence from once more being highly competitive on one of the championship's most technical events, in which local understanding of the conditions is a major factor.
"Third overall is my best ever result here and both Marcus and myself are already in a good position as far as the championship goes," he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments