Muller and Snobeck take IRSI title

Following on from their Chamonix win, they have been named the joint Champions, with Opel taking the first constructors' title.

Their Opel Astra coped superlatively well with the treacherous track conditions which saw the downfall of so many of their rivals.

Muller and Snobeck won four of the 6 25-minute heats, taking second place in the other two.

The weather was unseasonably mild, with temperatures rising as high as 16° on the Sunday - warming the 25,000 spectators, but turning the ice into a soupy mixture of slush, water and snow.

Visibility was drastically reduced as the cars splashed through the puddles.

Both the Citroen Xsara of Marcel Tarres and the Opel Tigra of Jam es Ruffier fell victim to the heavy slush, which got into the machinery, blocking radiators, suspension systems and
overheating engines.

The Subaru Forester, retaining the original road-going chassis, won through to take second place in the hands of Christophe and Bertrard Balas, Bertrand, who finished sixth in Chamonix in the Mega, rose to third overall in the IRSI classification.

The Subaru had fought throughout with the little Peugeot 306, driven by Pierre Colard and Dakar winner Jean-Louis Schlesser.

But a gearbox failure in the third heat, added to a non-finish in the sixth and final race, saw the Peugeot drop to fourth overall, behind the Nissan Micra driven by Italians Gian-Carlo Zenere and Andréa Zanussi.

The Saab 993, driven by Swedish Rally-cross driver Per Eklund, French GT Champion Jean-Pierre Jarier and Quebec driver Didier Schraenen, came in fifth.