'Incredible' first win for Puras

Torrential rain on today's (Sunday's) final two stages made life near impossible on hand-cut slick tyres, but Puras held on in Corsica, ahead of the Peugeots of Gilles Panizzi and Dider Auriol to bag both his and the Citroen Xsara T4's debut WRC win.

"The last stage was so difficult, but it is an incredible feeling to win," enthused Puras at the final service area. "I couldn't believe it when it started to rain, but I just thought 'OK I have a half a minute lead', so I tried to drive perfectly and not make any mistakes.

"It seemed to last forever, with corner after corner, but then I saw the red board and realised we'd done it. I'm delighted for the whole team."

Behind Puras, Panizzi and Auriol landed a full 16-point haul for Peugeot while Subaru contrived to land Petter Solberg a two-minute penalty for checking into a regroup area late (click here for separate story). This allowed the Norwegian to swap places with team mate Richard Burns, moving the Brit up into fourth place on the rally and into third place in the drivers' standings, six points behind leaders Tommi Makinen and Colin McRae.

"The result and the points are a lot better than I expected," said Burns. "Petter and his co-driver have been very professional and I really appreciate what they've done for Robert [Reid, co-driver] and myself - reducing my points deficit really helps my title aspirations. The last two rallies of the year are going to be incredibly exciting and I'm glad I can fight to the end."

Solberg was philosophical after giving up fourth place for his team mate. He said: "It didn't matter where I finished, it's not my time yet to prove anything and my time will come."

Burns' extra point could prove to be vital in the dash to the title over the final two rallies in Australia and Britain where Burns and McRae are expected to hold the edge as their record over the final two events is second to none. It may yet take a head to head shoot-out in Cardiff next month before the destination of the crown is known.

For latest championship standings, click here.

For final Corsica results, click here.