Leg 3: McRae nets record-equalling win

McRae inherited the lead yesterday after team-mate Markko Martin dropped back after collecting a puncture but this time the Scot kept his wheels firmly on the ground to erase the memory of throwing away another comfortable lead in Cyprus earlier this year. The win is McRae's fifth on the Acropolis, his third in succession on the Greek car-breaker and it brings him right into contention in the world championship as it reaches the halfway point.

"It's a fantastic result and one that's important for both myself and the Ford team," he said. "We've had a tough start to the year and haven't always got the results we feel we deserved so it's nice to be standing on the top step of the podium once more."

McRae started the final day leading arch rival Richard Burns but the English world champion was sidelined on the first stage of the day when the destructive Greek roads shattered his suspension. It promoted Burns' team-mate Marcus Gronholm to second place and while he pushed hard enough to keep McRae under pressure he soon realised that the most sensible option was to accept second place points and maintain his comfortable championship lead.

Burns admitted afterwards: "It was all a bit of a shock. It didn't feel especially rough but suddenly the car shot towards the edge of the road and I knew immediately that there was no chance to continue. Next up is the Safari and I have a good record there so hopefully we can get back on track in Africa."

The closing stages of the event saw a frantic scrap for fourth between Subaru's Petter Solberg and Peugeot's Harri Rovanpera. Solberg (recovering from a spin and stall on the event's opening stage that dropped him to 27th) got ahead on the penultimate stage, only to slip one second behind on the final test.

Although Gronholm still picked up points, McRae has again chipped away at the Finn's championship lead as the series reaches its halfway point. Peugeot has also slipped off the boil a little but both still have a commanding series lead.

The battle for the minor places is considerably more intense. Unfortunately for Hyundai, Freddy Loix was unable to reap the rewards of a fantastic drive over the opening two days when he smashed the sump of the Accent on the first pair of today's tests and retired on the road section to lunchtime service.

Nevertheless, Armin Schwarz claimed the final manufacturers' point to leave Mitsubishi, Skoda and Hyundai on six, five and four points respectively. Toni Gardemeister overcame a debilitating stomach complaint to pass Francois Delecour on the final stage for the final slot in the top 10 although neither the Skoda driver nor the Mitsubishi one was going to get close enough to Schwarz to steal a point.

The overall championship now sets sail from Greece to Kenya. At today's post-event press conference McRae suggested that Gronholm take a holiday and give everyone a chance to catch up. Gronholm reckoned he'd just be cruising around anyway and that he's more worried about events such as Finland where starting first on the road for the opening day won't be ideal.

There's still a long way to go before Gronholm and Peugeot can consider themselves under any real threat but cracks are beginning to show. Ford boss Malcolm Wilson admitted that he hoped the Argentina and Acropolis results marked a turning point in his team's fortunes and that the Safari - where Ford has been strong ever since it introduced the Focus WRC - will be another opportunity to close the gap and make a contest of it.