Martin: I had Duval covered

Rallye de France victor Markko Martin believes he had the measure of Ford team-mate Francois Duval and would have won the event regardless of the Belgian's retirement

Oct 18, 2004, 4:08 PM

Martin led the rally by 20.8s over Duval going into the third and final leg of the rally, but the Belgian was forced to retire on the opening stage following an engine problem gifting Martin with a lead of over a minute to second-placed Sebastien Loeb.

"It was clear that the only challenge came from inside our team," Martin said. "No-one else could have caught us. It was a great fight between Francois and me, but I think he would have had no chance today (Sunday). He was 30 seconds back on the first day, then managed to come back, but it would have been difficult for him to catch up today.

"It just shows that the Ford Focus is probably the fastest car on asphalt, and in combination with fantastic Michelin tyres, it was a killing package. I don't think anyone could match us. The only bad thing from the weekend was that it was a shame Francois had to retire. It would have been nice to have had a one-two, but these things happen."