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Panizzi set for first win

Gilles Panizzi is just two stages away from his first World Championship rally win. The Peugeot driver is actually lying second to team mate Francois Delecour, but Peugeot has ordered that the positions after SS14 in Corsica will be the end result assuming no dramas befall the duo.

Delecour expressed his anger at the decision that will deny him his first win in six years and passed Panizzi on the subsequent two stages, but is now expected to back off over the final pair of tests before the finish in Ajaccio.

Carlos Sainz overcame a power steering failure this morning to hold on to third place while a pair of fastest times for Richard Burns looks set to keep the Englishman in fourth and head off the challenge from championship leader Marcus Gronholm.

If maintained, the positions will see Gronholm stay two points clear of Burns with three events left to run while Colin McRae will be a further two points adrift, with Sainz one behind McRae.

The question for the Scot, however, is if he can be fit in time to contest San Remo in just over two weeks' time. A double fracture of his cheek bone after yesterday's frightening accident, may need surgery and a lengthy recovery period that could end his bid for the title.

McRae flew back to Scotland today but has no recollection of the accident that left him trapped in his overturned Focus (with fuel dripping onto him) for over half an hour before he could be freed and taken to hospital.

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