Rally report: Panizzi takes victory

The Tour de Corse's organisers had been praised for bringing in extra safety measures on a rally whose twisting roads and sheer drops evoke fear and respect in equal measures. But on the penultimate stage, the Scot's Corsican curse returned when he understeered off the road and into a tree on a quick third-gear left-hander.

The massive impact on the driver's side left the rally-tough Focus a write-off and the iron-hard Lanark man concussed and nursing a broken little finger on his left hand. With the recce for Catalunya scheduled to start just eight days later, his participation looks touch and go.

"I'm fine, but Colin's a bit beaten up," said his still shaken co-driver Nicky Grist afterwards. "He got out of the car okay, but it took him about four minutes to get himself together and he looked a bit grey. Colin's tough as well as quick, so we'll see how it goes for Catalunya."

It was yet another dramatic twist in the love-hate relationship between McRae and the wildly scenic Mediterranean island: just 18 months earlier, he'd ended the event trapped upside down at the bottom of a ravine, his cheekbone broken and petrol dripping on him for over forty agonising minutes. Contrast that with his two epic wins on the island and it's easy to see why Corsica evokes mixed emotions from rallying's wild man.

Before his accident, McRae had climbed to fourth overall, the best of the non-Peugeots and one place behind reigning world champion Richard Burns. The Englishman's learning curve in the 206 WRC has been steep, but with changes to the car to accommodate his lanky frame he was finally able to begin to unleash the combination's potential, taking two stage wins on his way to his first podium of the year.

"I'm pleased for the whole team," said Burns. "I lost a bit of time on Saturday's second leg, but Sunday was okay. It's only the start of the season and I'm really feeling that I'm getting to grips with the car now."

Middle man in a Peugeot one-two-three was 2000 world champion Marcus Gronholm, who never looked like getting on terms with the flying Panizzi, but showed a consistency and application on asphalt that has so far not been an obvious part of his armoury.

"I'm not an asphalt specialist yet," he shrugged, "but second place isn't too bad."

Panizzi has been dubbed the fastest man on earth by his team boss Corrado Provera and based on his Corsican rampage, perhaps he's got a point? Except when the weather turned showery for Saturday's second leg, the Michelin-shod Peugeots were never troubled by the Pirelli-equipped machines from Subaru and Ford, but Panizzi's supremacy within the Peugeot ranks allowed him to switch to cruise mode on the third and final leg and still win by 40.5s.

"On this rally nobody was able to catch me," said the emphatic Frenchman.

The 10 points for the win puts Panizzi joint second in the standings with Tommi Makinen, who aquaplaned his Subaru out of the second leg, but Gronholm's second spot leaves him eight points clear at the top of the heap. Burns moves to fifth overall with seven points, just two behind consistent Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

Drivers' standings
1 M Gronholm 18
2 T Makinen/G Panizzi 10
4 C Sainz 9
5 R Burns 7
6 S Loeb/H Rovanpera 6
8 Colin McRae 4
9 P Solberg/P Bugalski 3
11 A McRae 2

Manufacturers' Standings
1 Peugeot 36
2 Ford 20
3 Subaru 16
4 Mitsubishi 5
5 Hyundai 1

For full rally live timings, click here.