Rally Turkey: Sainz scores landmark win
Rally Turkey might be new to the WRC calendar, but it was one of the sport's veteran exponents, Carlos Sainz, who dodged the bullets and won the event. It was Citroen's first ever victory on gravel and underlines the French manufacturer's championship credentials
Sainz took things easy on the final day, driving with one eye on the gap to second placed Richard Burns. But the Englishman was also intent on finishing, and was only fastest on one of today's stages. He did reduce the gap to 47secs at the finish, however.
Significantly, Burns has taken the lead of the championship, one point clear of Citroen's Colin McRae. Neither has scored a win so far this year, but both have taken advantage of the WRC's new scoring system that rewards second and third placed finishes with more points.
Ford's Francois Duval put in his most convincing WRC performance to date to finish third, keeping the challenge of McRae at bay to take third place.
Peugeot's asphalt ace Gilles Panizzi also starred with an excellent fifth place finish, although it would have been a matter of time before Ford's Markko Martin overhauled him, but the Estonian ran out of stages and had to settle for sixth.
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