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Title swings further in Gronholm's favour

Marcus Gronholm needs a top five finish on Rally Great Britain to win his first World Rally Championship title, after Tommi Makinen's Telstra Rally Australia victory was wiped from the record due to a turbo irregularity

Makinen had survived three days of flat-out driving and tactical juggling to win the event, only for the stewards to take it away after the FIA technical delegate declared his turbo was illegal. An FIA representative confirmed on Monday that the non-compliance was a genuine mistake, rather than a deliberate attempt to cheat, so Mitsubishi will not face any further action.

The battle for victory between Britain's Richard Burns and world championship leader Marcus Gronholm went to a thrilling final stage, and Gronholm just shaded it by 2.7s. The odds are stacked in Gronholm's favour to take the title in Britain, and Burns can only be champion if the Subaru star wins Rally GB with his Finnish rival lower than fifth. If Burns wins and Gronholm is sixth, which would level the final points score, then Burns would win the title as he has one more fourth place finish than his rival.

Gronholm's Peugeot team has wrapped up the manufacturers' championship. The French marque scored 14 points in Oz, and has an unassailable total of 104 points.

1, Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot), 59pts
2, Richard Burns (Subaru), 50
3, Colin McRae (Ford), 43
=, Carlos Sainz (Ford), 43
5, Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi) 32
6, Francois Delecour (Peugeot), 23
etc

To see the final result from Australia, click here. And to see the schedule click here.

Remember, the times in our live rally table are in local time in Perth, which is eight hours ahead of GMT.

Visit the official Telstra Rally Australia website at www.rallyaustralia.com.au

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