Finally, something new to report besides Petter Solberg winning and Sebastien Loeb taking second. Markko Martin set a blistering pace all weekend in his Focus, and beat Loeb by over two minutes. Ford was set to sweep the top two places, but Francios Duval had engine trouble on day three and didn’t even make the finish ramp. Loeb and Citroen admitted post-rally that he didn’t push for the win, but you can’t deny that suddenly the Focus looks like the car to beat on sealed surfaces. But even with Martin’s dominance, Citroen was right there, with Loeb taking second and Carlos Sainz third, a result which guarantees Citroen the manufacturer’s title for the year. And, in more good news for Citroen, Loeb’s result gives him the driver’s title, regardless of the results of the final two rallies.

And now, the bad news. Solberg’s Subaru was well off the pace, even when the weather wasn’t agreeable. Solberg has to hope that he finds some speed in the next two weeks, because with another tarmac rally in Spain, Martin could catch Solberg in the points race. The only good news for Solberg was that he did manage to set a scratch time on Sunday. The rally was also bad news for Peugeot, with Marcus Gronholm also well off the pace, and the 307 of Cedric Robert retiring. It’s shocking to think that Peugeot was the top maker just two years ago.

Two weeks from now, the WRC travels to Spain. While it’s still a sealed surface rally, it’s decidedly different from Corsica. The roads flow a bit more, meaning more speed, and the open corners promote lots of cutting, so those further down the running order will have to deal with dirt and gravel. Gilles Panizzi owns the last two victories here, but with Mitsubishi’s sad state at the moment, Loeb and Martin should be fighting for victory.

Posted on 18 October 2004