Gronholm happy to make a point

World Rally Championship favourite Marcus Gronholm admitted he was happy to settle for second in the San Remo Rally as team-mate Gilles Panizzi stormed to victory.

The Finn extended his advantage in the title race to 23 points with his second place in Italy yesterday, and with just 30 points on offer from the final three rounds has all but sealed the crown.

Peugeot team-mate Panizzi put on a masterclass with a dominating performance from day one and Gronholm admitted he was never likely to have caught the Frenchman.

He did close the gap on Saturday, but opted for a cautious approach on yesterday’s final four stages to ensure he did not risk a valuable six-point haul.

Gronholm said: “When I saw the dry roads in the morning, I knew there was no chance to catch Gilles.

“But six points is good for me in the championship and we’ve got another maximum score for the team.

“If we hadn’t had problems in the first day we could have been closer to Gilles, but he would have been very hard to beat.”

Peugeot boss Corrado Provera confessed his team would be “crazy” to let their grip on the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles slip now.

Gronholm’s second place took him 23 points clear of nearest challenger, Richard Burns, with the closest non-Peugeot man – Ford’s Colin McRae – a further point adrift in the drivers’ standings.

Matters are even more clear cut in the manufacturers’ battle with Ford needing to pray for a Peugeot disaster on each of the final three rallies.

Provera said: “We are totally happy. What Gilles and (his co-driving brother) Herve have done here has been quite remarkable.

“Gilles has coped with his shoulder injury superbly, and Marcus and Richard have both driven very well, too.

“It’s true that the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships are not decided mathematically, but we would be crazy to lose them from this position.”

Richard Burns failed to make it a Peugeot one-two-three after being pipped to the final podium place by a charging Petter Solberg.

The Norwegian stole third on the final stage of Saturday’s action and survived a determined response from the Englishman to claim a deserved podium.

The Subaru driver said: “That was nice, everything has been perfect. We have had no mechanical problems at all and have made some good tyres choices.

“We’ve been making little changes throughout the rally and the car has been getting better and better.

“All the time I knew that we had the pace when the road was wet, but I was a bit worried about the hot and dry stages – but I must say I was very, very impressed. “Overall it’s been a great event.”