Gronholm leaves Loeb trailing

Marcus Gronholm ended Sebastien Loeb’s winning streak on the Monte Carlo Rally today to take an early lead in the world championship.

Gronholm won with ease on his Ford debut after inheriting the lead on Friday when Loeb, who had won in Monte Carlo for the last three years, crashed out of stage six.

Gronholm may have left the principality with maximum points from the first rally of the season but Loeb claimed bragging rights after a storming charge through the field following his Friday mistake.

The world champion pulled out all the stops to fight against the five-minute penalty he incurred for rejoining the event, eventually stealing second place on the final stage.

Loeb, driving for Kronos Racing, ended the rally just a minute behind Gronholm, with Peugeot privateer Toni Gardemeister claiming third place.

OMV Citroen’s Manfred Stohl continued his good form from 2005 by finishing fourth, denied a podium only by Loeb’s heroics.

Ex-Formula One driver Stephane Sarrazin was the lead Subaru driver following a disappointing start to the team’s season, which saw former world champion Petter Solberg retire on day one.

Chris Atkinson, in another Subaru, was sixth while Mikko Hirvonen scored two points for Ford with seventh. Daniel Sordo, a protege of former world champion Carlos Sainz, was eighth in his privately-entered Citroen.

Matthew Wilson made a solid start to his first full season in the world championship, reaching the end of one of the toughest rallies on the calendar.

The Stobart Ford driver was 15th while fellow Briton Derek Higgins, driving a Mitsubishi, claimed second place in the production class.