Loeb crashes out of Italy Rally

The World Rally Championship title race was blown wide open after race leader Sebastien Loeb crashed on the final day of the Italy Rally.

Loeb, who heads the standings by three points, had been leading the race comfortably before his accident.

The triple world champion spun on a narrow part of the course and wound up trapped in a ditch.

Ford's Marcus Gronholm, the Frenchman's main title rival, inherited the lead of the race despite problems of his own.

The Finn spun on the morning's opening stage, losing 20 seconds in the process, although it was enough to hold onto a healthy advantage over team-mate and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen.

Gronholm was able to cruise through the day's final five stages to claim overall victory and turn a three-point deficit going into the rally into a seven-point advantage over Loeb as the championship moves to Greece in a fortnight.

It represented a remarkable turnaround in fortune for the 39-year-old, who had written off his chances of victory on Friday.

A slow puncture had seen him fall more than half a minute behind Loeb and another second-place finish appeared to be the best he could have hoped for - until his rival gifted him the win.

With Hirvonen 29 seconds behind Gronholm and safe in second place, ensuring Ford strengthened their grip on the constructors' crown, the interest lay in who would fill the last podium place.

Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo and Ford's Henning Solberg had been battling since the rally began on Friday.

The pair were first and second quickest in two of Sunday's final three stages, but Sordo edged away in the last run of the day to win their personal duel.

The six points helped the Spaniard consolidate fourth in the championship, 14 points behind third-placed Hirvonen.

Petter Solberg finished fifth in his Subaru, with Mitsubishi's Toni Gardemeister, Manfred Stohl, in his Citroen, and Juho Hanninen, scoring his first WRC point in a privateer Mitsubishi, rounding out top eight.