The BP-Ford World Rally Team crew of Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen today won their home round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Neste Oil Rally Finland. For the crew it represents their fourth victory of the season and their sixth win in Finland in seven years. Team-mate Mikko Hirvonen added to Ford’s points haul by finishing third, the two crews sandwiching series leader Sébastien Loeb.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Sébastien Loeb continues to lead, with Marcus Grönholm maintaining second. Despite crashing out of the event, 23-year old Dani Sordo holds third with Mikko Hirvonen moving up into fourth position. For the Manufacturers, BP-Ford has closed the gap to the Kronos Citroën World Rally Team, leaving everything to fight for in the remaining six rounds.
With more than a minute in hand to Sébastien Loeb this morning, Marcus Grönholm could afford to ease the pace over the closing four stages. He took no risks and won by over a minute to uphold national honours by claiming the 50th victory by a Finnish driver in the 56-year history of the event.
With Grönholm and Loeb easing the tempo, Mikko Hirvonen was the pace-setter during the final leg and the Finnish Ford Focus driver won each of the day’s stages to claim third overall. Finishing fourth, Henning Solberg notched up his best result of the season for the OMV Peugeot Norway team, while privateer Gigi Galli claimed his third points-scoring finish of the season, in fifth. Local driver Janne Tuohino rounded off the top six.
After two back-to-back European rallies, the FIA World Rally Championship contenders now head to Asia for Rally Japan (31 August – 3 September).
Neste Oil Rally Finland – Results after Leg 3 (subject to final scrutineering)
| 1. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 2 hr 52 min 50.3sec | |
| 2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC | 2 hr 53 min 57.0sec | |
| 3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 2 hr 54 min 24.8sec | |
| 4. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud | Peugeot 307 WRC | 2 hr 56 min 48.1sec | |
| 5. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini | Peugeot 307 WRC | 2 hr 58 min 30.2sec | |
| 6. Janne Tuohino/Mikko Markkula | Citroën Xsara WRC | 2 hr 58 min 55.3sec | |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 10 of 16 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) | 92 points |
| Marcus Grönholm (S) | 61 points |
| Daniel Sordo (E) | 41 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) | 27 points |
| Manfred Stohl (A) | 24 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) | 20 points |
| Toni Gardemeister | 16 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) | 16 points |
| Gigi Galli (I) | 15 points |
| Xavier Pons (E) | 11 points |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 10 of 16 rounds)
| Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team | 122 points |
| BP-Ford World Rally Team | 107 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team | 65 points |
| OMV Peugeot Norway | 50 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 24 points |
| Red Bull-Škoda Team | 22 points |