McLarenFan
06-17-2002, 03:58 AM
Sunday, 16th June 2002
Ford driver Colin McRae has scored his first victory for a year on
the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Acropolis Rally, which finished in Greece today. The Scot and navigator Nicky Grist, whose last win came on the same event 12 months ago, fended off a late challenge from current championship leader Marcus Grönholm to score their fifth Acropolis win in the last seven years. The victory moved McRae into fourth in the drivers' championship race and also lifted him alongside Carlos Sainz and Tommi Mäkinen on the record number of WRC event wins (24).
After two days with relatively few retirements, the notoriously rough Greek roads fought back with a vengeance today. Four manufacturer entries, including second-placed Richard Burns and fifth-placed Freddy Loix, retired with mechanical problems. Burns's dramas lifted McRae's Ford team-mate Carlos Sainz into third overall by the finish, a result that lifted the Spaniard into second in the drivers' championship.
Ford driver Colin McRae has scored his first victory for a year on
the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Acropolis Rally, which finished in Greece today. The Scot and navigator Nicky Grist, whose last win came on the same event 12 months ago, fended off a late challenge from current championship leader Marcus Grönholm to score their fifth Acropolis win in the last seven years. The victory moved McRae into fourth in the drivers' championship race and also lifted him alongside Carlos Sainz and Tommi Mäkinen on the record number of WRC event wins (24).
After two days with relatively few retirements, the notoriously rough Greek roads fought back with a vengeance today. Four manufacturer entries, including second-placed Richard Burns and fifth-placed Freddy Loix, retired with mechanical problems. Burns's dramas lifted McRae's Ford team-mate Carlos Sainz into third overall by the finish, a result that lifted the Spaniard into second in the drivers' championship.