Solberg pinches it. (Final)
19 Sep, 15:50
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There can be no doubt that both Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb wanted the win here. It was perhaps a question of who wanted it most. Loeb had been denied the opportunity to race for victory last year, Citroen's Makes title being the priority. This year he is in a commanding lead in the Drives Championship so didn't need the extra couple of points to ensure his title, a secure eight points maybe appearing more attractive. That said, there is no doubt that he would have preferred to win.

Petter Solberg on the other hand sees this rally as
home territory. He won his first WRC round here, and this one makes it a hat-trick. It will be valuable too if he is to continue to challenge for the retention of his title or if that is outwith his grasp, second. Had he not been delayed over the first two stages of the rally by mis-set dampers he might have been ahead earlier. As it was his total commitment over the last four stages brought him his ninth Championship rally victory.

The penultimate stage, Margam, had been relatively dry yesterday - at least in comparison with the rest of the rally. Today it provided polished surfaces and then it rained over the earlier sections. A brief shower but it was wet.

Solberg attacked and beat his rival by nine seconds over the 27km test. Going into the last Superspecial he had an advantage of 5.7 seconds - too great for the Frenchman to overcome unless the leader had a problem

"It's incredible, it's impossible to be quicker than I went there," said the victor, who made up all the time on the last eight km of Margam. "I was very nervous before the start of the last stage because it's only a spin or whatever." Of his rally winning time over Margam he said: "The first half of the stage was a struggle because so much rain, but then when it was dry I thought - go for it. I'm delighted."

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"It was a nice race between Petter and me," agreed Loeb at the finish. "It was important for me to finish in the points and that's what we've done so I'm happy. The splits were the same (on Margam) but Peter just made it up at the end."

This was the tightest finish - just 6.3 seconds - to the British round of the Championship, eclipsing Solberg's "smallest margin" record in 2002 when he beat Markko Martin by 24.4 seconds.

A solid third place for Markko Martin was rather less than Ford might have hoped for given the Focus' pace on earlier gravel events this year. The Estonian was never quite on the pace of the leaders when it might have been expected of him. He does not seem to have the pace he displayed before the accident on the first leg in Argentina which left him with blurred vision. He had a torrid opening day, visiting the scenery regularly, but his and team-mate Francois Duval's scores keep Ford in a strong second place in the Makes series. "We were here to win the rally and had many moments but we calmed down a bit," said Martin. "We couldn't match the speed of the other cars. Today was less exciting than Friday but still good."

Carlos Sainz had a quite rally having taken some experimental suspension settings on the first day. He missed a podium place by 48 seconds. "It hasn't been a very exciting rally for me. I couldn't get a great mood on the first day and then it was difficult, but it was good points."

Ford's number two Francois Duval scored good points for the team and made three fastest times to beat Peugeot driver Harri Rovanpera home by two minutes. The Finn was trailing from the first day and Peugeot's star is presently low on the horizon.

Subaru's number two Mikko Hirvonen kept it on the island to record his first finish here, taking points. "I made it to the finish for the first time ever but I wasn't getting close to my level on my driving. Today was better though."

Manfred Stohl was a beneficiary of Mark Higgins lengthy off on Margam, taking the final Championship point. "We did the best possible we can after we had a very bad first day with the tyre problem," said the German who also overcame wiper failure in Margam.

Loeb holds a 28 point lead into the last quarter of the Championship over Solberg. Given his finishing record and the upcoming pair of tarmac events his bid for the Championship has been reinforced here. Citroen (150 points) increased the advantage in the Makes standings to 38 points over Ford (112) with Subaru third on 91.

Junior winner Guy Wilks took the honours from fellow Briton Kris Meeke. Said Wilks: "It's great to win the home rally, although it didn't happen quite the way I would have wanted, because of the niggling problem I had. But I know I've got the pace. I'm more than pleased."

Any thought that Britain's round of the Championship might prove to be a fast, dusty Mediterranean style rally were firmly dispelled by the Welsh weather, which provided almost as much mud as the former November date. The days were longer though, and the temperatures a bit higher.

The next round might provide dusty dry conditions as the Rally of Italy moves to its new home in Sardinia.

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