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Tour de Corse : Finish - Summary [17/10/04 - 16:15]

Winning a WRC event is always a remarkable achievement. However, Markko Martin's victory in the 2004 Tour de Corse is understandably overshadowed by Sebastien Loeb's first World Rally Championship title.

The Frenchman not only wins the driver's title, together with Carlos Sainz - third at the end of the race - he also clinches the constructor's championship for Citroën.

Ford in a class of their own
Francois Duval's second position in Germany gave Ford a good reason to believe that they might do well on asphalt in Corsica. As a matter of fact, the Focus was dominating all weekend, winning ten stage victories including five one-two finishes.

Francois Duval and Markko Martin exchanged the lead during the first leg before the Estonian took control of the race when his teammate retired after encountering engine problems with his car.

Ford will not win the constructor's championship this season but Martin can still hope to finish in third place in the drivers' championship. The Estonian moved ahead of Carlos Sainz to take third place in the standings with two races to go.

World Champion...
Despite Petter Solberg's determination, Sebastien Loeb and Citroën won the drivers' and constructors' championships 'at home' in the Rallye de France. Freed from the pressure, the team will be able to aim for the victory in the final two races of the season.

Sebastien Loeb achieved a superb performance this weekend. The Citroën driver only needed to finish in front of Petter Solberg to achieve his goal but he did even better by finishing in second place for the fourth time of the season.

The new World Champion finished in front of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who once again brings important points to help his team win the constructor's title.

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Disappointing weekend for Peugeot
Peugeot doesn't get much satisfaction for Marcus Gronholm's fourth place in Corsica. At the beginning of the season, the French team was hoping to battle for the championship and the reality has been quite different from the initial plan.

At least the 307 was reliable this weekend but Gronholm was never able to find a good set-up for his car.

Cedric Robert went off the road in the first stage of leg two and retired. Freddy Loix was never able to shine at the wheel of the third 307.

Harsh reality check
Petter Solberg's accident in Germany greatly reduced his chances of winning the championship. However the Norwegian never gave up and won the next three rallies in a brilliant way.

Solberg's determination combined with the impressive Subaru / Pirelli package on gravel helped the 2003 World Champion to defend his title with style. Petter did everything that he possibly could but it didn't work out as well on the Corsican asphalt. Solberg finishes the French event in fifth place, more than five minutes behind the winner.

Mikko Hirvonen's performance was not as good as in Sardinia. The young Finn struggled with the very difficult driving conditions and finished the race in tenth place, nearly seven minutes behind his teammate.

Stephane Sarrazin was much more impressive in the 2003 Impreza WRC of Subaru France. In only his second WRC event, Sarrazin finishes in sixth position. In two races, the Frenchman has already scored three points in the championship!

Skoda had a rather difficult race. Armin Schwarz and Toni Gardemeister both finished in the top ten but the Fabia needs more fine-tuning to be more competitive on asphalt.

Hugo GIGUERE
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