Acropolis Rally 2000
LEG THREE
On the final day of Acropolis Rally the heat wasn't quite as intensive as on the previous legs, so the task was just a little bit easier for the crews. On stage 13 Carlos Sainz was fastest, beating his team-mate Colin McRae by 9 seconds. Richard Burns in third place lost two minutes on the stage with missing turbo boost. Juha Kankkunen's Subaru was again working properly and he passed Toshihiro Arai into 4th position.
On the liaison prior to SS14 Burns' engine called it a day and the championship leader was out of the rally. Petter Solberg, who was still soldiering in 14th position was quickest on the stage, and Sainz clipped another 10 secs from McRae's margin, which was now 28.7 secs. With Burns' retirement Juha Kankkunen took third place, followed by Arai and Skoda's Armin Schwarz.
Solberg was again fastest on SS15, but Sainz was now 21 seconds faster than McRae, so the Ford drivers were now only 7.7 seconds apart. Apparently Ford issued a team order to freeze the situation after Burns' retirement, but Sainz didn't seem to care. Kankkunen could take it easy in third, he was 8 minutes behind the leaders and Arai was already a minute behind him.
On stage 16 Sainz took the lead of the rally. McRae reported no problems, but he was 51 seconds slower than Sainz who had a puncture on the stage. Sainz' lead was 43.5 secs. Arai increased his margin on Schwarz during the morning stages. French drivers Richelmi and Dor were fighting over the 7th position; their time difference was only one second.
Sainz increased his lead to one minute on SS17. McRae seemed not willing to answer to Sainz' challenge. He was driving calmly according to the team order, trusting that Sainz would give him the victory after all. On stage 18 Sainz further increased the gap, it was more than minute and a half.
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| Colin McRae / Nicky Grist on the podium (Photo by Reporter Images / ELPA) |
At the final service Ford's Team Director Martin Whitaker said that Sainz had promised to let McRae win and that was exactly what happened on the final stage. Sainz stopped on the stage for two minutes and McRae took the victory by 23 seconds. The win put McRae joint second in the championship with Marcus Gronholm in 24 points. Juha Kankkunen finished easily third with large margins in front and back. Toshihiro Arai took a splendid 4th place with a relatively problem-free drive, and Armin Schwarz brought Skoda some points with his 5th position. Abdullah Bakhashab made his best ever WRC result finishing 6th. Jean Pierre Richelmi beat his fellow countryman and Subaru-driver Frederic Dor for 7th place. Francois Delecour brought Peugeot two manufacturers' points by finishing 9th behind so many privateers.
Results after stage 19 of 19:
1. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford - 4.56.54,8
2. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +23,1
3. Juha Kankkunen (FIN) Subaru +6.38,3
4. Toshihiko Arai (JPN) Subaru +7.40,8
5. Armin Schwarz (GER) Skoda +9.11,0
6. Abdullah Bakhashab (KSA) +12.54,9
7. Jean Pierre Richelmi (FRA) Subaru +13.33,3
8. Frederic Dor (FRA) Subaru +13.59,8
9. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot +15.12,3
