Rally Argentina 2000
Leg Three
Subaru's Richard Burns secured his lead of Rally Argentina on the first stage of the final day as he set a blistering time on SS 17, beating Marcus Gronholm, who was second fastest on the stage, by 22 seconds. Burns extended his lead over Gronholm to 31 secs. The Pirellis of the Subaru seemed again to be working superiorily on the damp gravel. For Ford the day started in a more sad note as Colin McRae retired from the third position with engine problems. Juha Kankkunen had a little off, hitting a tree and losing some time, so Tommi Makinen took the third place. He was more than a minute behind Burns.
Stage 18 had no major dramas, Burns was again fastest, his lead was now 39.8 secs. Freddy Loix had been upgraded to 5th because of McRae's retirement. Behind the Belgian Alister McRae and Petter Solberg were still fighting over the final points scoring position with Solberg on top at the moment.
On the remaining four stages the top drivers concentrated on saving the car and securing their positions. Burns extended his lead to 41.6 secs on SS19, but then he slowed down a bit and let Gronholm take a few seconds. On the final stage Gronholm in his turn slowed down and was half a minute slower than Burns, so the finally his winning margin was over a minute. Burns' performance was absolutely dominant after his technical problems on Friday, and both the car and tyres worked splendidly, as well as the driver. Another great rally also for Marcus Gronholm, finishing second when taking part in the event for the first time.
Juha Kankkunen could not match Makinen on the final stages, so Makinen took the third position. Freddy Loix took two championship points basically just hanging on and not making mistakes. The final point went to Petter Solberg, who beat Alister McRae on the final day. McRae did take Hyundai's first manufacurers' point, though. Kenneth Eriksson finally rose to 8th place after his problems on the first stage of the rally. Group N victory went to Gustavo Trelles.
Results after stage 22 of 22:
1. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru - 4.10.20,7
2. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +1.07,4
3. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +1.31,6
4. Juha Kankkunen (FIN) Subaru +2.22,8
5. Freddy Loix (BEL) Mitsubishi +8.33,6
6. Petter Solberg (NOR) Ford +10.59,6
7. Alister McRae (SCO) Hyundai +13.17,8
8. Kenneth Eriksson (SWE) Hyundai +20.32,1
9. Gustavo Trelles (URU) Mitsubishi (N) +21.39,5
10. Gabriel Pozzo (ARG) Mitsibishi (N) +22.40,4
