Here is the Rallye Sanremo homepage.
The Tutto Rally magazine also has Sanremo Rally result service.
Live coverage by DdR Motorsport.
The world Rally Championship drivers title has already gone to Tommi Makinen but his team Mitsubishi have now set their their sights to the manufacturers' title. To achieve this they hired for the Sanremo Rally the former world champion Didier Auriol. Colin McRae, who announced signing with Subaru also for next year, managed to get caught speeding just before the rally. Only after considerable legal efforts he got away without losing his driving license so that he was able to participate in the rally.
The rally started on Sunday with a long road section from San Remo to Arezzo for the two first days of rally driving on the great, long gravel stages of Tuscany. On Monday morning the roads were rain washed and treacherously slippery. This was proved by the first man on the road; Tommi Makinen slipped out of the road after on one and a half kilometres of the first special stage. The car was wrecked and co-driver Seppo Harjanne hurt his back and will be out of the following couple of events. Little later, Jarmo Kytolehto who drives the remaining rounds of the WRC in a Malcolm Wilson -prepared Ford Escort Cosworth drove off at almost the same spot. Both Finnish drivers were out before the rally even really begun. After these delays the stage was cancelled.
Due to these incidents only three special stages were driven on the first day. Colin Mcrae was fastest on these long stages but only 4 seconds behind was his team-mate Piero Liatti. Others were close, too, 9 cars were within 44 seconds. The performance of Italian Toyota drivers Andrea Dallavilla and Gilberto Pianezzola was notable; they were 3rd and 4th, respectably, and in front of the other works-drivers. They were helped, though, by the fact that the first drivers had swept the loose gravel off of the road and also not being A-seeded drivers they were allowed special fuel which gives out more power than the fuel provided by the FIA for top drivers.
Tuesday saw a great battle on the hills of Tuscany as McRae defended his lead against Piero Liatti and Carlos Sainz. The other drivers of the factory-backed teams also took their places behind the top three. Andrea Dallavilla had an off and retired a bit later. Didier Auriol suffered from transmission trouble and was down in 9th place. At the end of the day McRae still had the lead by 32 secs. Sainz took the 2nd position with Liatti 4 secs behind. Then came Eriksson (Subaru), Thiry (Ford) and Franco Cunico (Ford). Pianezzola had dropped to 7th after the great effort on the previous day.
In the evening the crews headed back to San Remo on the Italian Riviera for the final day which was driven on paved roads of the nearby mountains. Wednesday morning spelled disaster for Piero Liatti who couldn't get the Subaru started from the parc ferme due to a mystical electric failure. He had nothing to do but retire.
The Italian round of the WRC heated up to a grande finale, just like in Australia. Carlos Sainz inched closer and closer to Colin McRae and prior to the last stage he was only eleven seconds behing the Scot. Colin had absolutely no room for error but he controlled his nerves perfectly and was 11 seconds faster than his rival, taking his second win this season. He was very happy and said that this would make up for some of the disappointments this year.
Sainz wasn't exactly delirious with the second position, not being able to open his victory account this year. Bruno Thiry was third after Liatti's bad luck and fourth was Freddy Loix who drove an excellent rally with a Toyota Celica. McRae's win and Kenneth Eriksson's fifth position gave Subaru a firm lead of 37 points in the manufacturers championship. Mitsubishi's only remaining driver Didier Auriol finished down in 8th so Mitsubishi's high hopes met the harsh reality and they will start as runners-up for the final round of the championship in Catalunya, Spain.
| Pos. | Crew | Car | Gr. | Time | Dist. |
| 1 | MCRAE C. /RINGER D. | Subaru Impreza | A6 | 4:26'57 | 0'00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | SAINZ C. /MOYA L. | Ford Escort Cos | A6 | 4:27'19 | 0'22 |
| 3 | THIRY B. /PREVOT S. | Ford Escort Cos | A6 | 4:29'06 | 2'09 |
| 4 | LOIX F. /SMEETS S. | Toyota C. Four | A6 | 4:29'48 | 2'51 |
| 5 | ERIKSSON K. /PARMANDER S. | Subaru Impreza | A6 | 4:29'51 | 2'54 |
| 6 | CUNICO G. /SCALVINI P. | Ford Escort Cos | A6 | 4:30'41 | 3'44 |
| 7 | PIANEZZOLA G. /ROGGIA L. | Toyota C. Four | A6 | 4:30'58 | 4'01 |
| 8 | AURIOL D. /GIRAUDET D. | Mitsubishi L. | A6 | 4:31'50 | 4'53 |
| 9 | MEDEGHINI A. /"MEDEGHINI" | Subaru Impreza | A6 | 4:34'59 | 8'02 |
| 10 | BERNARDINI P. /SAVIGNONI D. | Ford Escort Cos | A6 | 4:34'59 | 8'02 |
| 11 | TOTH J. /GERGELY F. | Toyota C. Four | A6 | 4:42'37 | 15'40 |
| 12 | ANDREUCCI P. /FEDELI S. | Renault Megane | A4 | 4:45'10 | 18'13 |
| 13 | LONGHI P. /PIROLLO L. | Renault Megane | A4 | 4:47'50 | 20'53 |
| 14 | TRELLES G. /DEL BUONO J. | Mitsubishi L. | N6 | 4:48'32 | 21'35 |
| 15 | SMETS P. /S'HEEREN J.P. | Mitsubishi L. | N6 | 4:50'09 | 23'12 |
