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| |  Sunday, 21 October, 2001, 12:35 GMT 13:35 UK Puras clinches maiden victory Puras won by 17.5 seconds ahead of French rival Panizzi Rally of Corsica Spaniard Jesus Puras held off Gilles Panizzi to grab his first world rallying win at the Rally of Corsica on Sunday. Citroen driver Puras finished 17.5 seconds in front of Peugeot's Panizzi as the three-day event reached its dramatic climax. Panizzi's team-mate and French compatriot Didier Auriol was third followed by Subaru trio Petter Solberg, Richard Burns and Markko Martin. But Burns is likely to be promoted to fourth place and collect an extra point as his team will ask Petter Solberg to collect a time penalty and drop behind his team leader at the final control.
This means that only six drivers can now mathematically win the championship; McRae, Burns, Makinen, Carlos Sainz, Harri Rovanpera and Panizzi. Puras is not in the running for the world title, but was more than satisfied with his win on Sunday. "I am very happy with this victory, it is something I have been working for years," said Puras. "It may looked easy, but it wasn't. After my teammate Philippe Bugalski pulled out I felt the pressure for my team." Puras has been in command throughout the rally on the rugged island course, and was helped by the cautious driving of nearest challengers Panizzi and Auriol. Both drivers carried out their orders to perfection by simply finishing in the placings and scoring points. It allowed the French team to climb to second in the team standings behind Ford.
"It would have been stupid of me if I had ruined it for my team. "I would have preferred to win, but it was important to take as many points as possible for the Peugeot team." But the rally took a heavy toll on the favourites. World title favourite Tommi Makinen crashed out on Friday and reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm had to pull out on Saturday after having a wheel torn off his Peugeot. Joint championship leader Colin McRae had to settle for 11th as a result of a power steering failure suffered on Saturday's penultimate leg. The Briton retains his share of the lead in the drivers' standings with Makinen, but the world title is still up for grabs, with only the Australia rally on 2-4 November and the Great Britain rally on 23-25 November. Provisional times for the Rally of Corsica, round 12 of the 2001 World Rally Championship: 1. Jesus Puras (Spain) Citroen Winning time of three hours, 58 minutes and 35.5 seconds | |
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