Solberg hangs on after Burns slides away

Petter Solberg resisted the challenge of Markko Martin and the unfamiliar pressures of leading to claim a maiden championship victory as the old guard were eclipsed by the new young guns in the Network Q Rally of Great Britain here yesterday.

Richard Burns, last year's world champion, added his name to the catalogue of calamities on the penultimate stage of the season's final round, sliding out in symbolic slow-motion when the consolation of third place beckoned.

The Englishman's Peugeot team-mate, and his successor as the champion, Marcus Gronholm, had gone 24 hours earlier, barrel-rolling his 206 in more spectacular fashion when he led the event by 68 seconds. The final podium place went to Carlos Sainz, the veteran Spaniard and three-times world champion, who is about to lose his place at Ford and perhaps involvement at the sharp end of rallying.

Tommi Makinen, four times champion, was fourth for Subaru and Colin McRae, title-winner in 1995, departed Ford with an inauspicious fifth place.

The luminaries were ultimately outshone by the bright young men. Norway's Solberg confirmed the promise many recognised years ago. The Subaru driver, navigated by Phil Mills on his home ground in South Wales, began the day less than two seconds behind Estonia's Martin. But he turned that deficit into a decisive advantage on the first stage of the morning and completed the odyssey 24 seconds clear.

Martin tried to respond but for all his cajoling of the Ford Focus, he could not deny Solberg. Martin's day will doubtless come. He had done enough to justify the faith of his team, who are elevating him from third string to senior status next season. Solberg, 28 today, and Martin, 27, represent rallying's future and both have effectively graduated this past weekend.

Solberg, who finishes the season as runner-up to Gronholm, always had conspicuous star quality. His looks and personality match his driving talent and earned him the nickname "Hollywood''. This season he has had the better of the once indomitable Makinen and demonstrated why Ford were so upset when he was lured away by Subaru.

But Martin has also been hugely impressive this year, despite orders to "drive for a finish'' at many events. On the occasions he has been given licence to push, he has, as often as not, out-paced McRae. Burns' demise, after scrambling back from a low point of 12th on Friday morning, epitomised the plight of the established drivers. He was seeking a first win of the season, and, following Gronholm's crash, that possibility flickered into view.

However, he was unable to make significant inroads and succumbed to a tame corner on the Margam stage. Burns, who slipped to fifth in the final championship standings, behind McRae, said: "I braked too late for a very slow corner and slid backwards down a bank and got stuck. I was only about a kilometre and a half from the end of the stage. It was too dangerous to try and drive the car back out. It was our slowest ever accident. But what can you do? It's so frustrating.''

Sainz welcomed his elevation to the podium, saying: "What happened to Richard was an unexpected present for me.''

McRae, subdued here as he had been for much of his final year with Ford, was always clambering against the odds after overshooting on Friday morning but may take some satisfaction from finishing the season ahead of Burns. Mark Higgins gave Ford a fourth place in the top six.

RALLY OF GREAT BRITAIN Leading final positions: 1 P Solberg (Nor) Subaru 3hr 30min 36.4sec; 2 M Martin (Est) Ford +24.4sec; 3 C Sainz (Sp) Ford +1min 35.7sec; 4 T Makinen (Fin) Subaru +2:37.5; 5 C McRae (GB) Ford +3:01.5; 6 M Higgins (GB) Ford at 5:01.9; 7 H Rovanpera (Fin) Peugeot +5:15.8; 8 F Loix (Bel) Hyundai +5:15.9; 9 J Kankkunen (Fin) Hyundai +5:29.1; 10 T Gardemeister (Fin) Skoda +6:02.9. Final World Championship standings: Drivers: 1 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 77pts; 2 Solberg 37; 3 Sainz 36; 4 McRae 35; 5 Richard Burns (Gbr) 34; 6 G Panizzi (Fra) Peugeot 31. Manufacturers: 1 Peugeot 165; 2 Ford 104; 3 Subaru 6; 4 Hyundai 10; 5 Mitsubishi 9; 6 Skoda 9.