Rallying: McRae's Corsican triumph

COLIN McRAE became the first driver to win two rounds of this year's world championship yesterday after his victory in the Corsica Rally. The Scot, driving a Subaru Impreza, finished ahead of the Frenchman Francois Delecour and Italy's Piero Liatti.

McRae, who also won the same rally last year, has now taken two of the six championship rounds so far this season and overtakes Carlos Sainz, of Spain, at the top of the standings.

McRae, who survived a disqualification scare for illegal tyres on Monday, finished the "Rally of 10,000 Corners" 27.2sec clear of Delecour, who was driving a Peugeot 306 Maxi.

He had an overall time of 4hr 2min 46.9sec, with team-mate Liatti less than three seconds behind Delecour in third.

The win puts McRae in pole position in the title race on 24 points after six of 14 events, ahead of Sainz (22) and England's Richard Burns (18).

Sainz had a miserable day. Lying in second after the middle leg, he slipped back to eighth after his Toyota suffered mechanical problems.

Subaru - seeking a fourth straight title - now lead the constructors' championship with 35 points, ahead of Mitsubishi and Toyota on 32 and Ford (25).

The China Rally will be included in the world championship next season, the International Automobile Federation president, Max Mosley, said yesterday. However, the number of rallies, which stands at 14, would almost certainly not be increased. "The problem is logistics and transport for the teams," he said.