Gronholm continmues to dominate
Marcus Gronholm continued his domination of the Rally of New Zealand after today’s opening stage.
The 59-kilometre stage is the longest of the entire World Championship following the demise of Kenya’s Safari Rally but the daunting marathon held no problems for the Finn in his Peugeot and he is already looking a strong bet to retain his world title.
The battle for the minor places hotted up as Britain’s Richard Burns, also in a Peugeot, passed Norwegian Petter Solberg’s Subaru to take third place and home in on second-placed Estonian Markko Martin in a Ford.
Just 18.7 seconds cover the three drivers running in Gronholm’s wheeltracks and literally any of them could take second spot before the finish.
Carlos Sainz, in a Citroen, went off on the stage but the Spaniard got back on the road and continued, albeit with a massive amount of time lost.
Any chance of winning the event has disappeared but Sainz will stick at his task in order to try and ensure he scores championship points for his series-leading team.
