CLASSIC BATTLE; Subaru's Solberg wins Rally Sweden.(Motorsports)

Byline: ANTHONY PEACOCK

Rally Sweden, round two of the World Rally Championship, provided the most breathtaking action the series has seen for years, with Subaru's Petter Solberg and Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm locked in a battle for the win right up to the final day. Solberg was quickest on the opening stage of the rally, but Gronholm grabbed the advantage shortly afterward. They swapped the lead three times before Gronholm closed out the first day with a stout 0.67-second advantage.

The duo resumed the fight on day two, with the lead again seesawing. By the end of stage 11, halfway through the rally, Gronholm led Solberg by just one-tenth of a second-after nearly 125 miles of flat-out competition.

Rally Sweden is normally characterized by heavy snow, which means the cars run on skinny, studded snow tires to penetrate and bite into the hard ground underneath. This year, unusually warm weather led to little snow and plenty of loose gravel, which wrecked the snow tires and put grip at a premium.

"I have to concentrate hard to cope with all the different surfaces,'' said three-time Rally Sweden winner Gronholm. "I'm not entirely happy with the handling of my Peugeot either, so this is one of the toughest rallies I have ever driven.''

Reigning WRC champion Sebastien Loeb, winner of the opening round in Monte Carlo, led the pursuit in his Citroen Xsara WRC. But Loeb admitted he stood no chance of catching the leading two drivers, both of whom were in a class by themselves.

By the end of the second day Loeb had a different problem. His Xsara's engine lost power, thanks to a blown head gasket. World Rally rules say the engine block cannot be worked on, so Loeb could do nothing but pray the heart would continue pumping.