BIG WIN FOR GRONHOLM.(Competition)

Ford driver Marcus Gronholm dominated the grueling Acropolis Rally from start to finish, comfortably outpacing his rivals from Citroen and Subaru.

"The stages here were rougher than those in Africa, but the car was fantastic,'' said Gronholm. "I believe we can win all the rallies from now on if things go well for us.''

Gronholm ended the first day with nearly half-a-minute lead over Petter Solberg, whose Subaru showed a dazzling return to form over the rocky Greek stages. Sebastien Loeb's Citroen overhauled the Impreza during the afternoon of leg two, but Solberg was still in contention until his luck ran out on the way to the last stage of the day.

The Norwegian had to swerve to avoid an oncoming spectator car on the road section, damaging his Subaru's steering against a rock face. "It's incredible: I came 'round a tight right-hand corner and this car was on my side of the road,'' said Solberg. "That's been my luck all year.''

Ironically, Loeb hit big trouble on the stage Solberg never reached.

The Frenchman picked up a rear puncture just one kilometer after the start; the tire deteriorated and eventually pulled off the wheel, costing him nearly a minute and a half. The remaining rear tire gave out on the 60-kilometer road section back to Athens, but Loeb got his car back to service without time penalties. The mechanics managed to replace the Xsara's entire rear drivetrain within the 45 minutes allowed, and amazingly Loeb maintained second place, though nearly two minutes behind Gronholm.

The second factory Ford of Mikko Hirvonen inherited a safe third, but there was a fierce battle behind Hirvonen for fourth on the final day. Citroen privateer Toni Gardemeister, driving his first rally since finishing third in Monte Carlo five months ago, eventually got past the Peugeot of Henning Solberg (Petter's brother) with just three stages to go. Solberg then had to fend off Dani Sordo's Citroen on the final super-special stage in the Athens Olympic Stadium.