Panizzi wins dramatic Catalunya rally
Panizzi wins dramatic Catalunya rally
Reuters , Lloret de Mar, Spain
Peugeot's Gilles Panizzi snatched a last-gasp victory in the Rally of Catalunya on Sunday to push new world championship leader Sebastien Loeb into second place and set up a four-way showdown for the title.
Frenchman Loeb let a 31-second lead slip on a rain-lashed final stage of the three-day race but second place was still enough to take him level on points with fellow Citroen driver Carlos Sainz at the top of the world championship standings.
Petter Solberg, who improved from 10th to fifth on a dramatic final day, is a point behind in third, while Richard Burns is now fourth, five points behind Loeb and Sainz after abandoning on the 19th stage in Catalunya.
An impossibly close title race will be decided between those four drivers at the British Rally from Nov. 6 to 9.
On Saturday, Frenchman Sebastien Loeb held off a resolute challenge from Markko Martin to maintain a 20-second advantage in the Rally and keep the heat on world championship leader Carlos Sainz.
Loeb, winner of four stages in his Citroen Xsara on Friday, was second best to Martin for much of day two, but victory in the day's final leg kept him well clear of the Ford driver with six stages to race on Sunday.
Sainz, in second place at the end of the first day, slipped to fourth and his slim lead in the championship standings is now under threat.
With only the British Rally to come after Catalunya, Spanish Citroen driver Sainz heads the standings by three points from Britain's Richard Burns in his Peugeot and Petter Solberg of Norway in a Subaru.
After a promising start, Burns finished day two in sixth place, 35 seconds behind Sainz, while Solberg was down in 10th, a further minute behind.
Loeb, six points behind Sainz in the standings, could prove to be the Spaniard's main challenger.
Loeb struggled to compete with Estonia's Martin and French Peugeot driver Panizzi in Saturday's early stages, but came back strongly to win the final leg and reassert his authority.