With no real opportunity of closing the gap to Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo ahead, Grönholm settled into a safe, but fast, pace for the remaining two days. He was the quickest driver on both the second day and today's final leg, winning four stages yesterday and three more today. "Second was the result I really wanted here but that wasn't to be and I can't change it," said 39-year-old Grönholm, who leads the drivers' standings by six points. "I still have a good championship lead but when I lost 30sec in the wet on Friday, my hopes of first or second were destroyed. I just wasn't confident driving in those conditions on dry slick tyres and I was too careful.
"The last two days were not so interesting as the pattern of the rally was already set on Friday. I enjoy this rally in the dry and we set a fast pace in those conditions but I don't like looking up at the sky guessing whether it is going to rain or not. I have a good, fast car and although it won't be easy in Corsica next weekend I just want to start again and aim for a good result," he said.
Hirvonen, who won a stage on the opening leg, finished 46.0sec behind his fellow countryman. With no chance to catch the drivers in front, he concentrated on staying ahead of fifth-placed François Duval to maximise BP-Ford's points in the manufacturers' championship, which it leads by 39 points.
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