Greece, June 09: Markko Martin has given Estonia a rare win in the world rallying championship, moving to fourth place in the overall standings. Estonian Markko Martin scored an emphatic first ever World Rally Championship win at the 50th Acropolis Rally on Sunday (June 8), giving Ford their fourth successive victory in Greece. In hot and dusty conditions as temperatures reached 34 degrees Celsius, Martin easily held off Spaniard Carlos Sainz who finished 46 seconds behind. The final stages proved to be dramatic as Norway's Petter Solberg battled in vain in his Subaru to snatch second place from Sainz in his Citroen. After a see-saw final day Sainz held on under intense pressure from Solberg who had to be satisfied with third despite winning four of Sunday's six stages.


Championship leader Richard Burns finished fourth in his Peugeot after suffering with gearbox problems.


"I am really happy, we've been working really, really hard to get that result," Martin said after his maiden world rally victory. "We just could concentrate on driving and no other worries, it has been a great team effort to make that happen," the Estonian added.


Final positions in the 50th Acropolis Rally after all 22 stages on Sunday (June 8) at the end of the third day: 1. Markko Martin (Estonia) Ford four hours 53 minutes 40.5 seconds 2. Carlos Sainz (Spain) Citroen 46.0 seconds behind 3. Petter Solberg (Norway) Subaru 52.7 4. Richard Burns (Britain) Peugeot 2:06.6 5. Tommi Makinen (Finland) Subaru 2:12.3 6. Harri Rovanpera (Finland) Peugeot 3:44.7 7. Gilles Panizzi (France) Peugeot 3:54.3 8. Colin McRae (Britain) Citroen 4:05.0 9. Didier Auriol (France) Skoda 6:27.2 10. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) 11:33.4


World Rally Championship standings after Arcopolis Rally: 1. Richard Burns (Britain) Peugeot 37 Pts 2. Carlos Sainz (Spain) Citroen 32 Pts 3. Marcus Gronholm (Finland) Peugeot 30 Pts 4. Markko Martin (Estonia) Ford 23 Pts 5. Petter Solberg (Norway) Subaru 19 Pts 6. Colin McRae (Britain) Citroen 18 Pts


Bureau Report