United Kingdom, Nov 09: Solberg's Finnish team mate Tommi Makinen, in his final championship appearance before retirement, was in third place a massive two minutes and 3.9 seconds behind. The Finn turned up on Saturday in gold boots with the dates of his unprecedented four consecutive titles embroidered on them.
His battle with old foe McRae, recalling past glory days, was a highlight of a rally that had lost much of its suspense after being billed as the closest showdown in the sport's history.
France's Gilles Panizzi, winner of the last round in Spain, retired his Peugeot with transmission problems. Leading positions in the after 14 of 18 stages: 1. Petter Solberg (Norway) Subaru two hours 46 minutes 50.3 seconds. 2. Sebastien Loeb (France) Citroen 40.8 seconds behind 3. Tommi Makinen (Finland) Subaru 2:23.7 4. Colin McRae (Britain) Citroen 2:30.1 5. Harri Rovanpera (Finland) Peugeot 4:30.6 6. Francois Duval (Belgium) Ford 5:52.0 7. Freddy Loix (Belgium) Peugeot 6:26.6 8. Roman Kresta (Czech Republic) Peugeot 7:32.3 9. Manfred Stohl (Austria) Peugeot 7:32.4 10. Juuso Pykalisto (Finland) Peugeot 7:59.3


Bureau Report