Lloret De Mar, Oct 27: Victory for Gilles Panizzi in the Catalunya rally leaves the world championship wide open with four drivers fighting for the title in the last event in Britain. Citroen drivers Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz will head a four-man title showdown at next month's British Rally as they look to cap a remarkable first full world championship season for the French manufacturers. Loeb looked on course to give the team a fifth win of the season in Catalunya but Peugeot's Gilles Panizzi made up more than half a minute on the final stage to win the rally on Sunday (October 26). Loeb's second place in the penultimate race of the season in Catalunya this weekend was just enough to give him the lead in the championship after Sainz slipped down from fourth to seventh. Those results left the pair level on 63 points, with Loeb ahead thanks to his greater number of wins.


Subaru's Petter Solberg, a point back in third, and Richard Burns of Peugeot, five points behind the leaders, could yet deprive Citroen of the drivers' title but whatever happens the team will be able to boast a season of amazing success.


Citroen, who competed in eight events last year, began their first full year with a sweep of the podium in Monte Carlo, with Loeb winning ahead of Colin McRae and Sainz.


Loeb won again on asphalt in Germany and Sanremo, while Sainz stepped up his bid for a third world title, 11 years after his last, with victory in Turkey.


Only McRae, who will leave Citroen at the end of the season because of new rules limiting each team to two drivers, has failed to win this term.


Panizzi's fearless drive in Catalunya took him home less than a second ahead of Marcus Gronholm, with Markko Martin of Estonia coming in third.


Loeb finished 44 seconds behind Panizzi in the end and only just managed to hold on to second place overall, with Martin 0.6 seconds behind him in third place in the final standings.



Leading finishing times after the final day of the Rally of Catalunya: 1. Gilles Panizzi (France) Peugeot three hours 55 minutes and 09.4 seconds 2. Sebastien Loeb (France) Citroen 13 seconds behind 3. Markko Martin (Estonia) Ford 13.6 4. Francois Duval (Belgium) Ford 55.4 5. Petter Solberg (Norway) Subaru 1:10.8 6. Marcus Gronholm (Finland) Peugeot 1:29.1 7. Carlos Sainz (Spain) Citroen 1:33.0 8. Tommi Makinen (Finland) Subaru 1:55.1 9. Colin McRae (Britain) Citroen 3:15.2 10. Philippe Bugalski (France) Citroen 5:13.6


World championship standings: 1. Loeb 63 points 2. Sainz 63 3. Solberg 62 4. Richard Burns (Britain) Peugeot 58 5. Martin 49 6. Gronholm 46 7. McRae 40 8. Panizzi 27 9. Duval 26 10. Makinen 24


Bureau Report