Even Burns knew that he could afford to ease off in his Subaru and they were separated by 65.6 seconds overall. Makinen won the stage to secure third place in his Mitsubishi, ahead of another former champion, Spain’s Carlos Sainz in a Ford Focus.Burns calculated that he had put himself within reach of the championship after winning three of the year’s first six rallies, but since then his frustration has been compounded by the consistency of 32-year-old Gronholm and the French car. The odds against Burns mounted when he was beaten by Gronholm in Australia earlier this month and he was resigned to his fate here this weekend.He crossed the line a winner yet the expression on his face betrayed a sense of anti-climax and unfulfilled aspirations. “No one should commiserate with me because Marcus has proved himself to be a fantastic driver and a fantastic champion.

I’m happy to get my third British win in a row after what happened to us on Friday. We could easily have been out of the rally when we hit that rock.”I don’t begrudge Marcus the championship at all because he has driven under great pressure here and in Australia I’ve been beaten by a better driver this year. I’ll have to do better next year and I’ll be raring to go again in Monte Carlo.”Gronholm recovered from a wretched start to his season to generate an irresistible momentum. He defied perceived wisdom with his speed on what was for him uncharted territory and then reined in his 206 when the hard work was effectively done.

He said: “I never thought at the start of this season that I would be standing here as the world champion I’m very happy It’s good it is now over. It’s very important for our country that we again have a Finnish champion.”Burns was presented with the opportunity to take command of the rally, if not the championship, when McRae rolled his Ford Focus on Saturday. The Scot, three times winner of the event, had produced consistently competitive times and was fastest on consecutive stages before his demise. He ran into ruts gouged in the road by cars on an earlier use of the stage and was helpless as the Focus flipped over. The car landed back on its wheels, but although McRae continued, he soon realised the damage to his radiator was terminal.McRae, who had a 45-second advantage, said: “Maybe we relaxed, and that was the problem This rally is not forgiving.

It’s so easy to make a mistake.”The Scot will be comforted that he at least proved he still has the speed and confidence to pursue the championship. Some observers wondered if the accident in Corsica two months ago, when he plunged down a ravine and fractured his cheek bone, might have taken the edge off his driving. His response here was emphatic.Gronholm knew he could not make a mistake and maintained a steady but unspectacular run through the closing stages, undisturbed by the growing gap between himself and his only championship rival.Burns’ closest challenger on the first of yesterday’s three stages was François Delecour in another Peugeot. Gronholm was a distant, comfortable, sixth.Burns extended his lead to 36.8sec on that stage and gained a further seven seconds on the penultimate test. The two men avoided risks at Margam, but it was Gronholm who took the coveted title.NETWORK Q RALLY OF GREAT BRITAINLEADING 15TH STAGE POSITIONS (Brechfa, 18.52 miles): 1 R Burns (GB) Subaru Impreza 17min 32.7sec; 2 F Delecour (Fr) Peugeot 206 at 0.8sec; 3 P Solberg (Nor) Subaru Impreza +3.6, 4 C Sainz (Sp) Ford Focus +7.7; 5 J Kankkunen (Fin) Subaru Impreza +8.8; 6= M Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 206 and T Laukkanen (Fin) Ford Focus +16.9; 8 M Martin (Est) Toyota Corolla +19.3; 9 T Makinen (Fin) Mitsubishi Lancer +22.5; 10 T Gardemeister (Fin) SEAT Cordoba +24.3.16TH STAGE (Trawscoed, 16.32 miles): 1 Makinen 16min 17.8sec; 2 Burns +8.2secs; 3 Delecour +10.5; 4 Gronholm +14.4, 5 Sainz + 16.3; 6 D Auriol (Fr) SEAT Cordoba +17.1; 7 Kankkunen +17.6; 8 A McRae (GB) Hyundai Accent +17.9; 9 H Rovanpera (Fin) SEAT Cordoba +19.3; 10 Gardemeister +35.0.17TH STAGE (Margam, 17.48 miles): 1 Makinen 16min 57.7sec; 2 Martin +6.2secs; 3 Kankkunen +13.5; 4 Sainz +17.3; 5 Delecour +17.5; 6 Burns +19.5; 7 G Panizzi (Fr) Peugeot 206 +24.6; 8 A Schwarz (Ger) Skoda Octavia +37.5; 9 Auriol +38.8; 10 Rovanpera +40.5; 11 Gronholm +42.1. Final overall positions: 1 Burns 3hr 43min 01.9sec; 2 Gronholm +1min 05.6secs, 3 Makinen +1min 15.0sec; 4 Sainz +1:33.5; 5 Kankkunen +1:46.9, 6 Delecour +1:48.5; 7 Martin + 3:24.4, 8 Panizzi +3:35.6; 9 Auriol +4:27.5; 10 Rovanpera +5:10.1.FINAL WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: Drivers: 1 Gronholm 65 (champion); 2 Burns 60; 3 Sainz 46;, 4 C McRae (GB) Ford Focus 43; 5 Makinen 36;, 6 Delecour 24.

Manufacturers: 1 Peugeot 111 (champions); 2 Ford 91; 3 Subaru 88; 4 Mitsubishi 43; 5 SEAT 11; 6 Hyundai and Skoda 8.. Rugby league’s much-criticised World Cup tournament generated more than £2 million ($3 million) in profits, organisers said in Manchester today. Rugby league’s much-criticised World Cup tournament generated more than £2 million ($3 million) in profits, organisers said in Manchester today.
Despite disappointing crowds for the 31-match competition, the game’s international rulers will have a surplus to spend on the game’s worldwide development.The tournament was plagued by ticketing fiascos, poor marketing, bad weather and low attendance figures. But lucrative commercial and broadcasting deals ensured the tournament ended up well in the black.”There are clearly lessons to be learnt but an event that produces a surplus before distributions of six to seven million Australian dollars hardly represents a failure, as some people have been claiming,” said Rugby Football League chairman Sir Rodney Walker.”‘And that leaves the International Federation for the first time ever with sufficient funds to be able to assist with the development of the game around the world.”The tournament was won by Australia, which defeated New Zealand 40-12 at Old Trafford on Saturday for the Kangaroos’ 10th world title.Walker, who is vice chairman of the international federation, said it had been a mistake to stage the bulk of the group matches away from the heartland and regretted the decision to play the opener at Twickenham on a Saturday evening.”Clearly we weren’t helped by the weather, transport difficulties and the like but I think we have learned from our mistakes,” he said.”We would probably take fewer games away from the heartland and we would have started the competition differently, probably with a different time and venue. And we would certainly want the major opening game to be the first game on television.”Walker said he believes the World Cup will return to Britain in 2004.The Australians are reportedly considering a plan in conjunction with New Zealand for an eight-team competition in 2004, with matches taken to regional centers around the country and the semifinals and final held in Brisbane, Auckland and Sydney.But the league’s director of rugby Greg McCallum, an Australian, has cast doubt over the viability of a rugby league tournament in the Australian summer.Walker insists that Britain is the only feasible option.The international federation will next meet in March, probably in Papua New Guinea, but a decision on the 2004 World Cup venue is not due until October.. The Rugby Football Union has launched an investigation into allegations that some England players pool their allocation of match tickets and sell them on at a profit to corporate hospitality companies on the black market. The Rugby Football Union has launched an investigation into allegations that some England players pool their allocation of match tickets and sell them on at a profit to corporate hospitality companies on the black market.
The problem, however, is that although individual tickets can be traced back to the player to whom they were issued, evidence that any player sold the ticket on at more than the face value will be difficult to unearth.The RFU “is extremely concerned” about the allegations and will mount “an appropriate inquiry to which all necessary resources will be committed.” A spokesman for Twickenham said that, contrary to allegations in a Sunday newspaper, the RFU did not regard the pooling and selling of players’ tickets as an accepted practice which had been going on for many years.England players receive three free tickets with an option to purchase a further 10 at face value.The number of tickets floating around on the black market for any one international runs as high as 4,000.