Rally of Great Britain : Huge crowd watches Marcus Gronholm go fastest

Huge crowd watches Marcus Gronholm go fastest

Les Kolczak

1 December 2007, 8:52 pm

Huge crowd watches Marcus Gronholm go fastest

Saturday’s action on Wales Rally GB came to a thrilling climax in the special stage run through the Millennium Stadium .

With the air filled by the cheering crowd of 26,500 rally-mad fans, the drivers put on a spectacular show as they raced across the area usually used for rugby and football internationals.

Fastest through the 1.1km test was Ford’s Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen, who set a record time of 1m 03.8s.

The crowd greeted their performance with rapturous applause, whooping and hollering at the tops of their voices and revelling in a final chance to say goodbye to the Finnish world champions, who will be retiring from the sport after Wales Rally GB.

Sebastien Loeb has won Rallye Monte-Carlo for a sixth time following a dominant performance behind the wheel of the Citroen DS3 WRC he shares with Monegasque co-driver Daniel Elena.

Of the 74 starters who began Wales Rally GB in Llandudno on Thursday 10th November, 40 were classified at the end of the four-day,1860 kms rally which featured 23 timed special stages as it wound its way from the North coast to the ceremonial finish in Cardiff.

As this year's Wales Rally GB - the final and deciding round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship - draws to a close, Business Minister, Edwina Hart has announced a funding package of £1.4 million for the 2012 event.