Corsica rally goes to McRae

Colin McRae yesterday won the Corsica Rally for the second year running and took the lead in the world championship. The Scottish driver, driving a Subaru, finished 27.2 seconds ahead of Frenchman Francois Delecour in a Peugeot 306 and took over from Spaniard Carlos Sainz at the top of the championship standings after six races.

Monte Carlo winner Sainz, now two points behind in second place, had a puncture in his Toyota on the 15th timed stage and fell more than four minutes behind. Sainz finished eighth.

Delecour, winner in 1993, took the 15th stage to push McRae's Subaru team mate Piero Liatti of Italy into third place.

Peugeot also took fourth place through Gilles Panizzi of France who won the 17th and last timed stage, while Belgian Bruno Thiry was fifth in a Ford. McRae, also winner in Portugal this year, took five of the 17 stages in the three-day event for his 15th championship success. There were 18 stages scheduled but the 16th was cancelled for security reasons.

Both Sainz and defending world champion Tommi Makinen of Finland, 10 points adrift of McRae in sixth place, will be looking to recover lost ground in the next race in Argentina.

Corsica Rally (final standings after 17 timed stages): 1. C McRae (Scot) Subaru Impreza 4 hours 2 minutes 46.9 seconds; 2. F Delecour (France) Peugeot 306 27.2 seconds behind; 3. P Liatti (Italy) Subaru Impreza 30.0; 4. G Panizzi (France) Peugeot 306 36.1; 5. B Thiry (Bel) Ford Escort 45.8; 6. D Auriol (France) Toyota Corolla 2:39.3; 7. F Doenlen (France) Citroen Xsara 4:01.1; 8. C Sainz (Spain) Toyota Corolla 4:03.5; 9. J Kankkunen (Finland) Ford Escort 4:47.6; 10. P Magaud (France) Citroen Xsara 8:12.2. World Championship stand- ings: 1. C McRae (Scot) Subaru Impreza 24 points; 2. C Sainz (Spain) Toyota Corolla 22; 3. R Burns (Britain) Mitsubishi 18; 4. J Kankkunen (Finland) Ford Escort 16; 5. D Auriol (France) Toyota Corolla 15; 6. Tommi Makinen (Finland) Mitsubishi 14; 7. F Loix (Belgium) Toyota Corolla 10; 8. P Liatti (Italy) Subaru Impreza 8; 9. (equal) A Vatanen (Fin) Ford Escort 6; 9. (equal) F Delecour (France) Peugeot 6. Constructors: 1. Subaru 35 pts; 2. (equal) Toyota 32; 2. (equal) Mitsubishi 32; 4. Ford 25.