LIKE most of the leading rally teams, Subaru's is based in Britain and when Colin McRae crashed out of the Monte Carlo rally on Tuesday morning, the Banbury - squad's morale was as battered as - the Scotsman's car.
Yet last night was party night after Piero Liatti, the team's unflappable Italian understudy, saved the day with a resounding victory on the most famous rally of all, the Monte Carlo.
In mid afternoon, the situation had looked nothing like as rosy. Italian fans, sounding klaxons and chanting their new hero's name at a frenetic service halt in Annot, reckoned the rally was as good as settled: Tommy Makinen, the world champion, had lost the lead then spun his Mitsubishi into a wall and smashed the cooling system, giving Liatti 30 seconds in handover Carlos Sainz's Ford.
Liatti is most at home on asphalt and, once the risk of ice disappeared, he coolly doubled his lead by the finish. Aged 34, he could have a glittering future, but he has no taste for the relentless slog of a 14 round world championship campaign and may contest as few as six rallies this year.
That leaves Subaru to depend on the extensive, if less bankable talents of MacRae.
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