Marcus Grönholm extends his championship lead to nine points over main rival Sébastien Loeb with victory in the Rally of Greece.
The Finn was left unchallenged throughout the event and was able to control his pace in the Ford WRC to maintain his advantage over the reigning world champion, who finished second for Citroen.
Loeb wasn’t entirely satisfied to finish behind the winner – due to the points gap between himself and Grönholm – but the Frenchman will be determined to fight back as the championship takes a two-month break before the next round.
As for Petter Solberg, the 2003 champion was delighted to finish on the podium, as for once both Subarus were on the pace with team-mate Chris Atkinson heading the times during the early stages of the rally.
Mikko Hirvonen had to settle for fourth after the Finn lost ground on day two due to a broken windscreen, while Henning Solberg made sure that there were three Fords in the top five.