All I’ve got to do is avoid mistakes

All I’ve got to do is avoid mistakes.”After the error he said: “It would have been difficult for anyone else to catch us. The stage was pretty rough after being used in the morning and the car just bounced into the undergrowth but ended up on its wheels. We tried to go on, but the damage to the radiator was too much to prevent the engine seizing.”Burns saw the opportunity to put Gronholm on edge. He narrowed the gap to three seconds and said: “If I go any faster I could go off the road.” Then news of McRae’s crash reached him and he went faster, taking the lead and quickly extending it over the Margan stage to 10.8 seconds.Today’s final stages will see Burns under more pressure than the Finn, since he still needs to confirm what his early-season performances suggested: that he is the most talented driver on the scene. However, Gronholm is proving that, in spite of his lack of experience, he is adaptable..

Marcus Gronholm clinched the world drivers championship in Cardiff today after finishing second to Richard Burns who won the Rally of Britain for the third year in a row. Marcus Gronholm clinched the world drivers championship in Cardiff today after finishing second to Richard Burns who won the Rally of Britain for the third year in a row.
Burns, driving a Subaru, was the only driver who could have caught the Finn in the title race. But Gronholm, who went into the final rally of the season nine points ahead of the Englishman, needed only to finish in the top five in his Peugeot to win his first world championship.Burns won the race by one minute. 05.6 seconds with Gronholm, who led briefly on Saturday after Colin McRae retired in his crash-damaged Ford Focus, deciding to race conservatively to avoid similar mishaps.Last year’s world champion Tommi Makinen placed third in a Mitsubishi after a close race with Carlos Sainz in a Ford Focus.Gronholm finished the championship with 65 points to Burns’ 60 with Sainz third with 46. Peugeot had already won the constructors title with a race to spare.Network Q Rally of Great Britain, CardiffLeading stage positions on final leg of Network Q Rally of Great Britain.Stage 15 (Brechfa, 18.52 miles): 1 R Burns (Gbr) Subaru Impreza 17mins 32.7secs, 2 F Delecour (Fra) Peugeot 206 at 0.8sec, 3 P Solberg (Nor) Subaru Impreza at 3.6, 4 C Sainz (Spa) Ford Focus at 7.7, 5 J Kankkunen (Fin) Subaru Impreza at 8.8, 6 M Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 206 and T Laukkanen (Fin) Ford Focus at 16.9, 8 M Martin (Est) Toyota Corolla at 19.3, 9 T Makinen (Fin) Mitsubishi Lancer at 22.5, 10 T Gardemeister (Fin) SEAT Cordoba at24.3.Stage 16 (Trawscoed, 16.32 miles): 1 Makinen 16:17.8, 2 Burns at 8.2, 3Delecour at 10.5, 4 Gronholm at 14.4, 5 Sainz at 16.3, 6 D Auriol (Fra) SEAT Cordoba at 17.1, 7 Kankkunen at 17.6, 8 A McRae (Gbr) Hyundai Accent at17.9, 9 H Rovanpera (Fin) SEAT Cordoba at 19.3, 10 Gardemeister at 35.0.Stage 17 (Margam 2, 17.48 miles): 1 Makinen 16mins 57.7secs, 2 Martin at6.2secs, 3 Kankkunen at 13.5, 4 Sainz at 17.3, 5 Delecour at 17.5, 6 Burns at 19.5, 7 G Panizzi (Fra) Peugeot 206 at 24.6, 8 A Schwarz (Ger) Skoda Octavia at 37.5, 9 Auriol at 38.8, 10 Rovanpera at 40.5, 11 Gronholm at42.1.Final overall positions1 Burns 3hrs 43mins 01.9secs, 2 Gronholm at 1min 05.6secs, 3 Makinen at 1min 15.0secs, 4 Sainz at 1:33.5, 5 Kankkunen at1:46.9, 6 Delecour at 1:48.5, 7 Martin at 3:24.4, 8 Panizzi at 3:35.6, 9 Auriol at 4:27.5, 10 Rovanpera at 5:10.1.Final World Rally Championship standingsDrivers1 Gronholm 65 (champion), 2 Burns 60, 3 Sainz 46, 4 C McRae (Gbr) Ford Focus 43, 5 Makinen 36, 6 Delecour 24.Manufacturers1 Peugeot 111 (champions), 2 Ford 91, 3 Subaru 88, 4 Mitsubishi 43, 5 SEAT 11, 6 Hyundai and Skoda 8..

What a way to win a World Cup final – crushing very good opponents in a manner that leaves not a scrap of doubt about your rightful place at the top. Last week I said that this was the best ever Australian rugby league team, and it was an opinion that wasn’t looking too healthy when Wales gave them a shock in the first half of last Sunday’s semi-final. What a way to win a World Cup final – crushing very good opponents in a manner that leaves not a scrap of doubt about your rightful place at the top. Last week I said that this was the best ever Australian rugby league team, and it was an opinion that wasn’t looking too healthy when Wales gave them a shock in the first half of last Sunday’s semi-final.
And there was a time in the second half yesterday when New Zealand clawed their way to within six points and seemed poised to take command. But the way Australia just clicked up a few gears and blasted in a devastating burst of tries in the final 20 minutes was magnificent.They are such a great all-round team, and what makes them extra-special is the amount of natural, individual skill they can call upon.I can explain it better in rugby union terms.