Marcus Gronholm, of Finland, steers his Ford on his way to win the third and final leg of the Rally of Italy in Olbia, Sardinia, Sunday, May 20. After France's Sebastian Loeb went out and was forced to retire, Marcus Gronholm completed the third leg in three hours, 48 minutes, 42 seconds, leading runner-up Mikko Hirvonen by 29.2 seconds.

MILAN (Reuters):

Marcus Gronholm won the Rally of Sardinia, last Sunday, to take over the lead in the championship from Sebastien Loeb after the triple world champion crashed out.

Finland's Gronholm, in the main BP-Ford works team, won by 29.2 seconds from Ford's Mikko Hirvonen in second. Spain's Dani Sordo, in his Citroen, finished third.

Gronholm now leads Loeb by seven points at the top of the drivers' standings after the Frenchman hit a rock on the first stage of the final leg.

"Fortunately we had our luck today when Seb crashed," said Gronholm. "It's nice to see he does not drive like a machine all the time."

Fourth win in a row

Citroen driver Loeb, who had been chasing his fourth win in a row this year and third successive victory in Italy, led the race after day one and two and had looked set to extend his overall advantage.

However, he took a crest too fast, put a wheel slightly up on the verge, and then hit a rock with the front left wheel, which buckled under the car.

"I had difficulty finding the ideal pace from the very start," said Loeb in a team statement. "I felt that I wasn't driving well and I had to push myself.

"My error came at the worst possible moment because our lead over Marcus ... should have enabled us to control from in front. It just goes to show that winning is never easy and that we are always very close to the limit."