Subaru tighten grip on World Rally Manufacturers' Championship

Rallying

The Italian Piero Liatti and Britain's Colin McRae strengthened Subaru's grip on the World Rally Manufacturers' Championship yesterday by extending their lead in the Catalunya Rally. Subaru lead Mitsubishi by 33 points in the title race and they look set to retain that advantage. Liatti opened up a 13-second lead on McRae after 10 stages and the Scot was a further 13sec ahead of Belgium's Freddie Loix.

CATALUNYA RALLY (Lloret de Mar, Spain) Leading standings (after 10 stages): 1 P Liatti (It) Subaru Impreza 2hr 17min 18sec; 2 C McRae (GB) Subaru Impreza +13sec; 3 F Loix (Bel) Toyota Celica GT4 +26; 4 B Thiry (Bel) Ford Escort Cosworth +28; 5 T Makinen (Fin) Mitsubishi Lancer +52; 6 K Eriksson (Swe) Mitsubishi Lancer +1:38; 7 P Bernardini (Fr) Ford Escort +1:52; 8 R Burns (GB) Mitsubishi Lancer +2:12; 9 O Gomez (Sp) Renault Megane +2:28; 10 R Madeira (Por) Toyota Celica GT4 at 2:56.