Rally: McRae left to rue bad luck

Clutch problems denied Colin McRae the chance of a podium finish in Rally Australia as Citroen's Francois Duval emerged from Sebastien Loeb's shadow to claim his first championship victory.

Skoda driver McRae was still in third place at the end of Stage 23 in Perth but his mechanical failure could not be repaired in time for the next stage. "I'm very disappointed - more for the team than myself," McRae said. "It was a very good fight and we would have been either second or third. I think we've proved a point but the ideal thing would have been to have had the result in the bag as well."

Duval was delighted with his maiden victory. The 25-year-old Belgian was briefly sidelined by the French team after a series of crashes and has played second fiddle to double champion Loeb.

"It was quite difficult for me because there was quite a big fight behind," he said.

"It's impossible to say what will happen in the future, but I hope it will be easier for me to win rallies now I've won my first one."

At the finish Duval was 52.9 seconds clear of Mitsubishi's Harri Rovanpera, with Citroen privateer Manfred Stohl another 40.1 seconds back in third.

Stohl took the final podium slot on the closing leg after McRae's breakdown. He lies ninth in the standings, ahead of works drivers such as Mitsubishi's Gigi Galli and Subaru's Chris Atkinson. "I'm quite happy with the podium here," Stohl said. "What happened to Colin and Skoda was very bad for them. We couldn't beat them on the stages.

"I made some small mistakes - all the time I was under pressure. Yesterday, we were fighting with Galli and today Atkinson, but we managed it."