Gronholm in control of title challenge

Marcus Gronholm will discover today how close he is to his first world title after his fellow Finn Tommi Makinen, the four times champion, won the Rally of Australia - his first victory in 10 months - yesterday. However, Makinen's win remained provisional overnight after his Mitsubishi's turbocharger was taken away for an investigation into the boost unit's legality.

Marcus Gronholm will discover today how close he is to his first world title after his fellow Finn Tommi Makinen, the four times champion, won the Rally of Australia - his first victory in 10 months - yesterday. However, Makinen's win remained provisional overnight after his Mitsubishi's turbocharger was taken away for an investigation into the boost unit's legality.

The seizure of car parts for inspection is not unusual and if Makinen's win is upheld, then the championship leader, Gronholm, will take six points for second place and will be seven clear of his only rival - Britain's Richard Burns - with one race and just 10 points left. That will leave the Peugeot driver needing no more than third place in Britain in two weeks' time. If Makinen was stripped of his win, Gronholm would be nine points clear of Burns, who would then have to repeat last season's British victory and hope that the Finn failed to finish.

"It's an incredible feeling to win after so long and I'm so happy," said Makinen, who was 5.5 seconds ahead of Gronholm. "I now hope my friend Marcus will win the championship." However, Makinen's friend had most reason to celebrate after winning a mini-battle with Burns, edging him into third place. "I'm ecstatic about the result," Gronholm said. "I now know what I need to do in Cardiff. It is in my hands."

Burns said: "I attacked hard and gave it everything but it wasn't enough to finish ahead of Marcus. Now I must go to my home rally and win it and just hope that Marcus has a problem. It's not over yet."

The Frenchman François Delecour was fourth, strengthening Peugeot's grip on the manufacturers' title. Britain's Colin McRae dropped out with engine problems on stage six.

PROVISIONAL POSITIONS: 1 T Makinen (Fin) Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 43min 51.7sec; 2 M Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 3:43:57.2; 3 R Burns (GB) Subaru Impreza 3:43:59.9; 4 F Delecour (Fr) Peugeot 3:45:30.1; 5 K Eriksson (Swe) Hyundai Accent 3:46:17.8; 6 T Laukkenen (Fin) Ford Focus 3:46:28.1; 7 T Gardemeister (Fin) Seat 3:46:46.5; 8 P Bourne (NZ) Subaru Impreza 3:48:30.7; 9 D Auriol (Fr) Seat 3:51:51.8; 10 N Bates (Aus) Toyota Corolla 3:53:04.0; 11 K Taguchi (Japan) Mitsubishi Lancer 3:57:43.8; 12 S Yazici (Tur) Toyota Corolla 3:59:54.7; 13 G Trelles (Urug) Mitsubishi Lancer 4:01:36.1; 14 T Arai (Japan) Subaru Impreza 4:02:18.4; 15 M Stohl (Aut) Mitsubishi Lancer 4:03:27.8.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 M Gronholm (Fin) 55 pts; 2 R Burns(GB) 48; 3 C McRae (GB) 43; 3 C Sainz (Sp) 43; 5 T Makinen (Fin) 42; 6 F Delecour (Fr) 22; 7 G Panizzi (Fr) 21; 8 J Kankkunen (Fin) 18; 9 H Rovanpera (Fin) 7; 10 P Solberg (Nor) 6.