Gronholm is stripped of victory

Richard Burns was handed victory in the Rally of Argentina last night after Marcus Gronholm was disqualified.

At a meeting of FIA stewards Gronholm was stripped of his victory and the points as punishment for an infringement of servicing rules. Gronholm's car refused to start in the morning and, having pushed the 206 out of the overnight parc ferme, mechanics offered illegal assistance on the road section.

Peugeot were reprimanded by the stewards for a similar offence involving Gilles Panizzi's car yesterday – although as the Frenchman was withdrawn from the event at that point no penalty was imposed. Peugeot said they would not appeal.

The decision leaves Burns with the victory – and a valuable extra four points in his bid to hold on to his world championship crown. Ford's Carlos Sainz inherits second spot with Subaru's Petter Solberg moving into third while Colin McRae takes fourth place in his Focus.

* An emergency journey from Yorkshire paid dividends when Jonny Milner captured his first Pirelli British Championship success in the Rally of Wales. Milner sent for a replacement differential pump for his Toyota Corolla after suffering problems when the event began in Wrexham last night.