Burns, Subaru and Pirelli stay in the hunt

MITSUBISHI DOMINATES GROUP N AGAIN

Richard Burns and the Subaru-Pirelli team are still right in the middle of the battle for this season's World Rally Championships despite a frustrating Cyprus Rally. Burns has again shown that his Subaru Impreza WRC2000 is capable of setting the pace on gravel with more fastest times today but a minor technical problem during Leg 3 cost him the chance to take 3rd place.

However, Burns continues to challenge for the championship with four events to go and Cyprus' result sees him close the gap to series leader Marcus Gronholm.

Mitsubishi-Pirelli drivers have held the top four places in Group N from the start, further underlining the performance of Pirelli's PZero gravel tyres (KC and XR predominantly) that have been competitive at all levels in Cyprus. Despite the rough terrain, the extremely few punctures that have occurred have again been effectively dealt with by Pirelli's EMI anti-deflation system.

The World Rally Championship now moves to asphalt events in Corsica and San Remo. Following a major test and development programme, Pirelli expects to maintain its strong challenge throughout the next month's action.

FINAL STANDINGS (after 23 SSs):

1. Sainz (Ford), 5h26m04.9; 2. McRae (Ford) +37.3; 3. Delecour (Peugeot) +1m30.8; 4. Burns (Subaru-Pirelli) +2m04.1; 5. Makinen (Mitsubishi) +2m58.2; 6. Martin (Toyota) +3m45.4 ; 7. Kankkunen (Subaru-Pirelli) +7m01.7; . . .

WORLD CHAMPIONHIP STANDINGS (after 10 events)

Drivers:
1. Gronholm pt. 44; 2. McRae 42; 3. Burns 41; 4. Sainz 37; 5. Makinen 28; 6. Kankkunen 18; 7. Rovanpera and Delecour 7; 9. Solberg 6; 10. Auriol, Loix and Arai 4; 13. Gardemeister and Radstrom 3;

Manufacturers: 1. Ford pt. 79; 2. Subaru-Pirelli 64; 3. Peugeot 58; 4. Mitsubishi 35; 5. Skoda 8; 6. SEAT-Pirelli 7; 7. Hyundai 5

Group N:
1. Stohl p.48; 2. Trelles 42; 3. Pozzo 22; 4. Paasonen 21; 5. Menzi 13; 6. Campos 13;. . .

NEXT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT: Tour de Corse (tarmac), 29 September-1 October

Limassol (Cyprus), September 10, 2000