Rallying

Marcus Gronholm won the Rally of Sardinia yesterday to take over the lead in the championship from Sebastien Loeb after the world champion crashed out. Gronholm, in the main BP-Ford works team, won by 29.2 seconds from Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. Spain's Dani Sordo, in his Citroen, finished third. Gronholm now leads Loeb by seven points at the top of the drivers' standings after the Frenchman spun into a ditch on the first stage of the final leg. Champions Ford are 21 points clear of Citroen in the manufacturers' standings. The rally of Sardinia was the seventh in the 16-race calendar.