Rally hailed success despite setbacks.

The much-hyped head-to-head between Richard Burns and Colin McRae may have fizzled out on day one in the forests, the weather may have turned a little colder than expected, and event was blighted by an accident involving spectators, but the Network Q Rally of Great Britain was still a hit.

According to Welsh internet site icWales.com, the event attracted large television audiences - estimated at around 50million people - but failed to pull in the punters to the opening superspecial in Cardiff Bay quite as it had done in 2000. Attendances were down at both the 'stadium' stages, although rally fans more than made up for it by piling into the forests of the Principality.

Unfortunately, this resulted in 13 spectators being admitted to hospital in Carmarthen, after Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ford Focus and plunged into the crowd during the Brechfa stage. Happily, most of these have now been released, although one teenage girl remains on the wards after an operation to reset her thighbone, which was broken in the accident.

At that point, Sainz remained Burns' only threat for the championship, after both McRae and Tommi Makinen crashed out on the Friday, taking some of the tension out of what had been billed as an all-British showdown on home soil.

Despite the accidents and minor setbacks, however, Cardiff City councillors claimed that the event had been a success, and revealed that they would try to extend the contract the city holds with the FIA, MSA and championship promoters International Sportsworld Communicators.

"The Network Q Rally is a hugely important event for Cardiff and its growing international profile as the home of major sporting events," confirmed lord mayor Russell Goodway, "The excitement and spectacle of the world rally championship has really been a great addition to the city's events calendar.

"Congratulations go from the people of Cardiff and Wales to Richard Burns and to Marcus Gronholm for winning the Network Q Rally of Great Britain, and we look forward to welcoming them, and the event, back next year."

An lower than expected crowd of 6,000 turned out for the first of two stages on the Thyssen Rallysprint course in the city's docklands, with only a small increase reported on Saturday's return, but the council insists that the attraction will stay in place for future events.

"The superspecials in Cardiff Bay were well attended on both nights and, while the crowds were smaller than expected because of a change to the rally's ticketing structure this year, the numbers were more than enough to ensure enthusiastic and noisy support for the drivers," a spokesman told the site, "The circuit was popular with the drivers and looks certain to feature again next year."