Sainz gives Xsara WRC-Michelin first gravel win.

Victory for Carlos Sainz on this weekend's Rally of Turkey has put the Spaniard back at the top of the list of the sport's most successful drivers.

His 25th WRC success not only equals the record of his Citroen-Michelin teammate Colin McRae, but it also gives the Xsara WRC its first win on gravel after two previous successes on asphalt.

Sainz's perfectly paced performance over southern Turkey's punishing stages saw him complete the distance with a cushion of 47.9 seconds over silver medallist Richard Burns [Peugeot-Michelin], while Belgian youngster Francois Duval brought his Ford Focus home in third position to ensure an all-Michelin podium on what could well prove to be the roughest ride of the 2003 series.

The moment a February date was decided for the first ever Rally of Turkey to count as a World Championship qualifier, it was clear the weather-beaten tracks high in the mountains towering over the Anatolian coast would be amongst the roughest of the championship. Drivers knew the twisty, punishing stages would call for a blend of aggressiveness, raw speed and an understanding of just where to back off in order to spare the mechanicals whenever necessary.

At the end of the day, at a time when seasoned campaigners are pitched against a rising generation of hot-blooded youngsters, it took the experience of 40-year old Carlos Sainz [Citroen-Michelin] to come through this rough ride on top.

Three years ago, the Spaniard, then driving for Ford-Michelin, had shown the shame instinctive ability to adopt the ideal pace when the WRC visited similar terrain in nearby Cyprus for the first time in 2000. This weekend, he took the lead when early pacesetter Harri Rovanpera [Peugeot-Michelin] hit suspension trouble halfway into the event, putting the Xsara WRC into the lead and on target for the French car's maiden success on the loose after its asphalt successes in Germany in 2002 and in Monte Carlo earlier this year.

Today's result also sees the Madrid-born veteran notch up the 25th championship win of his career to go back level pegging with his Citroen-Michelin teammate Colin McRae as the most successful driver in the sport's history!

The drivers sharing the podium champagne with Sainz on Sunday afternoon represented a striking contrast of experience and youthful promise: second place for Peugeot-Michelin's Richard Burns, 32, takes the former World Champion to the top of this year's provisional Drivers' points table after three rounds, while Belgium's 22-year old Francois Duval put in a stunning drive to collect third overall and the first WRC podium of his career.

The top three finishers, as well as Colin McRae [fourth], and the surprising Gilles Panizzi [fifth, Peugeot-Michelin], were the only series regulars to come through the Turkish round relatively unscathed. All the other established names were either slowed or eliminated by a variety of mechanical troubles.

The chances of defending champion Marcus Gronholm repeating his recent Swedish Rally win were dashed when he spent practically the entire opening leg struggling without power-steering, although he did go on to salvage an extra Manufacturers' point for Peugeot-Michelin. Not so fortunate was his teammate Harri Rovanpera who stormed into the lead halfway through Day 1, only to be sidelined twenty-four hours later by suspension failure after clouting on of the countless rocks that lined the 340km of stages.

Amongst those who joined the Finn on the final retirements list were Subaru's Petter Solberg [accident, SS4] and Skoda-Michelin's Didier Auriol [engine, after SS6], while a broken drive-shaft [SS7] put an end to the run of Armin Schwarz [Hyundai-Michelin] who had been running as high as second overall on the first day. Finally, Monte Carlo winner Sebastien Loeb suffered the cruel misfortune of running out of fuel after erroneously going off route on his way to a specially scheduled refuelling halt!