BP-Ford World Rally Team won its third rally of the season today when Marcus Grönholm andTimo Rautiainen took an emphatic victory on the gruelling Acropolis Rally of Greece. Their FordFocus RS World Rally Car led for almost the entire four-day event, excelling in the toughestconditions experienced in the FIA World Rally Championship for many years. Team-mates MikkoHirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen secured a second straight podium with third in a similar Focus RS.

It was the fifth victory for the Focus in Greece in seven years on a rally that is acknowledged as thetoughest in the calendar. It was Grönholm's 21st world rally success and strengthens his grip onsecond in the drivers' standings while Hirvonen's podium promoted him to fourth. BP-Ford remainssecond in the manufacturers' championship.

This eighth round of the championship is one of the season's classics. It relocated to Athens afterseveral years further north and the gravel tracks in the hills surrounding the city were in ferociousmood. Massive rocks and intense heat offered punishing conditions for cars, tyres and driversalike. Success here requires a blend of speed, strength and reliability and Grönholm's BP Ultimateand Castrol-branded Focus RS delivered all three in equal measure.

The 38-year-old Finn established a firm grip during the opening leg of the 1279.29km event whenhe won all six gravel speed tests. He extended his advantage in the second leg and had asufficient lead to be able to drive cautiously during the final day. He finished in style, setting fastesttime on the last of the 18 speed tests in the Olympic Stadium, his 11th stage victory. His winningmargin was 2min 26.8sec.

"It's great to experience the winning feeling again," said Grönholm. "We have been on the pace allyear but had some bad luck, but now we are back on the top step of the podium. It's satisfying towin such a tough rally. The Focus was strong and fast all the way through and that was down tothe hard work during our test. It was terribly rough and I could never drive with total confidencebecause I knew how easy it was to damage the car on the rocks.

"BFGoodrich's tyres were strong on such a demanding rally and when we had a puncture themousse worked perfectly. I could not believe that the tyres withstood the impact from some rocks.The Focus has huge potential and I hope we can show that more over the next few rallies. I thinkwe can push for victory everywhere during the second half of the season," he added.

Hirvonen established himself in fourth on the opening morning and climbed to third yesterday.With no pressure from his rivals, he cruised through the final leg. The 25-year-old Finn survived ascare when a broken centre differential meant he had to tackle the final test in second gear.

"That's two podiums in a row and that is where I should be," said Hirvonen. "I hope my first win isnot too far away. I saw on Friday that I could not match Marcus' pace so I just watched the splittimes in the stages and drove accordingly. I avoided problems all weekend and the team has donea fantastic job. It was really difficult today because it was too rough and not nice to drive as I wasjust trying to avoid the rocks. I'm really confident now for the rest of the season. My car is reliableand strong and I hope we can deliver more podiums."

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson dedicated the victory to Edouard Michelin, who diedtragically in a boating accident last month. "It was one of the toughest rallies I can remember. Fullcredit goes to Christian Loriaux (technical director) and his team. Since the last round in Sardinia atremendous amount of work has gone on behind the scenes and the guys in the factory haveworked day and night to contribute to this success. It's a great way to end the first half of theseason."

Jost Capito, director of Ford TeamRS, said: "The Greek Gods looked after us this weekend. It wasimpressive how both crews kept their cool to firstly establish their positions and then maintainthem. To achieve three victories in the first half of the season with a new car in its developmentphase is more than anyone could expect."

Sébastien Loeb's (Citroen) mechanics did a superb job to rebuild the wrecked rear of his carwithout penalty last night and he drove safely through the final day to take second. BehindHirvonen, Toni Gardemeister (Citroen) emerged from a four-way fight to comfortably claim fourthwhile Henning Solberg (Peugeot) just edged out Dani Sordo for fifth. Sordo dropped a minute onthe opening stage when faulty spark plugs gave him engine troubles but recovered to finish just0.8sec behind the Norwegian. Manfred Stohl (Peugeot) was the day's main retirement when theAustrian rolled on the opening stage.

With eight of the 16 rounds completed, the championship breaks for the summer. The actionbegins again with the all-asphalt Rallye Deutschland which is based in Trier on 10 - 13 August.