There's a new leader in the World Rally Championship this weekend with victory for BP Ford's Marcus Gronholm, Finland, over reigning champion Frenchman Sebastian Loeb of Citroen.

Donegal's Shaun Gallagher meanwhile stretched his lead in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship "rookie" class to 16 points over his closest rival following a second place finish in the Citroen C2R2.

"This was a very difficult event in Sardinia with lots of loose gravel and some very fast stages," said Gallagher. "I'm delighted to have finished safely in second and increase the lead overall in the Rookie class. It's a great result for World Rally Team Ireland in our first year in the Championship In his second win of the Championship to date, Gronholm found it difficult to match the pace of his chief rival, but Loeb's error on the first stage of the day left him in a ditch unable to complete the test and giving the advantage to the Ford competitor. Gronholm's team-mate Mikko Hirvonnen finished in second place, moving Ford well up the rankings in the Manufacturer's Championship. The big battle of the day was between Citroen's Danni Sordo of Spain and Stobart VK M-Sport's Henning Solberg, which saw Sordo edge adhead to claim his third podium finish of the season.

The Championship reaches the halfway mark in Greece the first weekend of June, where no doubt Loeb will be looking to put in a first place finish and take back the lead.