BANBURY'S Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg finished the Acropolis Rally of Greece with a flourish by winning every gravel stage of the final leg.

But even Solberg's best efforts weren't enough to make up for the time lost through no fault of his own in a crash with an oncoming car on a road section on Saturday and he ended the rally seventh overall. Chris Atkinson also had a mountain to climb after his own problems earlier in the rally. The Australian drove well throughout the day and moved up two places to finish 11th.

Marcus Gronholm claimed the event win, his third World Rally Championship victory of the year, with Sebastien Loeb second and Mikko Hirvonen third.

Subaru World Rally Team sporting director Luis Moya said: "We came here to fight for the win and we cannot help feel that through circumstances we could not control that this has not been possible. Petter's stage wins today clearly demonstrated that the car and Pirelli tyres can fight at the top of the leaderboard, so it is all the more disappointing to leave with this result. Chris has worked hard to overcome his early problem in the rally and has at times shown his promise. We know we still have much work to do in the next two months, however we are confident that we can be competitive in the second half of the year."

After a nine week mid-season break, the World Rally Championship gets underway again on August 11 with Rally Germany. The asphalt rally is based in the city of Trier and includes stages run in the Mosel vineyards.