The World Rally Championship heads to the French Island of Corsica on October 19th and as the 2001 series moves towards its conclusion, a four-way fight is brewing for the championship.

The standings heading into the latest round of the series see four-time champion Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi) and Briton Colin McRae (Ford) level on points with just three events to go. The last round of the series, the San Remo Rally of Italy was a disaster for both title protagonists, as they failed to add to their point's scores. Makinen drove the new World Rally spec Mitsubishi Lancer in Italy, and despite numerous problems, the Finn had scored top ten stage times before he ended his rally with three wheels, two stages from the end.

McRae, whose Ford Focus, and the Pirelli tyres which it runs on, are not ideally suited to tarmac events consequently finished in eighth position in San Remo. This was an acceptable result, and the Scot will be hoping for a top six finish in Corsica. Subaru's Richard Burns had moved himself into contention for the championship after winning last month's New Zealand rally, only to crash out of the San Remo rally on the first stage. The only one of the championship protagonists to score in Italy was the Spanish charger Carlos Sainz, who scored three points and moved up to third in the title challenge.

Forming part of an asphalt double-header, the winner in Corsica is likely to be one of the asphalt specialist drivers who dominated in Italy. The winner of the San Remo, was Frenchman Gilles Panizzi. He took a convincing win, while team-mate Didier Auriol finished third. Specialists on asphalt come no better than the Citroen team, whose Xsara WRC has been specially designed for the tarmac events. Drivers Philippe Bugalski, Jesus Puras and Sebastien Loeb are all looking for victory in Corsica. Puras and Bugalski both scored 3 fastest stage times on day one, with Puras heading the field into the overnight service halt.

However, both would be sidelined early on day two, leaving Loeb to take the fight to the established works teams which he did by finishing an excellent second, despite driving a WRC car for the first time. The third Peugeot, in the hands of last year's champion, Marcus Gronholm will be looking for a strong showing in Corsica, after a poor season so far. Another looking for a strong performance in Corsica is another asphalt specialist, Francois Delecour, in the third Ford, who claimed sixth place on the San Remo Rally.

Richard Burns has three teammates at Subaru, with the highest scoring so far, the young Norwegian Petter Solberg, who claimed ninth in Italy. The Japanese Toshi Arai, and Estonian Markko Martin will be looking to bounce back from non-finishes in Italy; Martin's car ending its rally at the bottom of a 80ft ravine.

Freddy Loix drove the second works Mitsubishi in Italy, and despite various teething troubles, managed to finish in twelfth position. Completing the field are the Hyundai crews of Alister McRae and Piero Liatti, and the Skodas of Bruno Thiry and Armin Schwarz.

In the manufacturer's battle, Ford hold a 16 point lead over the Mitsubishi team, who scored just a single point in Italy. Peugeot and Subaru are next up.

Driver's championship:
1. Tommi Makinen 40
= Colin McRae 40
3. Carlos Sainz 33
4. Richard Burns 31
5. Harri Rovanpera 27
6. Gilles Panizzi 16
= Marcus Gronholm 16
8 Didier Auriol 15
= Francois Delecour 15
9 Freddy Loix 9
= Petter Solberg 9

Manufacturer's championship:
1. Ford 83
2. Mitsubishi 67
3. Peugeot 60
4. Subaru 48
5. Skoda 15
6. Hyundai 10