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In the end, points difference between champion and runner-up was five points. One podium finish more for Marcus was all it needed and had Richard not rolled his Impreza after flying finish in Finland...
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French team was behind early season but impressive 1-2's on tarmac and Marcus' maturity sealed the championship for them, in the end with clear margin. Decisive moment was Australia as their closest rival Ford lost both cars and Marcus moved up to top step after Tommi's exclusion.
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Statistics of rally leaders and stage winners reveal interesting curiosity. Burns won over 50% more stages than Gronholm but yet Marcus led almost twice the distance. This underlines the speed of new Impeza WRC2000 but also the fact that Burns had to fight back to lead from behind far more often than Marcus who scored start-to-finish wins twice.
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Two notable changes took place in stage statistics. Firstly, New Zealand got special permit to run 59 km long Parahi - Ararua -stage, comfortably longest in the championship. Secondly, newly introduced Cyprus had six out of ten slowest stages. Also, in average speeds Cyprus was clearly slowest event.
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