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World Rally Championship leader Marcus Gronholm has refused to give up in the title race after seeing rival Sebastien Loeb take full advantage of his spectacular exit from Rally Ireland.


BP Ford's Gronholm hit a wall in the fourth stage on Friday near Sligo while running third behind Citroen duo Loeb and Dani Sordo.


The Finn was taken to hospital for medical checks, although both he and co-driver Timo Rautianinen were released hours later.


More lasting damage may, however, have been done to Gronholm's hopes of clinching a third drivers' crown after Frenchman Loeb, who needs to win both in Ireland and Britain to seal the title, consolidated his lead this morning.


And Gronholm admitted: "It will be hard to lift the drivers' championship if Sebastien Loeb wins this weekend, but there are a lot of kilometres remaining here and on the final round in Great Britain, so I'm not giving up yet."

Gronholm Still Full Of Hope - Yahoo! Eurosport UK