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Former world champion Colin McRae survived a broken front shock absorber and a fierce challenge from Kenneth Eriksson to win the inaugural 555 China Rally yesterday.

 A faultless drive by McRae looked like amounting to nothing when the broken shock absorber slowed his march to victory, but he finally recovered to win by 45 seconds.

 Seemingly out on his own with an overnight lead of one minute and 37 seconds, the Scot was instantly under siege from Eriksson, his 555 Subaru World Rally Team teammate.

  The Swede carved 44 seconds off the overnight buffer during the 25-kilometre 17th stage to turn what looked like a procession into a thriller.

 McRae was forced to nurse his ailing Impreza through the next two stages before mechanics were able to repair the damage at a service point.

  By that time, his lead had shrunk to only 32 seconds.

 'I had to take it easy on those three stages because of the broken shock absorber. I couldn't run the risk of doing further damage,' he said.

 As he had done throughout the rally, McRae answered Eriksson's stirring comeback to claim the best times for the closing two stages, even though the victory margin could have been less if the Swede's windscreen wipers hadn't failed during a long watersplash.

  McRae completed the 21 special stages of 369 kilometres over three days in three hours, 31 minutes and 52 seconds.

 The victory was just compensation for 28-year-old McRae, who was forced to play second fiddle to legendary Finn Ari Vatanen when he won the 1993 555 Hong Kong to Beijing Rally, a title McRae thought he could have won if not for team orders.

 Eriksson profited from a changed rear suspension geometry during the final five stages yesterday.

 'I think the rally has been really fantastic from a driver's point of view,' he said.

 Japanese Yoshio Fujimoto, driving the Tein Sport Toyota Celica, held station in third place, a position he dominated from the opening stage last Saturday, to complete a clean sweep of the top three places for Group A cars.

 The second Tein Sport car, driven by another Japanese, Shigeyuki Konishi, finished fourth overall and first in Group N (for near-stock standard cars). Driving a Subaru Impreza, he also suffered a broken shock absorber on stage 17, but had built such a large lead over fifth-placed Rudi Stohl in an Audi S2 Coupe that he was never under serious threat.

 Hong Kong's husband and wife team of Chan Chi-wah and Tang Po-lin won the honours as the top Chinese outfit in the their Mitsubishi Lancer.

  It was a fine race for the 555 Hong Kong to Beijing Rally veterans, who finished sixth overall and second in Group N.

 Mainland Chinese driver Lu Ningjun, also driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, looked likely to mount a serious challenge after lying only 42 seconds adrift overnight. But onboard computer problems saw Lu's car down on power as he eventually finished 2:16 adrift.



Victory secured as McRae answers every challenge