SS9: Burns sets Saturday pace

However, rally leader Colin McRae and championship rival Marcus Gronholm were only fractions slower through the stage. McRae still leads Gronholm by 21.2secs, with Burns now 56.4 off the lead of a rally he must win if he is to be World Champion. And even if the Subaru driver does manage to claw back the gap, he still has to rely on Peugeot's Gronholm finishing outside the top five. On Gronholm's current form, barring gremlins, that's looking less and less likely.

However, Burns has been thrown a possible lifeline by Gronholm's speed on the road sections rather than on the stages. The Peugeot driver was among several competitors reported by the police for speeding yesterday. Last night the rally organisers imposed a £100 fine for this first offence but the regulations state that a second breach of the Road Traffic Act will bring a 5 minute penalty. Should it happen to Gronholm, the Finn would find himself at the foot of the top 20 while Burns would move a place closer to that crucial win...

But Burns is still pushing, and there are plenty of stage miles left for him to continue his charge. Don't miss a moment of the battle for the World Rally Championship LIVE here on autosport.com.

To see the very latest standings, click HERE.

You can follow the battle between Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns for the World Rally Championship live here on autosport.com. with times coming in from each stage as the cars cross the line, which automatically update the leaderboard.

To see the stage schedule click here. (NOTE: All times are in GMT)

To see current championship standings click here.