End of Day 1: Burns in control

The Oxford driver holds an overnight lead of 4m28s over his Subaru team mate Juha Kankkunen and sees no reason why he can't extend that lead tomorrow when the event criss-crosses the Equator.

Didier Auriol was the other stage winner today and his SEAT Cordoba holds third behind the Subarus, just 7m37s behind Burns - no distance at all in Safari terms.

Auriol's win on the first stage of the day marked SEAT's first ever lead in a World Championship rally and it is not impossible for the team to reach Sunday evening celebrating its first win.

The trio are all running on Pirelli tyres and it is this factor that has made the big difference on a day when Michelin-equipped teams have battled in vain against punctures and Pirelli has survived without a single deflation.

Carlos Sainz criticised the French company before the event and both Colin McRae and Tommi Makinen have slammed their lack of resistance to punctures during the day.

"Every year we come here we ask Michelin to make stronger tyres and still they haven't done what we asked," he said.

Three punctures on one stage may have indirectly led to suspension failure and, in turn, caused an electrical connection to fail and put the world champion out of the event after the second test today.

Suspension problems nearly out both Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz out of the event but valiant efforts by both drivers maintained their presence in what is living up to its reputation as the World's toughest rally.

Overall times after stage four: