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Bad start for McRae and Burns

Local heroes Richard Burns and Colin McRae wilted under the spotlight during the early stages of Rally GB, and both are now in need of some serious luck and/or inspiration if they are to stand any chance of taking the final WRC win of the season

McRae was the first to fluff his lines, losing a minute on SS2 after missing a junction. Burns' stagefright kicked in a stage later when he knocked a pipe of his 206's turbo with an off-road incident on SS3.

This too cost him over a minute as the Peugeot lost boost pressure and thus power, leaving the 2001 world champion a whopping 1m40s down on the leader, Marcus Gronholm.

McRae is just four seconds ahead of his arch rival, handing the honour of top Brit to Mark Higgins, who followed up his strong showing in Thursday's Super Special with some competitive times, and is currently running in eighth position.

The other Brit, Justin Dale, went into his first WRC event knowing that his priority was to bring his Mitsubishi Lancer to the finish. However, the excitement seemed to get the better of him too, and a roll on SS2 cost him over two minutes, although the car escaped with only cosmetic damage.

Another early casualty was MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi. The motorcycle ace crashed out of his first WRC event on SS2.

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