Leg 2 update: Makinen closing in

The Subaru ace has moved to within seven seconds of Marcus Gronholm, the man who led the event so comfortably at the end of the first day.

Gronholm lost his advantage of a minute and forty seconds on the opening two stages of the day when his Peuegot 206 WRC suffered hydraulic pressure problems. By the time he had reached service to have it fixed, his lead was just 16 seconds.

This afternoon Makinen has charged to close that gap even more. Three stage wins so far on leg two has left him within striking distance of the World Rally Championship points leader. Makinen has been faster than Gronholm on every test today, bar one of the Super Specials, and now the South American event looks set for a thrilling climax.

"Everything is going to plan," said Makinen. "Actually, we couldn't have made the plan if Marcus hadn't had the problem this morning."

Reigning world champion Richard Burns has maintained a safe third place, taking two stage wins along the way. One of them was on a Super Special, the first time Burns has been fastest on one of the made-for-TV stages.

Colin McRae has won two stages aswell. But he remains a distant sixth following his disappointing first leg performance. His team-mate Carlos Sainz is fifth, just eight seconds behind Petter Solberg's Subaru.

For full times from SS16, click here.

For full rally live timings, click here.

For rally itinerary, click here.

For full entry list, click here.