Major test for Burns on final day in Greece

The Oxford-based Subaru driver holds a 17.2 second advantage over the Toyota of Spain's Carlos Sainz having maintained the lead he gained on Monday.

Burns took a tactical penalty on Monday evening to run fourth on the road through Tuesday's stages and he made full use of the cleaner road surface to regain his lead immediately.

However, plans to stretch an advantage out to a minute by the end of the day were scuppered when his high-tech electronic gearbox failed after a watersplash.

'We couldn't select gears at all,' he said. 'We had to reset the electronics three times before we got going again.'

Burns was unable to prevent World Champion Tommi Makinen from taking the lead but subsequently powered ahead again.

However, the pressure of trying to fend off three World Champions nearly proved too much when Burns came within inches of disaster three stages from the end of the day.

'It was a fairly slow right hander,' explained Burns. 'I cut the line too tight and the car went up on two wheels.

'I only just caught it from rolling but when it came back down the front wheels were over the edge of the road. Another inch or two and they would have had to fetch us by helicopter.'

Burns was now under attack from Sainz, Makinen and Colin McRae, three drivers with five championships between them.

'I'm quite happy to be second at this moment,' explained Sainz.

'There is no advantage to be first on the road when we start the final leg.'

Makinen was trying to defend his third place from the hard-charging McRae who insisted the event win was still within his grasp.

However his challenge ended with two stages to run, the Ford Focus limping through the day's penultimate stage with only first gear and had to give up the unequal struggle before the final stage.

McRae's championship hopes have most probably been dashed although, with six events still to run, the Scot still has a chance to hit back.

The day claimed two more top drivers. Burns' team mate Juha Kankkunen was forced to retire when his suspension collapsed while SEAT's Piero Liatti survived a high speed roll on the same stage that had claimed his team mate Harri Rovanpera 24 hours earlier.

Five stages, totalling around 60 miles, stand between Burns and his first win of the season. He has proved he can outrun the best in the world but now he faces his longest day.

Leading positions after Second Leg