Makinen pulls away
Tommi Makinen continued to extend his lead on the 555 China Rally after four stages
The Finn was fastest again on SS4, Tou Dao Xue, and now leads Richard Burns by nearly 30s. Didier Auriol is closing in on the Subaru in third place, while Carlos Sainz is now fourth ahead of Juha Kankkunen.
There are already concerns about the stages due to be used later in the day. Heavy rain has left them all saturated, and deep ruts were formed on SS1 Qi Dao He after the cars had passed. This stage is due to be used again as SS5. The following stage is confirmed as cancelled due to the conditions.
Toshihiro Arai has taken over the Group N lead and moved up to eighth overall, while Volcan Isik is the best of the FIA Teams' Cup contenders for Toyota Team Turkey and Alister McRae leads Formula Two for Hyundai.
Positions after SS4:
|
1 |
Tommi Makinen |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
33m42.1s |
|
2 |
Richard Burns |
Subaru Impreza |
34m10.9s |
|
3 |
Didier Auriol |
Toyota Corolla |
34m15.9s |
|
4 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toyota Corolla |
34m33.1s |
|
5 |
Juha Kankkunen |
Subaru Impreza |
34m33.5s |
|
6 |
Piero Liatti |
SEAT Cordoba |
35m08.7s |
|
7 |
Harri Rovanpera |
SEAT Cordoba |
35m14.7s |
|
8 |
Toshihiro Arai |
Subaru Impreza |
36m15.4s |
|
9 |
Volcan Isik |
Toyota Corolla |
36m38.1s |
|
10 |
Abdullah Bakhashab |
Toyota Corolla |
36m47.4s |
|
11 |
Freddy Loix |
Mitsubishi Carisma |
36m57.2s |
|
12 |
Jesus Puras |
Toyota Corolla |
37m25.0s |
|
13 |
Hamed Al Wahaibi |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
37m35.6s |
|
14 |
Gustavo Trelles |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
37m49.3s |
|
15 |
Fumio Nutahara |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
38m02.3s |
|
16 |
Shigeyuki Konishi |
Subaru Impreza |
39m27.0s |
|
17 |
Alister McRae |
Hyundai Coupe |
40m53.6s |
|
18 |
Kenneth Eriksson |
Hyundai Coupe |
41m39.2s |
|
19 |
Saladin Mazlan |
Proton Wira |
41m39.5s |
|
20 |
Yoshihiro Kataoka |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
42m23.5s |
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