Makinen rules Down Under
Tommi Makinen crashed out of the Rally New Zealand on each of his first three attempts at the event, but he appears to have broken his jinx in 1999. A fastest stage time on SS5 narrowly increases his margin over NZ specialist Colin McRae
Richard Burns dropped from 3rd to 5th after encountering gear selection problems on the last stage, but he wasn't the only one in trouble. Ford's Thomas Radstrom is struggling on without a windscreen after rolling his Focus on SS3. He runs 12th, just behind German Toyota privateer Matthias Kahle.
Harri Rovanpera has been struggling with front differential problems in his SEAT, and is two places behind his incredible team mate Toni Gardemeister. This is Gardemeister's first WRC event in the Cordoba and his first ever experience of the car in wet conditions, but he is closing fast on the two Subaru's.
Formula 2 is currently led by Alister McRae, running 20th overall in his Hyundai. This could be McRae's last event in the F2 Coupe, with the new Hyundai WRC expected to arrive soon.
Overall standings after SS5:
|
1 |
Tommi Makinen |
Mitsubishi |
38m52.2s |
|
2 |
Colin McRae |
Ford |
38m56.0s |
|
3 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toyota |
39m27.4s |
|
4 |
Didier Auriol |
Toyota |
39m31.8s |
|
5 |
Richard Burns |
Subaru |
39m32.0s |
|
6 |
Juha Kankkunen |
Subaru |
39m52.1s |
|
7 |
Toni Gardemeister |
Seat |
40m02.3s |
|
8 |
Possum Bourne |
Subaru |
40m29.5s |
|
9 |
Harri Rovanpera |
Seat |
40m50.4s |
|
10 |
Freddy Loix |
Mitsubishi |
41m15.1s |
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