Makinen still pulling away

The top six cars are all setting very similar stage times, making it hard for anyone to make any ground. Tommi Makinen is continuing to draw away from the field and was narrowly fastest again on SS16. He is now 1m49s ahead of Juha Kankkunen.

The main battle of interest is the fight for 4th between Thomas Radstrom and Carlos Sainz. The latter needs points to help his title bid, and lost a lot of ground when he had to drive 10kms stuck in 1st gear yesterday. However, Radstrom is carrying the weight of the Ford challenge now that McRae has retired, and has fought back well from his earlier roll. The pair are split by around 6s, with the gap fluctuating with every stage.

The weather has now cleared. Although no break in the heavy rain was forecast, the last few stages have taken place in dry conditions.

Just outside the top ten, Freddy Loix is taking large chunks of time off the cars immediately in front of him. The Mitsubishi should soon overhaul Group N leader Gustavo Trelles for 10th place.

Alister McRae is still running despite his earlier problem, but Kenneth Eriksson now leads Formula 2 by a comfortable margin.

Positions after SS16, Cassidy: