Rally Argentina: Results Leg One

Sainz blasted his Ford into the lead on SS6 today, the same stage where both SEATs shuddered to a halt with clutch failure after attempting to deal with six of the event's 39 water crossings.

The Spaniard ousted Finland's Marcus Gronholm from the top spot while McRae is currently lying third after a relatively trouble-free day in the Focus.

Burns, by comparison, has had a nightmare. The sandy surface has clogged his Subaru radiators, causing the engine to overheat and cut to 'safe' mode. Water got into his turbo system and the throttle has also been sticking. He is sixth overnight, but the team believes that he could be best placed to attack on tomorrow's fast stages to the south of Cordoba.

Between McRae and Burns lie Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen, both equally sure that they can move up tomorrow. Leg two looks set to provide some close rallying.

ARGENTINA RALLY - POSITIONS AFTER SS9

1 Sainz/Moya, Ford Racing Focus WRC, 1h27m42.3
2 Gronholm/Rautiainen, Peugeot 206 WRC, +4.2s
3 C McRae/Grist, Ford Racing Focus WRC, +24.1s
4 Kankkunen/Repo, Subaru Impreza WRC2000, +31.6s
5 Makinen/Mannisenmaki, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, +34.0s
6 Burns/Reid, Subaru Impreza WRC2000, +39.6s
7 Loix/Smeets, Mitsubishi Carisma GT, +1m48.3
8 A McRae/Senior, Hyundai Accent WRC, +2m43.8
9 Solberg/Mills, Ford Racing Focus WRC, +3m30.6
10 Trelles/Del Buono, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 (N), +5m41.2