Sect. 9, Mbaruk 2: Makinen hits home

The flying Finn had relaxed his pace on the previous two sections, but despite rain on the final test, Makinen came back at the end of the day to show his rivals that there was little or no chance of catching him on pace alone.

Makinen's overnight lead stands at a massive 6m14s from Harri Rovanpera in the sole remaining Peugeot in second place. Fellow Finn Rovanpera finished in the same position on the final section ahead of Armin Schwarz's Skoda in third.

Surprise performance of section nine came from Freddy Lox in the second Mitsubishi. The Belgian has had a torrid day and clearly decided to end the leg on a high by setting the fourth fastest time. The Mitsubishis clearly liked the wet conditions.

Pacesetter of the day (Saturday) was Petter Solberg, who took three stage wins, but the Subaru star, like the others, could not get near Makinen on section nine and with suspension trouble blighting his Impreza WRC, he finished 2m05s behind the leader in fifth place.

Bruno Thiry helped to keep the Skoda marque on course for a double helping of points by finishing sixth fastest and maintaining his overall position at the foot of the top six.

Francois Delecour was struck by driveshaft problems on the second leg's first test and the Frenchman's form was up and down from then on. The Final test of the day proved to be a down, and Delecour finished seventh and held on to fifth overall.

For Sect. 9, Mbaruk results click here.

For full live timings table click here.