SS11, Stirling East: No let up

Reigning world champion Marcus Gronholm strengthened his grip on the Rally Australia by going quickest on the opening stage of the second leg, ahead of his nearest challenger Richard Burns

Nov 3, 2001, 1:58 AM

The Peugeot driver was a huge seven seconds quicker than the Englishman over the 35km stage, opening a gap of 11 seconds at the top of the leaderboard. His team mate Didier Auriol, who lies third overall in the standings, was next up a further seven seconds down.

Colin McRae's fears of falling off the pace were realised, the Scot setting a time 37 seconds off Gronholms, thanks to him being forced to start second on the road. He has dropped to fifth behind Harri Rovanpera's Peugeot in the overall standings.

McRae's Ford team mate Carlos Sainz still managed the sixth best time of the stage, depsite losing his power steering. Meanwhile Toshihiro Arai's rally came to an end when his Subaru hit a tree.

For full times from SS11, click here.

For full rally live timings, click here.

For rally itinerary, click here.

For full entry list, click here.