SS12: Rovanpera stays ahead

The Finn goes into the overnight halt at the top of the leaderboard, menaced by the Mitsubishi twins Tommi Makinen and Thomas Radstrom, the three separated by just 12.4s with five stages to run.

Swede Kenneth Eriksson proved you don't need many gears to run well on a Superspecial. The Hyundai ace had no gears higher than third, but was just 0.6s slower than Rovanpera, whose two-minute time over the two-kilometre stage means an average speed of exactly 60kph - around 37mph...

Though Rovanpera, Makinen and Radstrom go into leg three as victory favourites, Carlos Sainz is still in the frame, just 28.5s adrift and likely to derive some advantage from starting behind his rivals on the road. The Spaniard was third fastest on SS12, just 0.8s slower than Rovanpera. Makinen was a solid fourth fastest with Peugeot drivers Didier Auriol and Toni Gardemeister tying for fifth fastest time. Radstrom and Freddy Loix in the third Mitsubishi were seventh and eighth fastest, with youngster Daniel Carlsson continuing to impress with ninth fastest.

Colin McRae, still suffering from his tyre-choice gamble for SS11, dropped 8.6s to Rovanpera on the stage, while Richard Burns was in a similar situation in the Subaru, 5.6s off the pace. Both are going into the final leg with the aim of picking up manufacturer points - a tall order for Burns, but not such a wild quest for McRae.


Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 2m00.0s
Kenneth Eriksson (S)/Staffan Parmander (S), Hyundai Accent WRC*, 2m00.6s
Carlos Sainz (E)/Luis Moya(E), Ford Focus RS WRC*, 2m00.8s
Tommi Makinen (FIN)/Risto Mannisenmaki(FIN), Mitsubishi Lancer*, 2m01.5s
Didier Auriol(F)/Denis Giraudet(F), Peugeot 206 WRC*, 2m01.9s
Toni Gardemeister (FIN)/ Paavo Lukander (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 2m01.9s


Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 2hr33m09.9s
Tommi Makinen (FIN)/Risto Mannisenmaki(FIN), Mitsubishi Lancer*, +7.3s
Thomas Radstrom (S)/Tina Thorner (S), Mitsubishi Carisma GT*, +12.4s
Carlos Sainz (E)/Luis Moya(E), Ford Focus RS WRC*, +28.5s
Francois Delecour (F)/Daniel Grataloup (F), Ford Focus RS WRC, +1m22.0s
Didier Auriol(F)/Denis Giraudet(F), Peugeot 206 WRC*, +1m28.6s

*denotes nominated for manufacturers' championship points