SS14: Burns again...
Richard Burns at last took a decent sized chunk out of Colin McRae's Rally Argentina lead as he outpaced the field by 5.4s on the second run through the Amboy stage. McRae was still second quickest but the gap between the two Britons is once again below 40 seconds
Tommi Makinen was third fastest and after rectifying his driveshaft problems, the Finn is on the move up the leaderboard again, this time at the expense of fellow countryman Marcus Gronholm.
Defending champion Gronholm lost 1m46.5s to Burns on the 17.48km stage and dropped to sixth overall as his Peugeot 206 lost its power steering and then hydraulic pressure in the differential. The car is now in service and should be restoired to full health before the final stage of the day.
Makinen is now up to fifth place, just 16.6s behind Petter Solberg, who also moves up at the expense of Gronholm. Solberg had problems of his own in the stage, losing third and fifth gears. He was nevertheless eighth fastest and only 13.9s adrift of team mate Burns' mark.
Ford's Carlos Sainz and Francois Delecour were fourth and fifth fastest on the stage to keep up their good progress. Sainz looks increasingly comfortable in third, 1m18s ahead of Solberg, while Delecour is closing in on a points finish, just 18.1s behind Gronholm in sixth.
Another ninth fastest stage time for Alister McRae has brought the Hyundai driver up into 12th place overall.
Head of Engineering for Skoda Motorsport Dr Jens Pohlmann, who was hit by a rogue fire truck in the Calamuchita service area earlier today, (Saturday) is in a stable condition. Dr Pohlmann was taken to the Hospital de Urgencia in Cordoba after breaking his pelvis and at least four ribs on his left hemithorax. He is conscious and conversing with doctors.
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