SS16 latest: Makinen out of rally

The Finn stopped six kilometres into Stage 16, the last stage of leg two, and had to retire from the rally.

Toyota driver Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in the stage, despite having to start with four punctured tyres.

He has put in a time of 0.14.26.1.

The Spaniard is followed by Subaru driver Richard Burns, who was two seconds ahead of overall leader Didier Auriol.

The rain returned with a vengeance during the final stage of the day.

'I am very happy with the way things have gone today,' said Auriol. 'The car has felt very good and we have just been trying to avoid trouble.

'The opening section was really rough, especially in the first kilometre, and we hit one very big rock that was comletely unavoidable.

'Fortunately there was no damage, but we then had a puncture doing the same in stage 12 and, although the ATS anti-deflation mousse worked, we lost a bit of time.

'The last stage was just unbelievable. It was so slippery - you could be in sixth gear at 180kph and try to brake and the car just wouldn't slow down, it kept sliding and sliding.

'It happened many times and was very difficult on the heart. It was a nightmare, I never want to do that again.'

1. C Sainz - 0.14.26.1

2. R Burns - 0.14.26.3

3. D Auriol - 0.14.28.4

4. J Kankkunen - 14.40.2

5. H Rovanpera - 15.21.1

6. H Al Wahaibi - 0.15.58.4

7. T Arai - 0.16.01.3

8. V Isik - 0.16.36.0

9. G Trelles - 0.16.37.5

10. F Nutahara - 0.17.18.6