SS17, Otorohea Trig: Short spurt
The first stage on Rally New Zealand's leg three was also the day's shortest test, with competitors negotiating just 4.62km on Otorohea Trig. Since the stage just took three minutes to complete, there was never going to be big changes on the leaderboard, and as Marcus Gronholm set the fastest time, Colin McRae cut just five second's into leader Richard Burns' overnight advantage
Gronholm's Peugeot 206 WRC completed the stage in 3m06s, with Ford's Francois Delecour one second behind. Subaru's young gun Petter Solberg was a further tenth of a second back than the Frenchman in third.
Toni Gardemeister, who has endured a difficult Rally New Zealand, popped up with the fourth fastest time. And Kenneth Eriksson, who actually led the rally on Friday evening, was fifth in his Hyundai Accent, followed by Ford duo Carlos Sainz and McRae.
Didier Auriol and Alister McRae set identical times on SS17 to finish eighth, with Tommi Makinen rounding out the top 10.
Richard Burns had expected to be at a disadvantage on Sunday's first stages, as he cleared the gravel for others to follow. And that proved to be the case on Otorohea Trig, finishing seven seconds off Gronholm's time.
For SS17, Otorohea Trig results results, click here.
For full live timings table click here.
For full entry list click here.
For the itinerary click here.
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