SS2, Alpens - Les Llosses 1: Makinen fights back
Tommi Makinen fought back to within 1.1s of early leader Jesus Puras after the Mitsubishi driver stormed the second stage of the Catalunya Rally. The Finn, who leads the WRC points with three rallies run, was 3.7s faster than the flying Citroen of the Spanish asphalt ace
Peugeot's filled the third and fourth slots on the 21.80km Alpens-Les Llosses stage, with world champion Marcus Gronholm edging Dider Auriol by 0.4s.
Freddy Loix, who was brought up on Belgian tarmac, continued to impress with fifth place in the second Mitsubishi, with Ford's Francois Delecour completing the top six.
Ford's three-car effort's inability to break into the top three on the opening two stages has been something of a surprise. Carlos Sainz, cheered on for the first time by his home fans after foot and mouth concerns saw spectators banned from SS1, was only 10th fastest, 12.9s off the pace and complaining of understeer, while Colin McRae, who won the rally last year, was 11th.
Richard Burns could manage only 12th, with neither Hyundai making a dent on the top 15.
Tommi Makinen, Mitsubishi, 13m30.3s
Jesus Puras, Citroen, 13.34.0s
Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, 13m34.7s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, 13m35.1
Freddy Loix, Mitsubishi, 13m36.7s
Francois Delecour, Ford, 13m37.9s
Jesus Puras, Citroen, 21m58.8s
Tommi Makinen, Mitsubishi, +1.1s
Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, +1.9s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, +2.1s
Gilles Panizzi, Peugeot, +6.8s
Freddy Loix, Mitsubishi, +10.4s
Petter Solberg, Subaru, +10.6s
Francois Delecour, Ford, +11.1s
Richard Burns, Subaru, +13.9s
Philippe Bugalski, Citroen, +15.1s
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