SS3, Te Papatapu 1: Solberg again...
Subaru's Petter Solberg closed in on rally leader Marcus Gronholm on the third of the day's stages, taking his second stage win in a row, the 16.62km Te Papatapu 1 test. The Norwegian is just over a second behind Gronholm's Peugeot 206 WRC, who finished the stage fourth fastest
The Hyundai's are working well at the moment on New Zealand, with Kenneth Eriksson setting the second fastest time in his Accent. Team mate Alister McRae could only manage the seventh fastest time on SS3, but he still keeps his third place in the overall classification, with Eriksson two places back.
Carlos Sainz was third quickest on the first run through Te Papatapu, the Spaniard less than three seconds off Solberg's time. Behind Gronholm, Francois Delecour and Neil Wearden set identical times on SS3, completing the stage in 11m03.9s.
Championship contenders Tommi Makinen and Colin McRae are finding Leg 1 difficult so far. The men who are first and second in the standings - and therefore first and second on the road on Friday - are struggling to set competitive times as they clear the gravel and show the lines for the cars running behind them. McRae has dropped to sixth overall, 15 seconds behind Gronholm. But Makinen is now over a minute off the leaders, down in 15th overall.
Petter Solberg, Subaru, 11m00.2s
Kenneth Eriksson, Hyundai, +02.0s
Carlos Sainz, Ford, +02.7s
Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, +02.9s
Francois Delecour, Ford, +03.7s
Neil Wearden, Peugoet, +03.7s
1 Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, 32m47.7s
Petter Solberg, Subaru, +0.1.3s
Alister McRae, Hyundai, +05.9s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, +11.2s
Kenneth Eriksson, Hyundai, +11.6s
Colin McRae, Ford, +15.1s
Carlos Sainz, Ford, +17.7s
Francois Delecour, Ford, +18.4s
Harri Rovanpera, Peugeot, +28.7s
Possum Bourne, Subaru, +32.5s
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