SS5, Whaanga Coast: Auriol/Eriksson
Didier Auriol looked as though he had broken the Scandinavian stranglehold at the top of the timesheets after flying through SS5, the 29.52km Whaanga Coast test, nearly 10 seconds faster than team mate and rally leader Marcus Gronholm. However Swede Kenneth Eriksson in the Hyundai Accent, who has been running well all morning, popped up with an identical time to the 1994 world champion
Auriol and Eriksson move up to third and fourth overall and within striking distance of Gronholm, who was fourth fastest on Whaanga Coast, just behind the second Hyundai of Alister McRae.
Petter Solberg continued to fly the flag for Subaru with his fifth fastest time on the stage. The gap between himself and the rally leader is now seven seconds. However the Norwegian will need to be wary of flying Frenchman Auriol since the gap between the two overall is less than a second.
Freddy Loix seems to be Mitisubishi's only hope with Tommi Makinen and Toni Gardemeister languishing down the times. However the Belgian, who was sixth on the stage and lies ninth overall, isn't nominated to score manufacturers' points in New Zealand.
Local hero Possum Bourne broke into the top 10 in the overall standings after setting the seventh fastest time on SS5 in his 2000-spec Subaru. Bourne, who recently wrapped up his sixth consecutive Australian title, lies 52 seconds behind Gronholm and ahead of Subaru team leader Richard Burns.
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, 21m28.2s
Kenneth Eriksson, Hyundai, +0.0s
Alister McRae, Hyundai, +08.8s
Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, +09.2s
Petter Solberg, Subaru, +04.5s
Freddy Loix, Mitsubishi, +13.1s
1 Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, 1h02m28.8s
Petter Solberg, Subaru, +07.3s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, +07.8s
Kenneth Eriksson, Hyundai, +10.0s
Alister McRae, Hyundai, +14.9s
Francois Delecour, Ford, +30.7s
Carlos Sainz, Ford, +36.3s
Colin McRae, Ford, +48.9s
Freddy Loix, Mitsubishi, +51.3s
Possum Bourne, Subaru, +52.9s
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