SS8, Perinaldo 1: Bugalski retires

Having crashed on the previous stage, Bugalski went off again and this time the consequences were more serious than a broken front bumper. He smacked his right rear wheel which broke a wishbone and appeared to severe an electrical connection, because he lost fuel pressure.

As Bugalski's fortunes faltered, those of Peugeot's Didier Auriol took an upturn. He took his first stage win of the rally and stormed ahead of Sebastien Loeb's Citroen in the overall standings to hold second place. But Auriol has a lot of work to do if he is to catch his team mate Gilles Panizzi. The Frenchman holds a 35 second advantage at the front of the field.

Bugalski's demise has promoted Carlos Sainz to fourth, but Ford team mate Francois Delecour has lost out on this stage. Italian Renato Travaglia was fourth quickest on Perinaldo which was good enough to bump him up to sixth ahead of the Frenchman.

Joint world championship leader Colin McRae has moved up to 10th overall, despite being delayed by a puncture. His title rival Tommi Makinen is right behind him in 11th and has closed to within three seconds of the Scot.

For SS8 Perinaldo 1 results, click here.

For full live timings table click here.

For full entry list click here.

For the itinerary click here.