SS8: Rovanpera on the cusp of the lead
Harri Rovanpera moved to the verge of glory and the Swedish Rally lead on the second stage of leg two, when overnight leader Carlos Sainz struck trouble. The Scandinavian snow rally is now really starting to burn, Rovanpera is just 0.3s behind Sainz and the top four cars are covered by only 12.4s
Ford man Sainz and Peugeot's Rovanpera are coming under increasing pressure from Mitsubishi duo Tommi Makinen and Thomas Radstrom, who were quickest of the leading runners through the 27.79km Nyhammer 1 stage, Makinen just 0.3s slower than flying comeback man Colin McRae and a second quicker than Subaru's Richard Burns. Makinen is now clearly the man on the move and it looks to be only a matter of time before the Monte Carlo winner tops the leaderboard.
Sainz came out of SS7, the first of the leg, complaining of problems despite a reasonably quick stage time, but the as-yet-unspecified gremlins appear to have taken a greater toll in Nyhammer 1, as the Spaniard only able to set the 11th fastest time. First on the road, he had to sit and watch his lead almost vanish completely on just one stage.
Sainz's old Toyota team mate Didier Auriol is also on the wane. The Peugeot driver has been slow on both this morning's stages and he has now dropped from fourth overall overnight to seventh, losing out to both Francois Delecour's Ford and Kenneth Eriksson's Hyundai in Nyhammer 1. Subaru's Petter Sohlberg is next and closing.
Skoda's Armin Schwarz, the surprise star of the Monte Carlo Rally a fortnight ago, and 11th after SS7, hit the limit of his luck 9kms into Nyhammer 1. His Octavia WRC left the road and the German is out of the rally.
Colin McRae's remarkable charge continues after he lost six minutes in a snow bank yesterday. He is now just 4m02.5s behind leader Sainz. The Scot has now moved ahead of Jani Paasonen's Focus WRC to occupy 14th place overall. Richard Burns's task remains an even tougher one after his 13-minute delay, but the Subaru star continues to outpace all but McRae, and now the flying Makinen, on the stages.
Colin McRae (GB)/Nicky Grist(GB), Ford Focus RS WRC*, 14m43.4s
Tommi Makinen (FIN)/Risto Mannisenmaki(FIN), Mitsubishi Lancer*, 14m43.7s
Richard Burns (GB)/Robert Reid(GB), Subaru Impreza WRC*, 14m44.7s
Thomas Radstrom (S)/Tina Thorner (S), Mitsubishi Carisma GT, 14m49.3s
Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 14m49.6s
Markko Martin(EST)/Michael Park(GB), Subaru Impreza WRC, 14m55.1s
Carlos Sainz (E)/Luis Moya(E), Ford Focus RS WRC*, 1hr48m36.3s
Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, +0.3s
Thomas Radstrom (S)/Tina Thorner (S), Mitsubishi Carisma GT, +10.4s
Tommi Makinen (FIN)/Risto Mannisenmaki(FIN), Mitsubishi Lancer*, +12.4s
Francois Delecour (F)/Daniel Grataloup (F), Ford Focus RS WRC, +44.0s
Kenneth Eriksson (S)/Staffan Parmander (S), Hyundai Accent WRC*, +54.1s
*denotes nominated for manufacturers' championship points
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