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SS9, Atkins: Carlos bullish

With less than five seconds covering the top four positions, there isn't much to separate the frontrunners on the first day of Rally Australia, however Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm has his nose just out in front after the short 4.42km Atkins test

Gronholm has a two-second lead over Richard Burns after the final proper stage of the day, as the rally now heads back to Perth for the Super Special at Langley Park. Gronholm therefore has the honour of choosing the prime starting position for Saturday's stages.

Carlos Sainz racked up his second stage win in a row, but despite this, things are definitely not going his way. His car has been on fire, he picked up a penalty for arriving late at a time control and to top it off he has now arrived early at another time control, landing himself another minute of penalties. He's now four mintues off Gronholm's time overall.

Didier Auriol was second fastest on Atkins, with his team mate Harri Rovanpera pushing him hard in third. Richard Burns' fourth fastest time on Atkins was enough for the Englishman to keep his second place overall, albeit just two seconds clear of the charging Auriol in third.

After leading the rally briefly, Colin McRae now finds himself in fourth after setting the fifth fastest time on SS9.

Gronholm was sixth fastest through Atkins, setting an identical time to Australian Rally champion, New Zealander Possum Bourne in the Subaru.

Tommi Makinen, Gilles Panizzi and Petter Solberg round out the top 10 as the rally heads back to Perth for the Super Special.

For full times from SS9, click here.

For full rally live timings, click here.

For rally itinerary, click here.

For full entry list, click here.

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