SS9, La Riba 1: Bugalski hits the front

For the second stage in a row, Puras was slightly off the pace. His Xsara T4 was also beaten over the 35.89km of La Riba 1 by the Peugeot of Didier Auriol.

Fourth fastest was the flying Francois Delecour, who is now again ahead of his team mate Carlos Sainz as the Ford team's France vs Spain match mirrors the Citroen camp's version of the tie.

Richard Burns is now up to ninth place, his sixth fastest time over the stage enough to move him ahead of Bruno Thiry's Skoda. Burns' troubled Subaru team mate Markko Martin's problems are growing.

The Estonian was a full two and a half minutes off the pace over the stage. A time just over a minute off Bugalski's suggests that Alister McRae's Hyundai woes are far from over too.


Philippe Bugalski, Citroen, 21m56.6s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, 22m05.0s
Jesus Puras, Citroen, 22m06.0s
Francois Delecour, Ford, 22m12.1s
Tommi Makinen, Mitsubishi, 22m16.6s
Richard Burns, Subaru, 22m16.9s



Philippe Bugalski, Citroen, 1h54m38.1s
Jesus Puras, Citroen, +2.5s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, +20.7s
Gilles Panizzi, Peugeot, +47.9s
Tommi Makinen, Mitsubishi, +1m01.1s
Freddy Loix, Mitsubishi, +1m47.5s
Francois Delecour, Ford, +1m48.5s
Carlos Sainz, Ford, +1m53.0s
Richard Burns, Subaru, +2m23.2s
Simon Jean-Joseph, Peugeot, +3m10s