Stage 14: Burns consolidates his lead

The Englishman was fastest yet again on Stirling West and is now nearly nine seconds ahead of main rival Carlos Sainz.

Behind the two leaders, the order is fairly settled. Tommi Makinen runs third and will not be challenged by his Mitsubishi team-mate Freddy Loix, the Belgian finally regaining some of his old speed on this event.

Loix has had a disappointing season, badly affected by an enormous accident on the Safari Rally in February. This is the first time since then that he has looked truly competitive.

The two SEATs are still fifth and sixth, Toni Gardemeister closing fast on Loix but Rovanpera not being overshadowed. Rumours suggest that the team will sign Toyota refugee Didier Auriol within the week, so the two young Finns need to impress on this event as only one of them is likely to be retained for 2000...

Both SEAT and Peugeot have been lobbying the rally organisers this morning. They claim that poor management unfairly hampered their drivers Harri Rovanpera (SEAT) and Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot) yesterday. Both lost nearly two minutes on SS8 when they became caught first in the dust cloud of preceeding cars, then behind the cars themselves.

The team argued that their times from this stage should be altered, but the request was denied.

Positions after Stage 14, Stirling West: