Stage 9: Makinen's lead reduced

However, the gap between the Finn and second-placed Carlos Sainz has been reduced to under two minutes.

Makinen only managed to go 10th fastest in the penultimate stage of the day - Prunieres to Embrun, but the Spaniard put in a 20.17.3.

Colin McRae was quickest in the 34.12km stage with a 20.09.5.

The Scot has reportedly beaten his own stage record - set in 1999 - by over 41 seconds.

He has now leapfrogged Subaru's Juha Kankkunen in the overall results - moving up to fourth ahead of the Finn.

Overall positions:

1 T Makinen - Mitsubishi - 2.31.39.9

2 C Sainz - Ford - 2.33.09.2

3 T Gardemeister - SEAT - 2.33.45.5

4 C McRae - Ford - 2.34.10.6

5 J Kankkunen - Subaru - 2.34.22.3

6 B Thiry - Toyota - 2.35.38.7

7 F Loix - Mitsubishi - 2.36.19.6

8 D Auriol - SEAT - 2.37.24.2

9 O Burri - Toyota - 2.37.30.3

10 H Lundgaard - Toyota - 2.39.06.0

Results from stage 9:

1 C McRae - Ford - 20.09.5

2 C Sainz - Ford - 20.17.3

3 A Schwarz - Skoda - 20.24.9

4 T Gardemeister - SEAT - 20.25.9

5 J Kankkunen - Subaru - 20.28.5

6 D Auriol - SEAT - 20.33.7

7 B Thiry - Toyota - 20.34.1

8 F Loix - Mitsubishi - 20.35.3

9 O Burri - Toyota - 20.40.0

10 T Makinen - Mitsubishi - 20.46.5