STOP PRESS: Rovanpera hits the front

Sainz's Ford team mate Colin McRae complained of an electrical gremlin yesterday, which caused his Focus to shut down twice. With a stage time 13.8 seconds slower than current quickest man, Tommi Makinen in a Mitsubishi, Sainz has dropped at a stroke from first to fourth place.

Peugeot's Harri Rovanpera now leads, but Makinen's charge has taken him ahead not only of Sainz but also the other Mitsubishi of Thomas Radstrom to be second overall, just 8.1s behind leader Rovanpera.

Further back, Didier Auriol has overtaken Hyundai's Kenneth Eriksson for sixth, despite the French Peugeot star admitting at the previous service halt: "It's all happening too quickly for me and I'm driving very badly."

There you go, honesty is the best policy after all!

Full stage report to follow...


Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 2hr08m16.0s
Tommi Makinen (FIN)/Risto Mannisenmaki(FIN), Mitsubishi Lancer*, +08.1s
Thomas Radstrom (S)/Tina Thorner (S), Mitsubishi Carisma GT, +08.2s
Carlos Sainz (E)/Luis Moya(E), Ford Focus RS WRC*, +09.5
Francois Delecour (F)/Daniel Grataloup (F), Ford Focus RS WRC, +1m01.8s
Didier Auriol(F)/Denis Giraudet(F), Peugeot 206 WRC*, +1m03.1s

*denotes nominated for manufacturers' championship points