Acropolis Rally 2000
LEG TWO
Before the start of the second leg the stewards decided that the crews didn't have to use the much debated new fire-proof underwear in the extremely hot Greek conditions. Fastest on the first stage of the 2nd day was Richard Burns. Rally leader Colin McRae was 5th on the stage and his margin to Carlos Sainz was cut to 24 secs. Didier Auriol had an off and retired after the stage from 12th position.
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| Nobody could challenge McRae on day 2 (Photo by Reporter Images / ELPA) |
McRae won SS7 and was 10 secs faster than his team-mate Sainz in second place. Francois Delecour, who had risen already into the third place, had a puncture and lost a rear wheel damaging the suspension. He lost more than five minutes and several positions. Also Juha Kankkunen finished the stage with three wheels and lost two minutes to McRae. With Delecour dropping in the order, Kankkunen held the 4th position. Stephen Finlay, who had been 6th retired with collapsed suspension. Toshihiro Arai continued his steady pace without problems and took the 5th spot. Marcus Gronholm was second fastest on the stage despite a puncture, and helped by others' problems, he was already 7th after yesterdays problems that cost him more than six minutes.
On SS8 Burns was fastest, although the top three was very close. Gronholm's climb back to the points ended with an engine failure. Sainz won stage 9, but McRae was only three tenths behind the Spaniard. Kankkunen was slow with continuing suspension problems. Arai in 5th and Skoda's Armin Schwarz in 6th place were catching Kankkunen fast. Simultaneously, Schwarz was catching the Japanese Subaru driver. Seat's Toni Gardemeister, who suffered from various technical problems right from the start retired with broken steering column after SS9.
Burns was fastest on SS10, but McRae was again only 0.3 secs slower. The difference between Sainz and McRae was now 32.5 secs. Kankkunen's problems became even worse and he was already seven minutes behind leader McRae. Kankkunen was passed by Arai and Schwarz whose mutual time difference was now down to four seconds.
Burns won again on SS11, he was 9 secs faster than Sainz, who beat McRae by 1.4 secs. Kankkunen got his Subaru fixed and flew past Arai and Schwarz. On the final stage of the day, SS12, McRae posted a great time, which put him 48 secs in front of Sainz for the start of the final leg of the rally. Burns is already three minutes behind the leader. Kankkunen got a 30 sec penalty and dropped behind Arai. Delecour, who had been 7th, had an engine fire and lost more than 10 minutes on SS12.
The time differences in the rally are now like those in the Safari Rally, as Jean Pierre Richelmi in 8th position is no less than 13 minutes behind the leader.
Situation after stage 12 of 19:
1. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford - 2.41.09,4
2. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +48,1
3. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +3.00,1
4. Toshihiro Arai (JPN) Subaru +7.47,9
5. Juha Kankkunen (FIN) Subaru +7.51,8
6. Armin Schwarz (GER) Skoda +8.31,6
7. Abdullah Bakhashab (KSA) Toyota +12.10,8
8. Jean Pierre Richelmi (FRA) Subaru +13.00,2
