Rally Argentina 2000
Leg Two
The battle between Marcus Gronholm and Carlos Sainz continued on the first stage of the second day (SS10), as Gronholm moved again into the lead with a margin of just 0.4 secs. Colin McRae in third position gained a few seconds on the leaders as well as Richard Burns, who won the stage and rose to 4th past Kankkunen and Makinen.
Sainz was now trying maybe too hard and hit a railing on stage 11 damaging the front of his Ford Focus heavily. The radiator was blown and Sainz could do nothing but retire from the event. McRae was fastest on the stage and cut Gronholm's leading margin to 10.7 seconds. Burns was again faster than Kankkunen and Makinen. The Finns were having their own fight over the fourth spot which was again taken by Kankkunen on SS11.
Grönholm was again just a little off pace on stage 12, and McRae was now only 3.9 secs behind. Burns won the stage again, he was 14.6 secs behind the leader. Kankkunen was now only one tenth ahead of Makinen, but the two were already 35 secs behind their fellow countryman Gronholm.
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| Burns was flying on day two (Photo by Subaru SWRT) |
Stage 13 was also won by Burns, cutting the margin to 10 secs. Gronholm was one second faster than McRae. Burns kept on storming and passed McRae into the second position on SS14. Gronholm's lead was now only 3.6 secs. Makinen passed Kankkunen on SS13, but on the following stage Kankkunen took back the fourth spot. The duo was now going at the same pace as the leaders, half a minute behind. Apart from the top 5 very little had happened. Freddy Loix was still there, now 6th because of Sainz' retirement, although three minutes behind the leader. Alister McRae was hanging on nicely with the Hyundai in 7th place.
Burns was really flying and moved into the lead by 6.1 secs on stage 15. There was nothing Gronholm could do, bearing in mind that this is his first Rally Argentina ever. Gronholm was still able to keep Colin McRae behind and increase the gap to 10 secs. Even on the final stage of the day (SS16), a short superspecial, Burns put a few more seconds on Gronholm, who also was again faster than McRae. Makinen lost a few secs to Kankkunen with a slightly unsuccesful tyre choice.
Ford driver Petter Solberg caught Alister McRae and took 7th position. There was also a big fight over the lead of group N, as Argentine driver Gabriele Pozzo passed old fox Gustavo Trelles, taking 9th place overall.
Situation after stage 16 of 22:
1. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru - 2.45.46,1
2. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +9,3
3. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +12,0
4. Juha Kankkunen (FIN) Subaru +32,0
5. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +39,2
6. Freddy Loix (BEL) Mitsubishi +3.21,5
7. Petter Solberg (NOR) Ford +6.06,2
8. Alister McRae (SCO) Hyundai +6.16,9
9. Gabriele Pozzo (ARG) Mitsubishi (N) +11.43,6
10. Gustavo Trelles (URU) Mitsubishi (N) +11.47,5
