Swedish Rally 2000
LEG TWO
Marcus Gronholm continued his dominance on the first stages of the second leg, although Colin McRae had started a mighty charge. The Scot moved into second position on SS 11. On stages 12 and 13, which was the long and demanding Jutbo stage, McRae was fastest and shortened the gap to the leader Gronholm to 19.7 secs. Makinen was third, Radstrom dropped to 4th and Burns still 5th, all within striking distance.
SS11 saw the first retirees among top names as Carlos Sainz stopped on the stage with a broken oil pump belt. Sainz retired from 6th place. Toni Gardemeister stopped on the same stage as well with a technical problem. He was the best placed Seat in 9th position.
One of the fastest drivers on the morning stages was Francois Delecour in the second Peugeot, who almost caught Juha Kankkunen who was having suspension and tire problems. Delecour managed to close within 1.5 secs from the former champion, until Kankkunen increased his speed and the Frenchman had to stay behind.
Gronholm stroke back by winning SS14. McRae set a poor time on the stage and dropped back behind Makinen. Makinen won the final short super special of the day and starts the final leg from second place 26.5 secs behind leader Marcus Gronholm. McRae is still very close, though, only 3.1 secs from the reigning champion. Radstrom who dropped from second to fourth during the day is still within striking distance, as well as Richard Burns in 5th place.
Kankkunen has dropped already to more than two minutes behind the leader and 21 secs behind him is Delecour. A notable drive today was that of Estonian driver Markko Martin, who passed works Mitsubishi driver Freddy Loix with his privately entered Toyota. Martin then set his sights to Didier Auriol in 8th place. Loix didn't give up either, and the three are set for a great battle on the final leg.
Situation after SS 15/20:
1. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot - 2.31.08,0
2. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +26,5
3. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +29,6
4. Thomas Rådström (SWE) Toyota +36,4
5. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +42,9
6. Juha Kankkunen (FIN) Subaru +2.09,2
7. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot +2.30,4
8. Didier Auriol (FRA) Seat +4.03,8
