In the middle group of five stages, McRae lost some time to Hyundai driver Juha Kankkunen, but went on to finish the leg without incident. "We had no problems in the middle group of stages, but we lost a bit of time to Juha in the tight and twisty sections", he continued. "When the stages are open, fast and flowing the car is going better and you can use the lines of the road more. There’s still a fair way to go, new stages that we haven’t run yet and, while there are only four of them, they are pretty demanding roads".

Adding to Alister’s comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Derek Dauncey said: "It was disappointing Alister had a problem caused by such a small part breaking, but that’s the way it is sometimes. We are still on a learning curve with this car and obviously all the data we are collecting will help us with the step 2 version later in the year. I think we have to be honest and say our main focus is now really on that project because we are aware of where we have some problems".

Meanwhile...

In the opening stage - which failed to run yesterday for safety reasons - no fewer than five of the leading contenders hit problems, some forced into retirement on the road section to stage 11. Rally leader Marcus Grönholm lost 50 seconds with a lack of hydraulic pressure and then dropped another 36 seconds in stage 11, slashing his advantage over Subaru’s Tommi Mäkinen to just 16 seconds. Peugeot team-mate Harri Rovanperä was forced into retirement with engine problems and Freddy Loix joined him on the sidelines with an electrical problem on the throttle sensor. Adding to Peugeot’s woes, Gilles Panizzi retired late this afternoon with a problem connected to the engine cooling system.

However, Grönholm’s loss of time this morning paved the way for Tommi Mäkinen (Subaru) to launch an all-out assault on his fellow countryman. Throughout the day the rivals have traded times, but Mäkinen inched into the lead in the penultimate stage and finished the second leg just half a second ahead of Grönholm. Behind them, Richard Burns (Peugeot) has maintained a comfortable third position, while the battle for fourth between Petter Solberg (Subaru) and Carlos Sainz (Ford) has raged throughout the day. Despite a gear selection problem in SS13 - remedied with a new gearbox ECU on the road section - and bad stomach ache, Solberg has held off Sainz, who has had little more than a broken windscreen to contend with. Ford team-mate Colin McRae has fared better today, the Scot enjoying a trouble-free run and climbing from ninth to sixth position. Markko Märtin, in the third Focus RS, holds seventh, the Estonian lucky to escape a roll in SS16 after sliding into a bank, and being visibly shaken when spectators launched a rock at his Focus in the final stage, breaking the windscreen. The two Skodas of Toni Gardemeister and Kenneth Eriksson hold eighth and ninth respectively, with Juha Kankkunen, in the sole remaining Hyundai, 10th.

Still to come...

The final day of Rally Argentina takes the crews to the Traslasierra region, southwest of Villa Carlos Paz, for the shortest leg of the event. Including just four stages and 73.87 competitive kilometres, the route may look like a cruise to the finish but, with some of the event’s most famous stages still remaining, the fight will surely go to the final kilometre.

Ramon Ferreyros has had a great run today, the Peruvian climbing from an overnight third to lead the Production Car contenders back to Villa Carlos Paz this evening. Making expert use of his Lancer Evolution over the rough and rocky stages, Ferreyros has pulled out a 50.8 second advantage over Japan’s Toshihiro Arai.

"Today has gone really well. It’s been very rough in places, but the car has taken everything and although tomorrow’s stages are difficult, I hope they will be a bit smoother, and it’s not so long either", Ferreyros said.

Karamjit Singh holds a comfortable third position, the Malaysian driver now taking it steady to avoid problems, unwilling to risk anything and concentrating on a top finishing position.

"The conditions have been unbelievably rough and I’m not taking chances any more", he said. "I’m now focused on finishing the rally as we are in quite a good position".

Argentinian Federico Villagra holds fourth position in the category, the Lancer Evolution driver moving up one position during a day that has seen many of the leading contenders forced into retirement.

"Today has been fine for us. A lot of people have had problems but our car has been fine. I hope we can keep our position to the finish tomorrow. It’s been a tough rally this year", Villagra said.

Mitsubishi’s four-times World Group N Champion Gustavo Trelles has also climbed up the leaderboard from an overnight seventh position. The Uruguayan now holds fifth position, despite turbo problems for much of the day.

Overnight leader and Cordoba-based Marcos Ligato lost his advantage early this morning when a broken shock absorber hindered his charge. The Argentinean now holds seventh.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 2