RALLY NEWS NO.3 Service-St.Felindre-Friday 1pm

UNOFFICIAL TOP 3 AFTER STAGE 5 - CRYCHAN

1st (1) Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautainen (Peugeot) 35.56.1

2nd (2) Didier Auriol.Denis Giraudet (Peugeot) 36.19.3

3rd (5) Richard Burns/Robert Reid (Subaru) 36.27.9

Fastest SS5: Gronholm 7.17.2: Sainz 7.24.8: Rovanpera 7.28.3: Auriol 7.28.5: Burns 7.29.6: A.McRae 7.34.0:

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 - RHONDDA

1st (1) Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautainen (Peugeot) 28.38.9

2nd (2) Didier Auriol.Denis Giraudet (Peugeot) 28.50.8

3rd (5) Richard Burns/Robert Reid (Subaru) 28.58.3

4th (16) Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen (Peugeot)29.11.4

5th (10) Alister McRae/Dave Senior (Accent) 29.19.7

6th (17) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford) 29.32.9

7th (11) Armin Schwarz/Manfred Hiemer (Octavia) 29.35.6

8th (29) Neil Wearden/Trevor Agnew (Subaru) 29.39.9

9th (9) Kenneth Eriksson/Staffan Parmander (Accent) 29.41.8

10th (8) Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets (Lancer) 29.46.8

Just outside the S4 leaderboard - Bruno Thiry, with some wayward handling, rear diff trouble, 11th: Gwyndaf Evans, still feeling a bit rusty, but speeding up all the time, 12th: Carlos Sainz 13th, despite 40s road penalty and a lack of front brakes after his puncture. Gregoire De Mevius 14th, the Belgian driver remarking "I have some problem with the brakes on stage 4, I must pump the pedal and use the handbrake". Arai 15th, the Japanese driver remarking "Too much care".

Retirements now include...Panizzi - his co-driving brother Herve got struck by a stone thrown by a passing car when they stopped in a stage. They made it to service but the team manager insisted that Herve must go to hospital in the helicopter for a check-up. Mike Brown has crashed his Mitsubishi out, as has Nik Elsmore.

Super 1600 front runner Duval has had a big accident in stage 4 - driver and co driver OK. Loeb now leads Super 1600 from Dallavilla in the Punto, Basso is 3rd and Niall McShea 4th, following a 20s puncture. Patrick Magaud looks like he may be over lateness following electrical problems in his Puma. Martin Rowe is not part of the Super 1600 WRC series, but is driving a Puma, however he is having difficulty with a down on power engine.

Kenneth Backlund leads GpN from David Higgins with Ramon Ferreyros 3rd. Higgins reckons his car is set just a little too low, and a little too soft, and also that the stages are starting to cut up somewhat. We mentioned earlier about Henning Sohberg in a gpN car - that was complete brain fade, he is in a world rally car and is having some rear differential problems.

Some further positions of interest include...Pete Littler in 23rd, his Accent WRC running on 3 cylinders. The mechanics are going to try to change the head tonight. Gavin Cox is 25th, his new Lancer Evo7 centre differential not working. Ulsterman Stephen Harron is having a good run and lying 31st overall. Derek McGarrity is back in 54th after a stage 4 excursion. Belgian driver David Sterckx is back in 72nd after re-arranging the geometry of his Lancer. Top lady Natalie Barrett is 62nd. More news to follow..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON