Finland's reigning world champion Tommi Makinen, driving a Mitsubishi, led the Monte Carlo Rally, the first round of the world championship, at the end of the second day proper of competition yesterday.

With just one day remaining and four special stages to come, Makinen leads France's overnight leader Gilles Panizzi (Subaru). Finland's Juha Kankkunen (Subaru) and Scotland's Colin McRae (Ford Focus) by 2:47 are in third and fourth place respectively. It would be Makinen's first victory in the rally. The Finn gained more than a minute on the eighth special stage, and by the end of the day had started to pull away from his rivals.

Another man to impress was Scotland's McRae in his state-of-the-art Focus. He is continuing his charge up the leader-board despite having to get to grips with a new car and being disrupted by concerns over the legality of his vehicle.