Motor Racing: McRae leads cavalcade into the Lakes: Scot survives a spin to reel in Kankkunen on the icy tracks in Wales but second place may suit the Finn for now

COLIN McRAE completed a remarkable onslaught across the icy landscape of Wales by taking the lead in the RAC Rally last night.

The 25-year-old Scot recovered from an uncertain, skidding start to the second day of the event to hack away at Juha Kankkunen's advantage and ultimately overtake the Finn and go 21 seconds clear on the final stage.

There were, however, knowing nods and wry smiles on the road to the overnight halt here. Could it be that Kankkunen deliberately reined in his Toyota Celica to hand McRae and his Subaru Impreza the dubious distinction of heading the cavalcade into the Lake District this morning. McRae has led this rally in each of the last two years, only to come to grief in Grizedale. Toyota reported 'no problems' from the world champion's camp.

Embarking upon the last of yesterday's 10 stages, in North Wales, Kankkunen was seven seconds ahead of McRae and said: 'I'm not sure I can hold off Colin, but there's still a long way to go and anything is possible in this rally.'

There are, to be precise, two days to go, the terrors of Kielder as well as Grizedale to be confronted before the respite of Gateshead, this evening. McRae has the task of 'minesweeping', while Kankkunen has the comparative luxury of tyre marks to follow.

Kankkunen did not relish the role of front man yesterday. He was fastest on the first stage, where the Mitsubishis of the overnight pursuers, Armin Schwarz and Kenneth Eriksson, were derailed. Schwarz slithered off the freezing track, down into a ditch, and lost 16 minutes dragging the machine back into action.

McRae spun and forfeited 47 seconds, though not his fourth position. From that point he attacked, outpacing Kankkunen on eight of the remaining stages, and sharing fastest time with him on the other. McRae was outright quickest on five of the stages.

'It's great to be in first place, especially for all the spectators out there, waiting all day in the cold to watch,' he said. 'We must not forget, though, that tomorrow will be hard, if not harder than today. There's no way I can let up until the rally is over. I was taking it easier at the end tonight, because the conditions were treacherous. There was sheet ice on the last two stages.'

Kankkunen, normally unruffled no matter what the conditions, admitted, 'I'm not enjoying this at all. I have never known it so icy in Wales. We have had many, many big moments. I did not know what to do about tyres. I could not attack, it was too dangerous to do that. It is just so slippery.'

Malcolm Wilson, the 37-year-old Cumbrian, was fastest on one of the stages and concluded the day a strong third, despite incurring a 30- second penalty for having his Ford Escort pushed out of parc ferme and entertaining the gallery to a few pirouettes in the forests. He is more than two minutes adrift of Kankkunen and would doubtless settle for a top-three finish. 'It's been a good day despite the various problems we've had. At one point I was doing 115mph and my wheels were still spinning. It's incredible.'

The demise of Schwarz - he fell to 77th but moved back up to 14th by last night - was the overture to a day of dramatic mishaps. McRae's spins proved relatively insignificant, but his younger brother, Alister, hit a tree, badly damaging the back end of his Subaru Legacy, and Ari Vatanen, in the other Impreza, lost four minutes when he went off and is trailing in eighth.

The British champion, Richard Burns, in a Subaru Legacy, had his share of spins yet finished the day a creditable seventh. Alister McRae was 10th, Robbie Head (Ford) 11th, and Guyndaf Evans (Ford) 12th.

Britain, however, looks to McRae to end the 17-year wait for a home winner in this event. The moment may well be nigh.

NETWORK Q RAC RALLY, leading positions after Leg 2 (Stages 10-19): 1 C McRae/D Ringer (GB) Subaru Impreza 2hr 48min 24sec; 2 J Kankkunen/N Grist (Fin/GB) Toyota Celica 2:48:45; 3 M Wilson/B Thomas (GB) Ford Escort 2:50:48; 4 K Eriksson/S Parmander (Swe) Mitsubishi Lancer 2:50:58; 5 F Delecour/D Grataloup (Fr) Escort 2:51:08; 6 D Auriol/V Occelli (Fr) Celica 2:51:43; 7 R Burns/R Reid (GB) Subaru Legacy 2:54:20; 8 A Vatanen/B Berglund (Fin/Swe) Impreza 2:54:27; 9 M Jonsson/L Backman (Swe) Celica 2:56:40; 10 R Head/C Roy (GB) Escort 2:58:57.

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