Rallying: First win for McRae

IN THE end it came down to just over two seconds, but it was enough for Britain's Colin McRae to record his first victory of the season in the Portuguese Rally yesterday.

In a formidable display of aggressive driving, the 29-year-old Scot powered his Subaru Impreza into the lead on Monday's third stage and never relinquished command of the race to claim his 14th career win.

However, the driver who made McRae sweat was the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, whose late charge for victory in his Toyota Corolla failed by just 2.1sec.

Sainz, who started the final day 27 seconds off the lead, nearly overtook McRae with the fastest times in five of the last leg's eight stages.

McRae, who took third place in Monte Carlo but failed to finish in the following two events of the season, was determined to win in Portugal to avoid slipping further back in the overall drivers' standings. He is now fourth in the world championship with 14 points.

Sainz has moved clear at top with 22 points and has lifted Toyota to 26 points, one more than Mitsubishi, in the manufacturers' championship.

Finland's Juha Kankkunen, the joint championship leader with Sainz before Portugal, finished out of the points in seventh place to remain on 16 points. Belgium's Freddy Loix finished third, 45.8 seconds off the pace, in his Toyota Corolla, while Britain's Richard Burns in a Mitsubishi Carisma finished fourth, 53.1sec behind.

Finland's Tomi Makinen, the reigning world champion and last year's winner in Portugal, spun off the road and into a tree on Tuesday.