Spain's Carlos Sainz leads after the opening stage of Rally Australia, the penultimate round of the World Rally Championship. Sainz, driving a Ford Focus, leads the Peugeot of Didier Auriol, while Finland's Pasi Hagstrom in a Toyota Corolla third.
Scotland's Colin McRae, who is currently top of the Driver's Championship with Finland's Tommi Makinen, could only finish 15th, 1.9 seconds adrift of Sainz, while Makinen and Richard Burns shared 17th place, a full 2.5 seconds behind Sainz.
McRae and Makinen share the championship lead with 40 points each, while Burns has 34 and Sainz 33 with just two rounds remaining.
Filed by Shane Murray
