Martin and Ford hit with late penalty.

Markko Martin's hopes of a possible podium finish were hit by the assessment of a massive time penalty when his Ford Focus WRC refused to refire at the final service halt.

The Estonian had risen to third place overall courtesy of some hard driving and retirements elsewhere in the top six, but was then handed a punishment amounting to over eleven minutes for leaving the final rendezvous point later than allowed.

The penalty drops Martin and co-driver Michael Park to fifth overall, promoting the Citroen duo of Thomas Radstrom and Sebastien Loeb to third and fourth respectively.

Ford still leads the rally with Colin McRae, who holds a two minute advantage over Peugeot rival Harri Rovanpera.

The revised leg two standings are as follows:

Overall times after SS9

1.Colin McRaeFord Focus RS WRC 025hr 39mins 02.3secs
2Harri RovanperaPeugeot 206 WRC+02mins 26.7secs
3.Thomas RadstromCitroen Xsara+13mins 18.2secs
4.Sebastien LoebCitroen Xsara+16mins 50.9secs
5.Markko MartinFord Focus RS WRC 02+20mins 51.0secs
6.Gilles PanizziPeugeot 206 WRC+34mins 43.8secs
7.Roman KrestaSkoda Octavia WRC Evo+38mins 07.6secs
8Juha KankkunenHyundai Accent WRC+38mins 25.9secs
9.Alister McRaeMitsubishi Lancer Evo WRC+1hr 03mins 29.6secs10.Marcos LigatoMitsubishi Lancer+1hr 48mins 31.5secs

11.Toshihiro AraiSubaru Impreza WRX+1hr 51mins 13.2secs12.Karamjit SinghProton Pert+1hr 57mins 06.1secs13.Rudi StohlMitsubishi Lancer Evo VII+3hr 40mins 36.8secs14.Don SmithSubaru Impreza+3hr 49mins 36.8secs
15.Lee RoseSubaru Impreza+4hr 02mins 33.7secs16.Kailesh ChauhanSubaru Forester+4hr 48mins 49.9secs
17.Carl TundoSubaru Impreza+4hr 58mins 33.9secs18.Masayuki YamadaSubaru Impreza GC8+5hr 08mins 52.4secs19.John NgunjiriSubaru Impreza+5hr 21mins 12.2secs