McRae and Makinen crash out of title race.

Richard Burns was left in control of his own destiny as the Network Q Rally completed its fourth stage in the forests of Wales, after title rivals Colin McRae, Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz all hit trouble.

The Englishman was only fourth overall heading into the fourth stage of the event, but emerged as the best placed of the four championship contenders after McRae joined Makinen in retirement.

Richard Burns was left in control of his own destiny as the Network Q Rally completed its fourth stage in the forests of Wales, after title rivals Colin McRae, Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz all hit trouble.

The Englishman was only fourth overall heading into the fourth stage of the event, but emerged as the best placed of the four championship contenders after McRae joined Makinen in retirement.

The Scot was reported to have rolled end-over-end on SS4 - Rhondda 1 - joining Makinen on the sidelines after the Finn struck a rock on SS2 - St Gwynno - damaging a wishbone and ripping a wheel off his Mitsubishi. The Ford driver had completed 14km of the stage when he made his dramatic exit, apparently rolling four times after hitting a dip in the road. Neither he nor co-driver Nicky Grist are reported to be hurt.

Ford team-mate Carlos Sainz, an outsider for the title, also struck trouble on the first day, damaging a wheel and limping out of an earlier stage well down the order. A 40secs road penalty only added to the Spaniard's problems, and he lay outside the top 15 entering SS4.

All this has left Burns well placed to cruise and collect the three points he needs to take the world title, his first. Future Peugeot team-mate Marcus Gronholm leads overall, with team-mate Didier Auriol second. Burns is now up to third, which would be good enough to lift the crown should he manage to avoid the sort of pitfalls to have already struck his rivals.

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