NAIROBI Britain's Colin McRae took the lead for Ford in the penultimate day of the safari rally on Saturday after compatriot Richard Burns retired with broken suspension to his Subaru. Burns, who won here last year, led after the first stage of Saturday's second leg but ran into trouble on the next run. He tried to repair the damage himself on the Nyaru to Eldama Ravine run but his efforts were in vain.

His retirement allowed mcrae, in the new ford focus, to move into the lead for the first time. The 1995 world champion emerged from the seventh stage with a three minute 23.5 second advantage over Frenchman Didier Auriol, in a Toyota. McRae said: It was a long, hard section that was always going to be tough on the car but it coped well.

It was probably the most abrasive section of the rally but our tires performed well and we've not had any punctures today. We lost about 30 seconds after a small spin but the road was so narrow that it needed a lot of manoeuvring to point the car in the right direction again. The heat and dusty conditions continued to cause problems for the drivers and Spain's Carlos Sainz, driving a Toyota, had three punctures on the first stage of the day but recovered to lie in third position.

World championship leader Tommi Hakinen of Finland suffered a broken front right driveshaft on his Mitsubishi after only seven kilometers of the day which left him more than 15 minutes off the pace. The drivers complete another two stages on Saturday, including the Marigat to Gari ya Moshi ninth run, the longest stage of the rally at 129.11 kilometers. (Reuter)