McCrae makes hay in Greece

McCrae's often fragile Ford came through unscathed

Colin McRae made the most of a rare trouble-free day to take a 38.5 seconds lead after the first day of the Acropolis Rally in Greece on Friday.

Although the seventh round of the 2000 World Rally Championship lived up to its reputation as the toughest in Europe, the 1995 world champion had few problems with his Ford Focus and won three of the day's five stages.

McCrae's leading rivals fared less well on the rocky Greek roads, with current championship leader Richard Burns fighting brake problems to get his Subaru home in fifth place.

Reigning champion Tommi Makinen had an even tougher time, being forced to retire when his Mitsubishi's hubshaft broke.

A dejected Makinen

McCrae said: "The day went perfectly. We had a couple of punctures but that is inevitable with so many big rocks on the road and we lost no time.

"I'm trying to drive fast where I can but on the rough sections I'm just aiming to pick my way around the rocks.

"I've never known such a dramatic opening day in Greece. You always expect things to happen but it seems everybody apart from Carlos (team mate Sainz) and I was in the wars."

Burns, as championship leader, had the handicap of running first on roads unswept by cars ahead, and finished the day more than two minutes down on his British rival.

His Subaru team mate Juha Kankkunen was forced to tackle a small fire after an oil cooler split.

I've never known such a dramatic opening day in Greece

Colin McCrae

Only McRae, second-placed Sainz and Frenchman Francois Delecour, third in a Peugeot, escaped major problems as the searing heat and rocky surface caused havoc.

Makinen, Finland's four-time world champion, blamed faulty components for his and team mate Freddie Loix's exits.

"This makes our championship challenge harder but we will have to see where Richard (Burns) and the others finish. It was an extremely difficult day for everybody," Makinen said.

But while a number of leading drivers made heavy weather of the conditions, Briton Stephen Finlay, moved into sixth place in his Ford Focus after taking two years out of the sport.

Two more testing days remain before the rally finishes at Itea on Sunday.

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Standings after the first day of the Acropolis Rally

1. Colin McRae (Gbr) Ford Focus WCR, 1hr 04min 09.6sec
2. Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ford Focus WCR at 38.5sec
3. Francois Delecour (Fra) Peugeot 206 1:12.9
4. Juha Kankkunen (Fin) Subaru Impreza WRC 2:00.8
5. Richard Burns (Gbr) Subaru Impreza WRC 2:08.9
6. Stephen Finlay (Gbr) Ford Focus WCR 3:26.6
7. Toshihiro Arai (Jpn) Subaru Impreza 3:30.0
8. Abdullah Bakhashab (Ksa) Toyota Corolla 4:00.4
9. Armin Schwarz (Ger) Skoda Octavia WCR 4:04.2
10. John Papadimitrou (Gre) Subaru Impreza 4:22.2
11. Alister McRae (Gbr) Hyundai Accent 4:38.5
12. Didier Auriol (Fra) Seat Cordoba WCR 4:41.4
13. Leonidas Kyrkos (Gre) Ford Escort WCR 4:58.7
14. Jean-Pierre Richelmi (Mon) Subaru Impreza 5:15.4
15. Serkan Yazici (Tur) Toyota Corolla 5:32.4