World Rally Championship leader Marcus Gronholm is on track for his third successive win in the Rally of Finland after finishing the second day in the lead.

The Finn has a cushion of one minute and 34 seconds over world champion and Peugeot team-mate Richard Burns, who had led after the first day.

Scotland's Colin McRae is third in his Ford Focus, two minutes and 22 seconds off the pace.

Burns had led by 20 seconds after winning the first stage of the day before his car landed heavily on a high-speed jump and he lost his turbo boost on stage two.

The Briton lost almost a minute and was overtaken by team-mates Harri Rovanpera and Gronholm.

But Rovanpera suffered a puncture near the start of the second stage and completed the trial on his wheel rim.

Not optimistic

Despite repairs, the suspension collapsed on the way to the next stage, forcing him out of the event.

He said: "With everything moving around the suspension broke.

"At the end of the stage I turned left onto the road section and the wheel folded itself under the car.

"There was no point in continuing. With another stage before service I knew I wouldn't make it without suffering a lot of damage. I'm very disappointed."

McRae said that he was not optimistic of overhauling either of the Peugeot drivers on the final day of the rally.

"We attacked 100% without getting a slight chance," said the Scot.

"We must concentrate on staying ahead of Carlos and Petter Solberg.

"That is our objective because we cannot do anything about Marcus and Richard."

Home favourite Juha Kankkunen - a four-time world champion - crashed out of the event when he rolled his Hyundai on the second stage of the morning.

Leading positions after day two (of thee) of the Rally of Finland on Saturday:

1 Marcus Gronholm (Finland) Peugeot 2hr 32 min 27.1sec
2 Richard Burns (Gbr) Peugeot + 1:34.3
3 Colin McRae (Gbr) Ford +2:22.9
4 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ford +2:42.8
5 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru +2:51.5
6 Markko Martin (Est) Ford +3:18.9
7 Tommi Makinen (Fin) Subaru +4:07.5
8 Sebastien Lindholm (Fin) Peugeot +4:23.8
9 Jani Paasonen (Fin) Mitsubishi +5:13.2
10 Freddy Loix (Bel) Hyundai +5:18.1