Colin McRae is on course for a hat-trick of Acropolis Rally victories after Ford team-mate Markko Martin saw his hopes ended by a costly puncture.

The Estonian drove over a rock which ripped a giant hole in a tyre on the longest stage of the event and fell from first to ninth.

McRae took advantage to lie 32.6 seconds clear and now looks set to claim his third successive Greek win.

"We're in pole position now," said the Scot.

"But there's a long way still to go. Sunday's roads are very rough and it is always easy to have a problem on this rally.

"No matter what our lead may be, we won't be comfortable until the rally is over."

Pressure

McRae has gradually eased clear of arch rival Richard Burns of Peugeot.

And reigning champion Burns is now coming under pressure from his Finnish team-mate Marcus Gronholm who is a further 9.7secs adrift.

But the Finn has held the upper hand over the past few stages. "There are no team orders at Peugeot," said Burns.

"But the management will not be happy if we push so hard that one or the other of us makes a mistake. We both want to win the rally though, so Sunday won't be an easy call."

The battle for victory appears to be between Burns, McRae and Gronholm, but Ford's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz is poised in fourth to take advantage of any slip-ups.

Martin starts tomorrow's 13th stage two minutes and 21.8 seconds off McRae's pace - far from the position he had earlier expected.

Leading positions after Stage 12 of the Acropolis Rally:

1 Colin McRae (GB) Ford 3hr 23min 02.1sec
2 Richard Burns (GB) Peugeot at 32.6sec
3 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 42.3
4 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ford 1min 30.2sec
5 Freddy Loix (Bel) Hyundai 1:37.9
6 Harri Rovanpera (Fin) Peugeot 1:54.7
7 Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen 2:27.5
8 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 2:09.5
9 Markko Martin (Est) Ford 2:21.8
10 Thomas Radstrom (Swe) Citroen 3:28.9