The 1995 world champion, who will take a sabbatical after being released by Citroen, finished 2mins 29.3secs behind Makinen.

BBC: Double success for Solberg

McRae had started the second day in fifth place almost two minutes down on overnight leader Tommi Makinen of Finland.

BBC: News | Sport | McRae tumbles out in Sweden

Scotland's Colin McRae suffered a puncture on the last stage, ending his chances of overhauling Subaru's Tommi Makinen for third.

BBC: Double success for Solberg

Somewhat out-gunned now, the Lancer is still close enough to the pace, and Makinen still good enough, to benefit if the leading runners slip up.

BBC: Mitsubishi: Hanging on with aging weapon

The problem lost him over a minute and although he still maintained fifth place overall ended the day nearly two minutes down on rally leader Tommi Makinen.

BBC: News | Sport | McRae tumbles out in Sweden

Victory in the season's first event, in Monte Carlo, was something of a false dawn for Mitsubishi and Tommi Makinen, chasing an unprecedented fifth consecutive world rally championship.

BBC: Mitsubishi: Hanging on with aging weapon

Since then, though, Makinen, arguably the finest rally driver in the world, has been there or thereabouts, but not really a feature in the thick of the championship battle.

BBC: Mitsubishi: Hanging on with aging weapon

Until then, Makinen must soldier on with the Lancer.

BBC: Mitsubishi: Hanging on with aging weapon

The Citroen driver, who won the event for the fourth time last year, dominated the four-day race from the start to eclipse the feats of four-time victors Sandro Munari, Walter Rohrl and Tommi Makinen.

CNN: Loeb lands record fifth Monte Carlo win

The Lancer has been the dominant car in world rallying since 1996, and Tommi Makinen's four world title owed as much to his car's speed, consistency and reliability as to his own skills behind the wheel.

BBC: Mitsubishi: Hanging on with aging weapon