Tommi Makinen staked his claim in the record books with a provisional second place in the 2002 Monte Carlo rally, with the opportunity of an upgrade to first on his debut for Banbury's Subaru World Rally Team.

The result sets him up for an unprecedented record of four consecutive Monte Carlo wins, and the chance to become the most successful driver in the WRC with a record 24 victories.

After a stewards' meeting at the end of the second day of the rally, the leading car of Sebastien Loeb was handed a two minute penalty for an infringement of the regulations regarding the changing of tyres in the final service on Saturday evening.

It happened after Citroen appealed and the stewards suspended the penalty, subject to a hearing, which must be held in the next 40 days.

Whatever the outcome, the result is a win in the manufacturers' championship for Subaru, and with Petter Solberg gaining two points, the team lead the title hunt with 12 points.

Solberg and Mills scored a further two fastest stage times on their way to sixth. They won five of the 14 stages.

Team Makinen and Solberg dominated the event taking a Subaru Impreza WRC to victory on more than half of the stages.

Team principal David Lapworth said: "This is a fantastic victory for Subaru and an incredible result for Tommi on his debut with the team.

"Obviously Sebastien drove extremely well, but it is apparent that his team broke the rules and the stewards decided to impose a penalty.

"Tommi had promised one of his 'maximum attack' drives this morning and was confident of achieving a clear victory, but when we learned of Loeb's penalty he backed off with the intention of cruising to the win. We look forward to hearing the result of the appeal court as soon as possible."

Makinen said: "I am delighted with this victory for Subaru. It means a lot to me here in Monte Carlo. To get a great result with a new team in a new car was my target when I joined Subaru and for it to happen on the first event is a dream for Kaj and myself.

"I think if it feels like this for the rest of the year it will be a fantastic season."

Defending world champion Richard Burns was eighth in his first drive for Peugeot.

Meanwhile, the debut of the MG ZR EX258 rally car driven by Gwyndaf Evans and Chris Patterson ended on stage three when the car left the road. Evans said: "We were second quickest on the split time up until that point, then the car stepped out violently on some gravel, we were unable to recover, and ended up on our roof in a ditch."