Neuville ahead after Bouffier delay

Highly-rated Kronos Peugeot driver Neuville established an 8s cushion over the field on Thursday's two stages, but then had a quick spin on Friday's opener, on which Guy Wilks and Bouffier were first and second fastest, bringing both much closer to the leader.

PH Peugeot's Bouffier then hit the front by winning SS4, while Wilks' challenge ended when he went off the road on the same stage. Bouffier soon hit trouble too - his SS5 puncture costing him a minute and dropping him to sixth.

Neuville therefore regained the lead, while Skoda trio Kopecky, Andreas Mikkelsen and Freddy Loix are in a close battle for second.

S2000 newcomer Pierre Campana runs in a praiseworthy fifth place, only 15s away from Loix.

Leading positions after SS5:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Thierry Neuville      Peugeot Belux (Kronos)  1h12m19.6s
 2.  Jan Kopecky           Skoda                      + 15.8s
 3.  Andreas Mikkelsen     Skoda UK                   + 18.5s
 4.  Freddy Loix           BFO Skoda                  + 23.4s
 5.  Pierre Campana        Munaretto Peugeot          + 38.6s
 6.  Bryan Bouffier        PH Peugeot               + 1m00.4s
 7.  Toni Gardemeister     TGS Skoda                + 2m06.0s
 8.  Julian Maurin         M-Sport Ford             + 2m07.1s
 9.  Bruno Magalhaes       Peugeot Portugal         + 2m09.7s
10.  Jean-Mathieu Leandri  Peugeot                  + 2m58.2s