Andros Trophy: Muller leads practice

Timed practice took place in freezing cold weather - an excellent change after the rain that has plagued the previous two rounds.

Once again Yvan Muller's Opel Astra set the fastest time, lapping the 800m track in 47.195, nearly a second faster than his nearest rival.

He was followed by rally driver Pierre Colard, driving the Peugeot 306 which is the only entrant in the 2 litre class. Colard's time of 48.053 was fractionally faster than Opel's new revelation, Jean-Philippe Dayraut.

Dayraut started off relatively slowly, but proceeded to reduce his time on every lap.

However, he was not able to find the form which has seen him fastest in timed practice in the last two rounds.

Tarrès, driving the semi-factory Citroen Xsara, was fourth, hopefully signalling a return to form after two miserable rounds for the man who has been Muller's most constant rival over the past years.

Jean-Noël Lanctuit, currently leading the Promotion category, was an excellent sixth.

His Nissan Micra, equipped only with two wheel steering, was ahead of the factory Nissans competing in the Elite category.

Jean-Pierre Malcher was seventh, while Emmanuel Collard finished well down the times, having completed his laps with a broken rear suspension, and a wheel hanging off.

Practice times: