A word with the leaders...

: (The Finn punctured a left rear and a right front tyre on SS4, Vieira 1, but still finished the test 25.5s quicker than Rovanpera)

"It's definitely better to be running first on the road. I punctured the right front when I hit a big stone about halfway through the stage. It wasn't just a puncture - I bent the suspension and the steering as well. Plus, the tyres were so cold that the mousse [that inflates and allows running after a puncture] didn't work like it should, so I'm surprised to have taken so much time off Harri as I did.

"The conditions are terrible, and at some places the visibility is down to around 20 metres because of fog and low cloud."

, 23.6s behind Makinen after four stages: (Peugeot is the only works team to have taken mud tyres as one of its two option tyres, but despite the conditions, these particular Michelins may not have been the best choice)

"The mud tyres should have been the right ones for that stage [SS4], but looking at Tommi [who was running standard Michelin gravel tyres, which are wider than the snow-like mud tyres], I'm not so sure. It's a fifty-fifty situation on the tyres. When we're on fairly solid sections, the car is very nervous and the tyre just doesn't work."