Day 1am: Gronholm loses lead

Ford's Markko Martin has now taken the lead of the event after setting the fastest time on the 52km test, while Gronholm lost almost a minute while he manhandled his disabled car through the stage, and said: "That was very hard work." Martin now leads by 14.2secs from Citroen's Sebastien Loeb, with team-mate Carlos Sainz 3.3secs further back, while Gronholm slumped to seventh.

Subaru's Petter Solberg, who earlier lost 10-seconds on SS2 in what co-driver Phil Mills described as "a big spin", is up to fourth place. The reigning WRC champion said: "This is the best start to this event that I have ever had."

The second Ford of Janne Tuohino is fifth, ahead of the second Subaru of Mikko Hirvonen.

It's been a bad morning for Mitsubishi. Debutant Kristian Sohlberg dropped time after sliding off on SS2. The Lancer arrived back in service with the front bodywork hanging off, although on inspection it proved to be just cosmetic damage. Gilles Panizzi has stuck major gearbox problems, meanwhile, and is also languishing in the standings.

For up-to-the-minute information, stay tuned to our live rally timings service, and look out for our regular reports from the stages and the service park.