Day 2am: Gronholm cruises

Gronholm went into the second day of the event with an 18.3s advantage over Lindholm after dominating the first day's action on Friday. The Finn began the day in true style by winning the first stage - SS11 - and extending his lead over Lindholm by 1s.

But Lindholm, who has been drafted in by Peugeot for this event because of his local knowledge, went off mid-way through the second stage - SS12 - leaving Gronholm plenty of clean air between him and his nearest challenger, Ford's Markko Martin.

The Estonian is 42.3s behind Gronholm with Citroen's Carlos Sainz a further 37s down on Martin in third place. Janne Tuohino has dropped to fourth in the order after a dreadful SS11 where he lost 22.5s to the stage winner, Petter Solberg.

Solberg retired from the event on Friday after hitting a rock on the fourth stage. But the Norwegian is back in the action today as a non points-scoring entrant under the new-for-2004 SupeRally system. He's out, but not down, and is clearly proving a point by topping both SS12 and SS13.

Current championship leader Sebastien Loeb is continuing his move up the field after a lacklustre first day. The Frenchman is now in fifth place but having overcome the Skoda of Jani Paasonen (sixth overall) he has Tuohino in his sights just five seconds ahead.

Paasonen must also watch his back for Ford's Francois Duval (seventh overall) is on a charge for sixth place just 10s behind Paasonen. Mitsubishi's Kristian Sohlberg rounds out the top eight.