Day 2am: Loeb steers clear

The second day got off to somewhat of a false start when French rising star Nicolas Vouilloz shunted his Peugeot on the Lantosque-Col de Braus test, at 34.40km the longest stage on the rally. Gronholm set a time 19.1s better than the next best man, Petter Solberg, but with leader Loeb setting a time 4m38.7s slower than Gronholm, there was obviously a serious road blockage. The stage was 'tied', with all the works cars given the time of Ford privateer Antony Warmbold, the last man to successfully complete the stage before the blockage.

The first run of the day through the foggy Tourette du Chateau, SS8, also upset the form book. Sure, Loeb extended his lead with a cracking time, almost matched by Duval, but Gronholm suffered a major setback when he completed the stage 28.4secs slower than Citroen's French flyer. That was nothing compared to Ford's Markko Martin, who lost 52.2secs on this stage and also his third place to team-mate Duval.

Solberg set a similar time to Gronholm, which helped him close on fifth placed Carlos Sainz (Citroen). Also quick here was the surviving Mitsubishi of Gilles Panizzi, who was fifth fastest after complaining of handling problems throughout yesterday.

On the final stage of this morning, the 28.28km Sigale-Col de Bleine test, there were even more changes. Gronholm suffered an off near the end of the stage and dropped the best part of a minute. Sainz also went off at the same place with more serious results, and a broken wheel has effectively put him out of the event.

The stage also claimed the second Subaru of Mikko Hirvonen, who crashed out and damaged the rear of his car, while team-mate Solberg dropped 42secs after a mid-stage hiccup. Loeb was sensational once again, 15secs faster through the stage than the again impressive Duval, who inherited second after Gronholm's off.

Loeb now leads by 1m15.8s. Duval's Ford team-mate Martin has risen to third overall, while Solberg was elevated to fifth thanks to Sainz's downfall.

Freddy Loix (Peugeot) is now sixth overall thanks to setting the third fastest time on SS9, while Panizzi continues to show much improved form too and lies seventh.

Phew! Plus there's two more stages to go this afternoon, so stay in touch with autosport.com.