Duval not focusing on winning

Duval inherited the lead of Rally Australia after Petter Solberg crashed out halfway through SS13, and the Belgian now holds a comfortable 27.1-second advantage over Skoda's Colin McRae.

Duval admitted he is desperate to finish the event, because he still hasn't secured a drive for next season, since Citroen are taking a sabatical in 2006.

"Its quite difficult to drive because of the conditions," Duval said. "I'm trying not to think about the result at all and stay focused on the road. It is not such an easy position, because I want to win the rally, but at the same time I need to finish for next year.

"Being in front doesn't really change that much; I still need to drive quite quickly because my chasers aren't that far behind, and I need to stay focused to make sure I don't make any mistakes. But that was already the case."

The odds appear stacked in Duval's favour to win the event, with McRae still learning the Skoda Fabia and third-placed Harri Rovanpera's Mitsubishi renowned for being hard on its tyres on the second runs through stages.

Citroen boss Guy Frequelin said that Duval had been told not to go for the win, but after Solberg's retirement has just asked his driver to stay relaxed.

"Seeing Francois in front is a little unexpected," said Frequelin. "Petter was 50 seconds clear and we had no intention of challenging for the lead.

"Francois was calm and relaxed. I asked him not to overdo it. He has a golden chance to score his first WRC win. For that, he first needs to finish. But since he's been in front, he has handled the situation very well."