Gronholm remains in control

Having extended his advantage over Petter Solberg to nearly 40 seconds during the morning stages, Gronholm could afford to drive carefully through the repeat run.

"I was being a bit more cautious," he said. "There were a lot of rocks and I don't want to hit them."

Gronholm's measured driving has given him a lead of 43.4 seconds with six stages remaining.

Solberg continues to give chase, and is hoping that this afternoon's stages might see a repeat of Friday's rain. In dry conditions, his Subaru begins to struggle for traction on longer runs.

"It was maybe a little bit better but really, really difficult," he said after SS13. "The rain will definitely help us a lot."

Gronholm would prefer this morning's dry conditions to continue.

"It will be be tricky if it's raining again," he said.

Unless the weather changes in his favour, Solberg may have to concentrate on resisting Mikko Hirvonen rather than trying to match Gronholm. The Ford number two was fastest in SS13, and is now within 26 seconds of Solberg's second place.

Henning Solberg still holds fourth, while Xavier Pons' continuing charge has brought him up to fifth position.

"It's very good for me and for the team. I'm very happy," said Pons. "But the rain is coming, it's not easy and the rally is long."

Pons completed the loop only 0.3 seconds ahead of Chris Atkinson, who has been experimenting with his Subaru's set-up this morning with mixed results.

Problems with the handbrake on his Stobart Ford caused Kosti Katajamaki to drop back to seventh after SS13.

Colin McRae is now eighth. After his earlier tyre choice issues, McRae felt he was making progress in SS12, but was only 11th quickest in SS13 and headed straight for service without stopping to speak to the reporters at the end of the stage.

Leading times after SS13:

Pos  Driver      Make           Time
 1.  Gronholm    Ford     2h 08:06.7
 2.  P Solberg   Subaru       + 43.4
 3.  Hirvonen    Ford       + 1:09.3
 4.  H Solberg   Peugeot    + 1:36.1
 5.  Pons        Citroen    + 2:44.1
 6.  Atkinson    Subaru     + 2:44.4
 7.  Katajamaki  Ford       + 2:54.1
 8.  McRae       Citroen    + 3:04.6
 9.  Duval       Skoda      + 3:23.4
10.  Stohl       Peugeot    + 3:40.7