Hirvonen closes in on Solberg

He had established a solid 10 second advantage over the chasing Mikko Hirvonen in the opening stages, but struggled with severe tyre wear as the temperatures increased on the second run through today's loop. This led to a minor excursion on El Cubliete 2.

"We went off a little bit but we didn't lose too much, maybe two or three seconds," said Solberg. "The tyres are finished. There will be a very good fight. The second time through the stages is a little bit difficult for us, but I'm trying."

Sebastien Loeb has also moved himself into contention for the rally victory. The world champion had a subdued morning and went into the first service halt 33 seconds behind Solberg in fourth. But lunchtime set-up changes helped Loeb to go fastest in SS5 and SS6, leaving him just 11.7 seconds behind Solberg.

With Marcus Gronholm and Chris Atkinson both crashing this afternoon and Henning Solberg losing a lot of time with a puncture, Manfred Stohl and Daniel Sordo have been left to battle for fourth and fifth - almost two minutes behind the leaders, but just seven seconds apart.

Matthew Wilson and Irish privateer Gareth MacHale have also benefited from the attrition ahead to advance to sixth and seventh places.

The competitors are now returning to the service area for attention prior to the new Nextel Superspecial stage that will conclude leg one.