Leg 1 (am): Ford drivers fastest

McRae got off to a flier on the opening run, with Belgian Duval surprising the field on SS2 by taking his first stage victory. But it was Martin who stamped his authority on the rally before the first service area by going quickest on SS3. That gave him a lead of 5.8sec over McRae.

Martin's co-driver Michael Park said: "We're delighted to be in the lead. We're particularly happy because we did SS2 and 3 with a left rear puncture. The Pirelli tyres are clearly very strong because the mousse worked perfectly."

Duval is fourth behind the Peugeot of Marcus Gronholm. The Finn is running first on the road today thanks to his position at the top of the World Rally Championship points standings. That should put him at a disadvantage as his 206 WRC will be sweeping the gravel roads clear for his rivals. But Gronholm is only seven seconds off the lead and has done well to stay in touch with the fast Fords.

In contrast to the other Focus drivers, Carlos Sainz has endured a nightmare. From the first stage, the Spaniard was struggling with a damaged driveshaft which has cost him over two and a half minutes. But he has reached service and will be hoping his Ford team will be able to make repairs to give him the opportunity of making a comeback charge.

Petter Solberg and Alister McRae have also hit trouble. Solberg's Subaru was third quickest on the opening stage, but his Impreza was already blighted by a software glitch that was affecting his rear differential. Then on SS3 he lost three minutes with a throttle problem.

McRae's Mitsubishi developed brake trouble on SS2, then the car suffered a broken driveshaft on the following run. The Scot is still in the rally, but has lost a lot of time.

Kenneth Eriksson has made a good start for Skoda and lies fifth, ahead of an unhappy Tommi Makinen, who lost his dashboard display readings and found it hard to tell which gear he was in.

World champion Richards Burns has had a quiet morning and is only 10th overall, behind the three Hyundais of Juha Kankkunen, Freddy Loix, and Armin Schwarz. The Englishman's Peugeot team-mate Gilles Panizzi has come down to earth with a bump after his two asphalt rally wins by rolling his 206 WRC on SS3. He has made it to service, but is four and a half minutes down on the leader.

For full times from SS3, click here.

For full rally live timings, click here.

For rally itinerary, click here.

For full entry list, click here.