Leg 2, am: Loeb strengthens lead

The Frenchman was only fourth quickest on the short and twisty SS6, Villars Sur Var, but bounced back with the quickest time on SS7. He proved five seconds quicker than Peugeot ace Marcus Gronholm over the 26.76kms Puget-Toudon run.

That leaves Loeb with a comfortable advantage of 46 seconds over four-time world champion Tommi Makinen, who is continuing to enjoy a strong debut for Subaru.

But Colin McRae's morning has not been so good. He has dropped back to fourth overall behind Gronholm after going off on SS7. The Scot continued and is now three seconds behind the Finn.

The only major retirements of the morning were Roman Kresta and Harri Rovanpera, who both came to grief on SS7. Skoda driver Kresta was lying 11th overall when he hit a bridge and was forced to quit, while Rovanpera suffered suspension failure on his privateer Peugeot 206 WRC.

Meanwhile, world champion Richard Burns has made progress on his first rally with Peugeot. He has risen from seventh overnight to sixth, thanks to Petter Solberg hitting trouble on SS7. The Subaru driver won SS6, but then clipped a front wheel on the following stage that knocked it askew.

For full times from SS7, click here.

For full rally live timings, click here.

For rally itinerary, click here.

For full entry list, click here.