Loeb happy to have competition

The 2006 World Rally Championship was expected to see a titanic struggle between the three drivers, but a series of problems for Gronholm and Solberg in recent months have helped Loeb to take five consecutive victories, most of them relatively unchallenged.

Gronholm and Solberg have turned the tables so far in Greece however, with the Ford driver leading the rally by 26 seconds from Solberg at the end of leg one, and Loeb trailing the Subaru by a further nine seconds.

"I'm not at all unhappy though," said Loeb. "For the first time this season, we're going to get the fight between the three drivers and cars that we've all been waiting for.

"It's pretty exciting. On the other hand, I can't get away from the fact that I'm not where I would ideally like to be.

"Tomorrow, I've got an excellent sparring partner in Petter. Trying to get past him will be the best way to get me closer to Marcus."

Solberg said that his focus is on catching Gronholm rather than defending second from Loeb.

"We're having a good fight out there and I'm looking ahead to try and get closer to Marcus," he said.

But Gronholm is confident that he has the speed to beat his arch rivals, even if he remains concerned about reliability after his recent run of frustrations.

"I won every stage and it doesn't get much better than that," he said. "The car is fantastic and I have the tool to beat Solberg and Loeb - and that's a good feeling.

"We had no problems and I hope it stays that way until Sunday so that I can be in the same position then."