Mina Clavero Service 1: Spectators crowd McRae

"I'm going to keep pushing him (McRae) at this pace right to the end. It would only take a small mistake from him for me to be right up there."

The Norwegian did not suffer any major problems on the day's first two stages but admitted to being a bit 'chicken' because it was so slippery. He does not plan to take the fight to Makinen and expects the four-time world champ to overtake him.

The Finn is catching Solberg ahead of him, despite having a fast spin on SS17. He also had to top up and re-seal his radiator after it had sprung a leak.

The turbo problems on Gronholm's 206 WRC were entirely self-induced after the Finn nose-dived on one of the jumps kicking up sand into the car's air filter and inter-cooler causing a lack of turbo boost pressure. The sand was emptied at the end of the stage.

The gearbox was changed on Loix's Carisma GT last night which seems to have made the front differential over tight this morning, leading to a lack of grip.

McRae Junior nose-dived his Accent on the same jump that caused problems for Gronholm causing the car's oil-cooler to come loose, but the Scot was able to fix it before moving on to SS17.