Rovanpera Surprised with Third

The Mitsubishi driver has yet to finish on the podium this season, but he benefited from Marcus Gronholm's brake problems today to hold onto the final podium slot at the end of Leg One.

Rovanpera overcame problems with the rear of his car to set the third fastest time on SS6 and hold a 39.6 second advantage over Gronholm for third.

Rovanpera told Autosport-Atlas: "Yesterday I would have been satisfied with somewhere in the top six. The car and the tyres were working well. When you are pushing you can get some results.

"We had a steering link problem and a ball bearing failure on the rear of the car on SS5 and the rear tyres were moving. It is not so easy to drive but we had plenty of time to change before the last stage.

"Of course we will try and hold off Gronholm. He is coming very fast but we will see what we can do tomorrow. Something could happen with one off the other drivers and no-one really knows."

Peugeot boss Jean-Pierre Nicolas said however that Gronholm would be fast enough to take the final podium slot from Rovanpera, after the Finnish secured the fastest time on SS5 and SS6.

"Tomorrow, Harri Rovanpera will be within his reach," Nicolas said. "As for the others, Marcus will be right behind and ready to take advantage of any opportunities that come his way."