Rowe rolls out as Bugalski turns screw

Rowe, the 1998 British champ, clipped a rock in his Super 1600-spec Puma and rolled at least three times, with the car ending up on its roof. The pair walked away from the accident, but were bothy taken for precautionary examinations.

Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Philippe Bugalski continued to edge away from the second-placed Marcus Gronholm's Peugeot. Behind them, Francois Delecour had moved spectacularly through the field to take third overall in his Ford Focus after a disappointing opening day. However, the Frenchman appears too far back to challenge for the lead over the remainder of today's stages.

Neil Wearden admitted to being overly-cautious when he chose to run intermediate tyres on his Grifone Peugeot 206 WRC for the seventh and eighth special stages. The Lancastrian, like several others, had expected rain, which then failed to materialise.

The Trier-based asphalt rally, which is a candidate for inclusion in the 2002 WRC, has a total of seven special stages in Saturday's second leg, with another six on the third and final day on Sunday.