Sainz crashes out (updated)

The proximity of cars parked by the track has been an issue all day. SS7, also held at Coll de Bracons, and SS8, were cancelled on safety grounds, and some of the drivers were unhappy that the last stage was given the go-ahead.

"I was pushing hard into a fifth-gear fast corner with a few cars on the inside and on the outside," explained the Spaniard after being helicoptered back to service. "I corrected my line but there was a car which had two wheels on the tarmac. So I had to force a sixth-gear spin.

"I was very lucky to recover from that, we were still going backwards when we hit a very big stone" he added. "It was stupid to risk running that stage. It would have been better to stay safe."

The stage was won by Subaru's Petter Solberg. The Norwegian out-paced Gilles Panizzi by just 0.2s to deny the Frenchman victory on a stage for the first time in the event.

Panizzi leads the events by 31.3s from team-mate Richard Burns