SS10, Margam 1: Gronholm again

Gronholm, who is fighting to secure the manufacturers' championship for Peugeot, continues to comfortably lead the event more than a minute ahead of Burns, who needs to finish fourth or higher to secure his maiden drivers' title.

Burns led Gronholm's team mate Harri Rovanpera by just two seconds heading into SS10 and looked set to lose his second place to the Finn. However, Rovanpera lost just over 15 seconds finishing sixth on the stage, but he stayed third overall.

The drama was supplied by Wearden when he hit a wall in his Impreza WRC damaging the steering rack and coming to a halt four kilometres from the end of the stage. He has yet to be confirmed as a retirement, but his chances of continuing look unlikely.

"Marshals had to slow us down," said Skoda's Bruno Thiry of the stranded Wearden. "I saw a car off at the side of the road. The car didn't look too damaged, it was probably a stupid little problem."

Alister McRae, who is fifith overall, continued to use his home knowledge to full advantage finishing fourth fastest behind Carlos Sainz, while Mark Higgins was fifth in the third Ford Focus WRC. Armin Schwarz was seventh fastest behind Rovanpera to round out the overall top six.

Freddy Loix has dropped to 11th overall in the sole remaining Mitsubishi, as his Carisma GT's gearbox continues to cause problems. The Belgian has incurred two minutes of time penalty after leaving service late.

For full times from SS10, click here.

For full rally live timings, click here.

For rally itinerary, click here.

For full entry list, click here.