SS2, St Gwynno: High drama

The Finn hit a rock just over 10kms into the St Gwynno stage and damaged his front-left wish bone. The wheel then came off and he was out of the event on the spot.

He is not the only early casualty as Hyundai's Piero Liatti and Subaru's Petter Solberg have also taken an early bath. The Italian suffered a broken clutch, while the Norwegian was hit by terminal fuel pressure problems.

Carlos Sainz looks to have lost his slim hopes of stealing the world title. A puncture and a broken brake pipe has cost him dear. The Spaniard stopped after the stage to change the wheel but arrived late for the start of SS3 and has incurred 40 seconds of road penalties.

As for McRae, he is feeling comfortable. "The stage was in very good condition, but maybe I was a bit too careful at the start," he said. "Everything's fine at the moment."

His title rival Richard Burns was nearly five seconds slower than the Scot. "It was a very boring drive," he grumbled. The Peugeots of Marcus Gronholm and Didier Auriol split the pair, just as they do in the overall order.

But the fight at the front of the field has taken a back seat so far. As British driver Mark Higgins said: "Blimey, it looks like a World Rally Car scrapyard in there."