SS3, Vallfogona: Citroen 1-2; Solberg ditches it

But Subaru's prospects of a good result took a tumble after Norway's Petter Solberg parked his Impreza in a ditch - seemingly with no chance of getting it back out - and Richard Burns lost 34.7s with gearbox problems. Subaru will change the Englishman's 'box in the service the cars are scheduled to reach at 13:03 local time (12:03 GMT)

Bugalski's time looked all the more extraordinary when unconfirmed reports filtered through to the Manlleu service area that the Frenchman was suffering brake problems in his all-wheel drive machine.

Puras continues to lead the rally, with the margin over Tommi Makinen extended to 5.3s after 50.50km of competitive motoring.

Asphalt ace Gilles Panizzi headed world champion Marcus Gronholm and Didier Auriol as Peugeot took the third, fourth and fifth places, some five seconds off Bugalski's scratch time, with Makinen's Mitsubishi again the best of the non-PSA rest in sixth.

Colin McRae made a relative improvement when he put his Ford Focus seventh on the stage. But with Delecour eighth and Sainz 12th, Ford is not putting up the fight most expected it to in the first all-asphalt event of the season.

Hyundai's evolution Accent continues to struggle on its first asphalt outing, with neither Alister McRae nor Italian asphalt specialist Piero Liatti in the top 10 overall.


Philippe Bugalski, Citroen, 9m21.2s
Jesus Puras, Citroen, 9m22.7s
Gilles Panizzi, Peugeot, 9m26.2s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, 9m26.3s
Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, 9m26.5s
Tommi Makinen, Mitsubishi, 9m26.9s


Jesus Puras, Citroen, 31m21.5s
Tommi Makinen, Mitsubishi, +5.3s
Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot, +5.7s
Didier Auriol, Peugeot, +5.7s
Gilles Panizzi, Peugeot, +10.3s
Philippe Bugalski, Citroen, +13.6s
Francois Delecour, Ford, +19.7s
Freddy Loix, Mitsubishi, +22.4s
Colin McRae, Ford, +28.9s
Carlos Sainz, Ford, +30.0s