SS5, Palsankyla: Gronholm again

But it is so, so, so tight at the top, as Richard Burns again finished within half a second of the world champion on the stage. The Subaru driver is 11 seconds behind Gronholm in the overall lead, with the second Peugeot of Harri Rovanpera still holding second place on the leaderboard.

But the Finn could only manage fourth on the stage as Markko Martin again finished third fastest, two seconds off Gronholm's benchmark time. The Estonian won his home rally last month and seems fired up in Finland to make an impression on the WRC stage once more.

Didier Auriol is sticking to the leaders. The Frenchman, in the third Peugeot 206, was fifth fastest on SS5 - just quicker than Jani Paasonen, who is still managing to outshine the works Ford Focuses of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. The Scot was seventh fastest through Palsankyla, 12 seconds off Gronholm's pace, but his team mate Sainz suffered major problems on that stage.

He has lost over 30 seconds to the leaders when he overshot a junction. After failing to find reverse, the Spaniard tried to handbrake turn/spin his Ford Focus to get his machine facing the right direction, but in doing so slid into a ditch. He then suffered a puncture towards the end of the stage when he hit a rock.

The rally now heads back to service at Paviljonki before repeating this morning's first three stages.

For SS5, Palsankyla, results, click here.

For full live timings table click here.

For full entry list click here.

For the itinerary click here.