SS7, Pavliani 2: Delecour off to a flyer

The Frenchman completed the stage in 19m46.0s - more than 30 seconds faster than his Ford team mate Colin McRae set when he was quickest through on Friday.

Following the retirements of Marcus Gronholm and Didier Auriol on the first day, Harri Rovanpera is leading Peugeot's only charge on Leg Two. The Finn, who won Rally Sweden in February, was second fastest through Pavliani, nearly nine seconds off Delecour's pace.

Petter Solberg again was the fastest Subaru runner, setting the third fastest time through the stage, however his team mate Markko Martin, who matched the young Norwegian's pace yesterday, has retired on SS7 following a puncture (see separate story). Martin's exit means that Solberg is now up to fourth on the overall leaderboard.

Colin McRae, the first car out on the road today, set a competitive time to finish the stage in fourth. The Ford driver extends his lead overall and now has a 27-second advantage over team mate Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard was sixth fastest on Pavliani and sandwiching the two Ford Focus WRCs was the Subaru Impreza of Richard Burns in fifth. He is still lies third overall, 33 seconds behind McRae.

Championship leader Tommi Makinen was seventh fastest, with the Hyundai of Alister McRae a further eight seconds back. McRae's Swedish team mate Kenneth Eriksson will take no further part in the rally after his turbo failed on his Accent on the road section before the stage.

The remaining Citroen of Philippe Bugalski was ninth quickest with Mitsubishi's Freddy Loix rounding out the top 10.

The rally heads to the Karoutes stage before service at Parnassos.

For SS7 results click here.

For full live timings table click here.

For full entry list click here.

For the itinerary click here.