Tough day for Toyota pays off

In Toyota's debut outing in the event, Auriol lies in second position, 19 seconds behind leader Richard Burns after 85 competitive kilometres.

The Frenchman was never outside the top four fastest drivers throughout the day, and his first place on Stage Five put him within seven seconds of the overall lead.

Forced to ease off on Stage Seven after hitting a big pothole, he was still in confident mood.

'Generally today has been good and I am happy with our position, although we have been quite careful all day while trying to keep close to the lead,' Auriol said.

'We hit a bit hole in Stage Seven and I had to back off and take it easy because the handling of the car was all over the place,' he added.

Sainz is 20 seconds behind his team-mate in fifth place, but it seems the Spaniard was erred on the side of caution throughout the day because of the dangerously wet conditions.

'Today has been quite tough, especially driving through the stages for a second time. The ruts in the road were impossible, all you could do was sit in them - it wasn't enjoyable at all,' he said.

'Assuming it doesn't rain overnight, tomorrow should be good, but if it is wet, the roads will be incredibly slippery.'