Update: Auriol, Rovenpera hit trouble

The Finn hit a rock in stage one, which broke the rear suspension and tipped his car backwards into a tree quite heavily. His famed skills as a mechanic were tested, and he managed to fix the suspension. Although going again, he is well down the leaderboard and his only aim is to set some fastest stage times to show what might have been.

Skoda's Didier Auriol did not even get that far, as he elected not to start the first full day of the event due to his agonising shoulder condition.

Dr Paul Trafford, who treated him yesterday, explained: "Didier has aggravated an old injury to his left shoulder. There is a build-up of calcium in the joint that is causing a severe inflammation of the tendon that passes through it. Didier received steroid injections yesterday to help relieve the pain, but they take three to four days to work properly."

Auriol flew home to France this morning to begin treatment with his own doctors.

He said: "I feel very sorry for the team that I could not continue in the rally but the injury was too painful for me to drive safely. It was the first time in my career that I have had to withdraw from an event like this. I must now concentrate on being fit for Rally Australia next month but I will be closely following the progress of the event from home."

Markko Martin leads the event after setting all three fastest times so far. Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot) is second, with Petter Solberg (Subaru) and Citroen's Colin McRae next up.