Mexico : SS 11 - 25.23 km
After making a stop at the service area in Leon, the crews are now back on the road. The programme for the rest of the day will include a second loop on the three stages used earlier this morning and a run through the Nextel Super Special later in the evening.
The action got underway with the 25 km El Zauco stage. Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb were once again clearly faster than the rest of the field, battling for the lead. The two men gave a superb show, finishing the stage with nearly identical times. Loeb took the stage victory but Solberg lost only three tenths of a second on the Frenchman!

Petter Solberg is still the leader of the race, with Loeb just 1”7 behind. The gap over Manfred Stohl in third position is now more than three minutes!

Marcus Gronholm is the only other driver to come close to the two leaders` pace. The Finn set the third fastest time, 12”6 slower than Solberg. The Ford driver is still moving up through the field after losing a lot of time with his retirement in leg one.

Dani Sordo, Chris Atkinson and Manfred Stohl were separated by less than a second in this stage. The Spaniard clinched fourth place, followed by Atkinson and Stohl. The Austrian is still the best-placed of the three in the race standings with his third place... 26 seconds in front of Sordo in fourth position.

Tags: rally,