The battle for the podium positions - especially between Marcus Gronholm and Petter Solberg - has been very interesting and will probably remain undecided until the very end of the race. The final day of racing should be exciting, looking at the many battles taking place and the small gaps separating some of the drivers.
Loeb still on the attack
Sebastien Loeb had a small advantage of around 20 seconds at the end of leg one. This gap wasn't enough for Loeb to slow down so the Citroën driver kept the same pace as yesterday and increased his lead to nearly a minute. A much more comfortable situation for the reigning World Champion.
Right from the start, Francois Duval admitted that his first priority was to finish the race and score his first drivers' championship points of the season. The Belgian driver was consistent throughout the day but lost one position to Petter Solberg, finishing leg two in fourth place.
Another terrific Gronholm / Solberg battle
Marcus Gronholm and Petter Solberg were involved in another classic battle, exchanging positions a few times without ever taking a clear advantage over one another. Finally, the Finn was able to clinch second place but his Norwegian rival is less than ten seconds behind in third position.
After a brilliant performance yesterday, Chris Atkinson continued his good work in leg two. The Australian driver didn't set any spectacular results like he did on Friday but avoided mistakes while gaining valuable experience, showing great maturity in the process. Atkinson finds himself in seventh place after losing two places to Markko Martin and Toni Gardemeister.
Gardemeister making progress
Since using a new tyre construction yesterday afternoon, Toni Gardemeister has been able to keep a fairly quick rhythm. The Ford driver never finished any lower than sixth during today's stages... but was not able to climb any higher than fourth either! Gardemeister finished the day in fifth position but remains under pressure from Markko Martin, only thirteen seconds behind.
Galli showed the Lancer's potential
Gianluigi Galli managed to prove his Lancer WRC's potential, setting a respectable fifth quickest stage time in Waipu Caves. However, the Japanese team has not been able to achieve a consistent performance, Harri Rovanpera unable to follow his teammate's pace.
The Italian ends leg two in eighth place, one better than his Finnish teammate.
Another difficult day at Skoda
The situation didn't get any better for Skoda today. Both Janne Tuohino and Armin Schwarz struggled to get top ten stage results and remained most of the time behind all the other works team drivers.
The good news is the Fabia's reliability, so far the two drivers have been able to complete the entire distance without any drama.


Tags: citroen, sport, sebastien, loeb, xsara,