 Gronholm excels on the fast Finnish forest roads |
Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm finished day two strongly to stay in the lead at the Finland Rally. Gronholm holds a 35.1 second advantage over Ford's Markko Martin with Carlos Sainz one minute 24.6 seconds behind.
Championship leader Sebastien Loeb of France moved up from seventh to fourth during the day but faces a tough task if he is to finish on the podium.
World champion Petter Solberg won five stages but cannot compete for points as he retired from the race on Friday.
Solberg was allowed rejoin but will not be able to improve his championship standing.
He drove the legendary Ouninpohja 24km stage in 15 minutes, 18.5 seconds - almost seven seconds faster than the record set by Scotsman Colin McRae last year.
Gronholm, who is bidding for his fourth home win in five years, was aided by team-mate Sebastian Lindholm crashing out early on.
Finnish duo Janne Tuohino and Jani Paasonen are in fifth and sixth.
Belgium's Francois Duval, in a Ford, was penalized for arriving late at a time check and dropped from seventh to ninth.
MMIX
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