Belgium's Francois Duval leads the Rally of Australia after Petter Solberg retired on day two following a collision with a kangaroo. Citreon driver Duval is 27 seconds ahead of Scotland's Colin McRae in his Skoda, while Finland's Harri Rovanpera is third in his Mitsubishi.
Norway's Solberg was leading by more than 50 seconds heading into the 13th stage when the accident took place.
He completed the stage but his Subaru was damaged irreparably.
"Everything was going perfectly, the car was just right, we had the speed and then something just came out of the blue," said Solberg.
"I suppose I should be glad the kangaroo was hunched down when we hit - if it had been up in the air, then at 190kph I think it would have gone straight through the windscreen."
Duval grabbed the lead on the 14th stage and is now on target for his first victory after finishing second in Germany, Britain and Spain.
World champion Sebastien Loeb crashed out when leading late on the first day while Marcus Gronholm also failed to make it into day two.
Rally of Australia standings (after day two):
1. Francois Duval (BEL) Citroen Xsara 2h 21min 12.6sec
2. Colin McRae (GBR) Skoda Fabia at 27.1 sec
3. Harri Rovanpera (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer 32.2
4. Manfred Stohl (AUT) Citroen Xsara 1:11.3
5. Gigi Galli (ITA) Mitsubishi Lancer 1:47.1
6. Chris Atkinson (AUS) Subaru Impreza 1:54.3
7. Roman Kresta (CZE) Ford Focus 1:58.7
8. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Ford Focus 2:06.7
9. Dani Sola (ESP) Ford Focus 3:26.3
10. Armin Schwarz (GER) Skoda Fabia 4:53.9
11. Toshihiro Ara� (JPN) Subaru Impreza 11:09.9
12. Aki Teiskonen (FIN) Subaru Impreza 12:24.6
13. Mark Higgins (GBR) Subaru Impreza 12:44.0
14. Gabriel Pozzo (ARG) Subaru Impreza 13:16.2
15. Fumio Nutahara (JPN) Mitsubishi Lancer 14:13.7
16. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) Subaru Impreza 15:40.6
MMIX
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