Gronholm recovered from a slow start to take the lead in Greece

Gronholm, who won the event last year, surged into the lead after a morning dominated by Subaru pair Chris Atkinson and 2003 world champion Petter Solberg.

Gronholm was four seconds behind at the start of the afternoon's three stages, but then showed his class.

His title rival Sebastien Loeb finished the day down in fourth place.

"It was a stage full of rocks. It was really rough," said Loeb, who won the final stage to close the gap on the leading pack.

It was a stage full of rocks. It was really rough Sebastien Loeb

Australia's Atkinson had been leading early on, but slipped to third, nine seconds off the lead, by the end of the day, with Norwegian Solberg second.

Behind the race leader, though, a mere 2.4 seconds separates five cars.

Gronholm's team-mate and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen suffered understeer problems and was 10.3 seconds adrift in fifth, while Loeb's Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo, of Spain, wound up 10.7 seconds behind in sixth.

The final two points-gaining positions are occupied by Norway's Henning Solberg and Finn Jari-Matti Latvala, although both are more than 45 seconds off the lead in their Fords.