Loeb trails Gronholm by 13 points in the drivers' championship

The 26-year-old was helped by an error by France's Sebastien Loeb, whose choice of tyres saw him slip back to give Duval a lead of 1.3 seconds.

Championship leader Marcus Gronholm lies third, 16 seconds adrift of title rival Loeb.

"I am happy but a little surprised to be ahead but I just hope I can finish well now," admitted Duval.

Reigning three-time world champion Loeb opted to run on softer compound tyres than his rivals in the afternoon session, having established a five-second lead.

But he admitted he was satisfied to still be in the mix after misreading the weather conditions.

We had soft tyres as we expected wet and humid conditions but it was completely dry and sunny Sebastien Loeb

"I'm very happy to be in this position but we made a very big mistake," he said.

"We had a really soft tyre because we expected wet and humid conditions but it was completely dry and sunny all afternoon."

Loeb's Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo was forced to retire on stage six having run as high as third early on, while Petter Solberg's Subaru had a vibration problem but survived to finish the day in ninth place.

Mikko Hirvonen was fourth in the second factory Ford, ahead of privateers Toni Gardemeister (Citroen) and Jan Kopecky (Skoda), while the Subaru of Xevi Pons was seventh.

Jari-Matti Latvala's Stobart Ford completed the top eight, while his British team-mate Matthew Wilson was just outside the top 10 in 11th place.