Well, todays opening leg of Rally Catalunya has certainly been a Spanish scorcher. The sun may not have been shining as much as we’d all like, but the pace on the stages has certainly been hot, hot, hot. Ford’s Francois Duval demonstrated that his stunning pace in France was no fluke by setting the fastest time on three of today’s six stages and taking on newly-crowned world champion Sebstien Loeb in a one-on-one duel for the overall lead of the rally that was as evenly-matched as they come.
Sadly, the young Belgian – who has become hot property in recent weeks since being released from his Ford contract - removed a wheel on the final stage of the leg, dropped down the order and now looks likely to end his rally in the service park this evening. His Ford team-mate, Markko Martin, has kept the outfit in touch, however. The Estonian has driven almost as competitively as Duval and Loeb today, and now lies just two seconds behind the Frenchman ahead of tomorrow’s eight stages to the north of Lloret de Mar.
Double world champions Marcus Gronholm and Carlos Sainz are locked in a battle for fourth, with 2003 champion Petter Solberg not far behind in sixth. All the lead six drivers are within a minute of each other, however, and the closely-competitive nature of this event means that anyone of them could still cause a shock or two.
The first of tomorrow’s eight stages is set to kick off at 08:36 local time (06:36 GMT).
