Spaniard Jesus Puras is confident he can hold on to secure his first win in world rallying after he dominated the penultimate leg of the Rally of Corsica today. Citroen driver Puras set five best stage times as he extended his overnight lead over Peugeot's Frenchman Gilles Panizzi to 23.5 seconds.
"I made a mistake in San Remo and crashed out and I'm trying hard not to do the same," Puras said. "I have eased off a little to make sure nothing happens but I am confident I can stay ahead. The roads today have been difficult because on some stages we found wet conditions. I had to try to adjust the differentials and the brakes to cope. Sometimes the roads were dry, sometimes slippery and sometimes the rain was falling. I am still in front and that is okay."
Panizzi set two fastest stage times, but struggled to make any inroads into Puras' lead as he opted for caution in the conditions and is 26.4 seconds ahead of team mate and compatriot Didier Auriol. Norwegian Subaru driver Petter Solberg is fourth ahead of Ford's Frenchman Francois Delecour and his team mate Estonian Markko Martin, who suffered blackouts while driving.
Briton Richard Burns, who had a headache throughout the day, is now seventh in his Subaru after benefiting from problems suffered by title rival Colin McRae. Scot McRae suffered a power steering failure on his Ford Focus on the penultimate stage of the day and after losing more than three minutes he now lies 12th overnight.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
