World champion Sebastien Loeb blitzed the field on the second day of the Monte Carlo Rally to move back into contention for a podium finish, despite his five-minute penalty.
The Kronos Racing driver was docked five minutes for failing to complete the last stage yesterday, having slid off the road and down a bank in his Citroen.
But he made amends today by winning four consecutive stages to propel himself back into contention for a top-three spot.
Loeb is fourth after 10 stages, 42.7 seconds adrift of third-placed Toni Gardemeister's Peugeot, with OMV Citroen driver Manfred Stohl just 3.4 seconds beyond him in second.
But Loeb is unlikely to claim a fourth consecutive Monte Carlo Rally win without major problems for Marcus Gronholm on his Ford debut.
The Finn, like Loeb a two-time world champion, has stretched the lead he inherited when Loeb crashed yesterday and he now holds a two minutes 11.2-second advantage over Stohl.
Ex-Formula One driver Stephane Sarrazin is fifth for Subaru but team leader Petter Solberg failed to start today's action after retiring overnight with an oil leak.
The Norwegian was left cursing his bad luck in the principality.
“I still can't really believe it,” he said. “It's incredible really – it seems I have no luck here in Monte Carlo. It must change soon.”
Chris Atkinson, starting just his second season in the world championship, provided the shock of day one by holding second place for Subaru but it did not last and this morning he slid to sixth.
The Australian was not worried though, with his priority to reach the finish line tomorrow in one piece.
He said: “Obviously we've dropped back today, but we're still doing some pretty good times. We've been taking a cautious approach from the start and we'll keep doing so.
Gilles Panizzi's podium challenge faded this morning but he is seventh and still on course to give the new Red Bull Skoda team points on their debut.
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen is eighth, while Gareth McHale continues to be the best of the Irish drivers. He is now 17th overall.
Eamon Boland is 21st, one place ahead of Austin McHale, all three are driving Ford Focus World Rally Cars.
