Zoom Carlos Sainz.

As the first five cars had reached the end of the first special of the day, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) was ranking first of the special 28" ahead of Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) and 2'01 ahead of Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit (BMW). This means that "El Matador" is back in the first position of the overall rankings just 6 little seconds ahead of "Peter"!

Quad : Deltrieu on a winning streak
More than ever in the lead in the overall rankings, France's Hubert Deltrieu (Polaris) added a new special victory to his winning streak and arrived 53" ahead of Christophe Declerck (Yamaha). He now has a 44'19 lead over his countryman in the rally rankings.

No second special for trucks today...
Just like yesterday - and again at the request of all competitors in the truck category - the organizers decided to cancel the second 53 km-long special of the day on grounds of technical caution. The monster trucks enrolled in the race will go straight back to the lock park after the first 156 km special.

Truck : New stage victory for Stacey
Already more than solid leader in the overall rankings this morning, Dutchman Hans Stacey (MAN) increased his lead again by winning the only truck special of the day 6'48 ahead of Czech Republic's Ales Loprais (Tatra) and 7'48 ahead of Dutchman Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf). Stacey now has a 31'41 lead on Van Ginkel and a 49'23 lead on Loprais - ranking 3rd - at the top of the rally's rankings.

Cyril Despres – KTM - (After the first special) : "Today, I was the 5th or 6th contestant to start. It is obviously easier because you are less scared of finding someone or something in the way like a carriage, spectators, or animals... It allowed me to come on stronger, so I did... Plus the track we had chosen yesterday was even better today after the whole caravan drove it: there was better grip in the curves because of all the cars and trucks that drove by. So driving it was real fun. As the route is nice and the weather is great, this morning's drive was a real pleasure."

Carlos Sainz - Volkswagen - (After the first special) : "We gave our very best today and we made the most of how well we knew the route as we had already raced this special yesterday. We are back in the lead but it is a very very close call. We have more of a rally-style than a raid-style driving but for the time being it seems to be paying off."