ERC: Round day two early summary

Dawn had just broken when Bruno Thiry, Peugeot 206 WRC, left Parc Ferme to begin Day 2 of the 38th Rallye Antibes-Azur, the final co-efficient 20 round of the FIA European Rally Championships. He has a lead of 19.7secs, after winning all 4 of the opening days stages and is looking to increase his lead still further.

"Yes, for sure it was a nice confidence booster to make a good start and it looks like we are going to have another fine day so I will continue to push hard and do everything to avoid punctures," he said before leaving.

Miguel Campos, Peugeot 206 WRC, who leads the Championship by 120 points, is in second place and the head cold which has plagued him in recent days is over. "I had a good nights rest, but it is difficult for me as I am here for the first time on these very demanding stages. It will be difficult to close the gap to Bruno but I will try," he said.

In third place is the Czech Champion Vaclav Pech in his Ford Focus WRC. "For me it is very hard. It is the first time that I have driven in Western Europe and I am a little nervous," said the 26 year old. "The car is fine and the only problem on the first day was me, but now I am getting used to the tricky roads which are very different from back home and it is cool."

Robert Butor, the Hungarian driver, is fourth in his Citroen Saxo VTS, whilst the young Belgian driver Tim Van Parijs in a Mitsubishi Evo 6, has surprised everyone with his speed and is in 6th place overall.

Todays programme for the 46 drivers remaining in the rally, consists of 4 stages which they drive twice, with a total distance of 156.44kms. They are expected back at Parc Ferme in Antibes at 21.59hrs.

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