Motor Sport/ Rally Ireland: After setting the fastest time on the Stormont stage, World Championship leader Marcus Gronholm was lying third after yesterday's first three stages, the Flying Finn five seconds down on his arch rival Sebastien Loeb and 3.5 seconds behind Dani Sordo.
It then went all terribly wrong for Gronholm on SS4, the Lough Gill stage, when he crashed his Ford Focus RS out of Rally Ireland.
"The accident happened near the finish on a wide, right corner" said Gronholm. "I braked for the bend but it was extremely slippery and the car skated off the road.
"I managed to turn it sideways before hitting a stone wall hard. It was a big, big impact because the car stopped immediately and both wheels on my side of the car were ripped off. We were taken to hospital where we were both given a scan but showed no problems. My neck is sore but otherwise I'm okay".
His co-driver and fellow Finn Timo Rautiainen was unhurt but Gronholm actually lost consciousness for a short time, and complained of some memory loss.
He afterwards acknowledged that Loeb is now looking good to win the championship but insisted that he would "not give up hope yet".
Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson told World Rally Radio: "I know he'll be totally devastated about what's happened, because that's Marcus.
"They found some very polished tarmac and Marcus didn't get the breaking he expected," added Wilson.
"He's gone into the wall with his side of the car, and it was all his side of the car that took the impact."
Loeb set the pace on the first of yesterday's stages, beating his Citroen C4 team-mate Dani Sordo and Gronholm. It was a bumpy ride for Loeb after a rear suspension problem and he was worried about getting through the next couple of stages to service.
Sordo took over the lead after the Lough Gill stage and Mikko Hirnonen in the second works Ford Focus RS took up the chase of the two leading Citroens.
Conditions were extremely slippery on the stages, with lots of mud thrown on to the roads from the broken verges. Petter Solberg, Norwegian winner of the WRC in 2003, remarked: "When it's as bad as this there is no option but to drive like my grandmother."
His Henning didn't take his advice as he crashed his Ford Focus RS into a tree.
Matthew Wilson said: "This isn't like Irish rallying, it's unbelievable. The grip is changing all the time, it's an achievement to get this far. I've had more moments this morning than in all of Rally Japan."
Fellow British driver Guy Wilkes summed up the conditions in one word - "horrendous."
With his suspension problem fixed by the service crew, Loeb was back in the lead and proceeded to pull away from Sordo who lost six seconds following an overshoot on SS5.
After SS7 Loeb led by 6.8 seconds, which the Frenchman stretched to 11.2 seconds after SS10. Loeb was not taking any chances, cooly commenting: "The problem is to keep the car on the road. There is a lot of mud everywhere, so I just try to keep a good feeling. If I go too slowly I lose confidence and then I'm not able to drive so I try to keep a good rhythm."
Meanwhile, Jari Matti Latvale in a Stobart M-Sport Ford Focuis RS overtook Hirvonen to slot into third place. Petter Solberg was fifth ahead of Wilks, Manfred Stohy and Wilson, with Tim Ma McNulty ninth and Gareth MacHale 10th.
Kiris Meeke retired his Subaru WRC with engine trouble and Eugene Donnelly's Skoda Fabia WRC was sidelined with a broken drive shaft.
Today's stages over mostly farm roads in Fermanagh and Tyrone are expected to be very difficult, especially with rain and high winds forecast.
Out of respect to a close family member of the tragic Omagh fire victims, the Sloughhan Glen Stage is being shortened. The spectator areas near the village of Lack, off the B4, will no longer operate. Rally fans are advised to go to the spectator areas near Drumquin off the B84.
RALLY IRELAND (at Sligo)
OVERNIGHT POSITIONS AFTER LEG 1 (10 STAGES COMPLETED):1 Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen C4 WRC) 1h 33m 15.9s, 2 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroen C4 WRC) 1h 33m 27.1s, 3 Jari Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 34m 44.3s, 4 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 35m 09.1s, 5 Petter Solberg/Phil Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 35m 35.1s, 6 Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 37m 29.5s, 7 Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor (Citroen Xsara WRC) 1h 37m 57.8s, 8 Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 40m 01.3s, 9 Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 41m 11.8s, 10 Gareth MacHale/Allan Harryman (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 41m 15.7s, 11 Mark Higgins/Scott Martin (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 41m 58.9s, 12 Armindo Araujo/Miguel Ramalho (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 42m 54.6s.
Group N Production class: 1 Mark Higgins/Scott Martin, 2 Armindo Araujo/Miguel Ramalho, 3 Gabriel Pozzo/Daniel Stillo (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 43m 06.4s.
Class leaders: Kenneth McHale/Derek McCarthy (Toyota Yaris), Owen Murphy/Liam Brennan (Ford Fiesta), Adrian McElhinney/Gary McElhinney (Citroen C2), Toni Kelly/Gemma Price (Honda Civic).
