Telstra Rally Australia has its fourth rally leader with Francois Duval poised to take his first ever rally win.

The young Belgian inherited the rally lead when Petter Solberg hit a kangaroo on stage 13, extensively damaging the car’s radiator and engine and forcing his retirement.

Prior to Solberg’s retirement, Duval was placed second, only 13.9 seconds adrift of the lead with Colin McRae in third, a further 28.8 seconds behind the rally lead.

Duval, 23 and currently the youngest driver in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), placed third in last year’s Telstra Rally Australia.

Duval has had a tumultuous season. The low point came when he was dropped by Citroën for two rounds in favour of retired Spanish driver, Carlos Sainz. Later this season he achieved a career best when he placed second in both Germany and Britain.

“Everything went well in these stages, which are actually the ones I like most,” said Duval. “I'm trying to follow the same pace as Harri and Colin thanks to the split times I receive. Now we will drive another time through yesterday's stages. I shouldn't drive too slow as my main rivals are driving flat out. But I should also stay on the road…”

Colin McRae has made an outstanding comeback to the WRC despite his lack of experience in the new Skoda. McRae consistently clocked top three stage times for most of Saturday’s leg two stages, marginally securing second outright at the end of leg two.

“I’m working hard to win the battle with Harri and trying to keep Francois under pressure. Given that I’ve only driven the car in competition for less than 600 kilometres I’d settle for second right now but I’m still going to try and win if I can”, stated McRae during today’s stages.

Australian Chris Atkinson is currently placed sixth outright following technical problems on leg one which cost him the rally lead. At the end of leg two, Subaru’s Atkinson lies only 7.2 seconds behind Mitsubishi’s Gigi Galli in fifth place. However, the young Australian still has to hold off Ford’s Roman Kresta 4.4 seconds behind in seventh.

Results at the end of leg two;

2. C McRae/N Grist GB Skoda Fabia 2hr 21min 39.7sec

3. H Rovanperä/R Pietilainen FIN Mitsubishi Lancer 2hr 21min 44.8sec

4. M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara 2hr 22min 23.9sec

5. G Galli/G D'Amore I Mitsubishi Lancer 2hr 22min 59.7sec

6. C Atkinson/G MacNeall AUS Subaru Impreza 2hr 23min 06.9sec

7. R Kresta/J Tománek CZ Ford Focus RS 2hr 23min 11.3sec

8. T Gardemeister/J Honkanen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 23min 19.3sec

9. D Solà/X Amigo E Ford Focus RS 2hr 25min 18.9sec

Nine stages was all it took for the mighty to take a fall in the first day of Telstra Rally Australia. Three World Rally Championship drivers retired along with two second priority drivers, one of those retirements being World Champion elect Sebastien Loeb.

Daniel Carlsson was the first misfortune of the day when he went off the road on stage three and the car caught fire. Both crew were unharmed and removed from the scene, but their Peugeot World Rally Car was unable to continue.

Chris Atkinson had taken the rally lead by stage four, the second stage of the day. Atkinson held off a determined charge by his Subaru team mate Petter Solberg to establish an impressive lead which held his country in suspense. But it was only short lived as the steering on his Subaru World Rally Car inexplicably broke on stage six. The Queenslander lost the rally lead and dropped to sixth outright.

Xavier Pons, in a privately-run Citroen, hit a tree on stage five and retired. Antony Warmbold in an 04 spec Ford rolled and also joined the retirement list.

Marcus Gronholm was the next to suffer. On stage seven he dropped from third to eleventh outright when the front suspension on his Peugeot collapsed. As his suspension was destroyed so too was the chance for an impressive finale for the final outing for the Peugeot World Rally Team.

Topping the list of mistakes and misfortunes was Champion-elect Sebastien Loeb. In a rare moment of miscalculation, Loeb applied the brakes too late on some loose gravel, and came off the road and hit a tree on stage nine. The crew were unharmed.

The gremlins even spread to the Australian drivers. Subaru Australia announced their retirement from Australian rallying only days before Telstra Rally Australia and were supposed to be enjoying their final rally as a team. Australian Rally Champion Cody Crocker retired first when he glanced a tree and bent a control arm. His West Australian team mate Dean Herridge suffered sudden engine failure and they were left stranded on the side of the stage.

The Production Cup World Rally Championship also has one less contender. Marcos Ligato rolled his Subaru and while he was able to continue the stage, he chose to retire shortly thereafter.

The day even started with dilemma for the BP Ford World Rally Team. The two drivers running in the latest 06 spec Focus incurred 30 second penalties due to an FIA ruling insisting on engine pairing between events. This forced the team to infringe regulations regardless of them using the old engine in a new car, or the new engine in the old car. Penalties aside, Toni Gardemeister holds seventh place, and Roman Kresta lies in eighth place. Team Director Malcom Wilson said he was delighted with the new car’s debut performance.

There was good news for two teams. Mitsubishi team personnel reported that for them it had been a good day. Their cars lie in fourth and sixth outright. Skoda also enjoyed a trouble free run. Armin Schwarz, who will retire from the sport after this rally, lies in 11^th outright while Colin McRae said his third outright was a result of a day going completely to plan.

Despite the day’s drama Petter Solberg comes out of Leg One on top of the leaderboard, with a 46.6 second lead over Francois Duval, and Colin McRae only 1.4 seconds adrift in third.

The championship title is already won, but you wouldn’t have known it by the fast and furious rally action taking place at the Gloucester Park Super Special Stage that started Telstra Rally Australia, the final event in the 16-round FIA World Rally Championship.

Star of the spectator-friendly Super Special, Petter Solberg ends the night as the rally lead, after setting a lightening quick time on the stage’s first run. His Subaru team mate Chris Atkinson gave crowds plenty to cheer about as he and Perth co-driver Glenn Macneall streaked ahead of their on-track rivals.

Colin McRae of Skoda World Rally Team was tipped to be a crowd favourite and he didn’t disappoint. The two-time winner of this event confessed that a short two kilometre testing stage in Mundaring was his only experience in the car since September. But this didn’t deter the Scotsman from being fantastic and flamboyant as he took to the Qantas Flyover and other special features of the purpose-built city track.

McRae’s crowd-pleaser challenge came from Swede Daniel Carlsson. Carlsson had damaged his Peugeot World Rally Car on this morning’s testing stage when he hit a tree twice! The cosmetic damage was not the only indicator of how much the youngster was out to impress. He challenged McRae on the Super Special and beat him by a tenth of a second on the stage’s first running. McRae got his own back on the second run, winning by six-tenths of a second.

Carlsson was not alone in thrilling fans. His Peugeot team mate Marcus Gronholm had the crowds gasping when he clipped a ditch and travelled the corner on less than four wheels.

Another duel that had the crowds on their feet was Australian stars Dean Herridge and Cody Crocker, in their final event competing with Subaru Team Australia. West Australian Herridge beat his team mate and Australian Rally Champion Cody Crocker on both runnings of the stage and was also the quickest Group N car on the stage.

The rally action continues tomorrow in the country stages around Dwellingup, south of Perth. In the afternoon, the cars come into Perth City for repairs, allowing rally fans to get close to the mechanical frenzy at the Langley Park Service Park.