Mads Ostberg has taken the early lead of Rally Catalunya – which is the final round of the 2012 World Rally Championship – after Friday morning downpours shook up the standings.
Initially sixth and seventh, Ostberg and Tanak enjoyed better weather conditions than their rivals, especially on SS2, to surge into the front of the field.
Miko Hirvonen is leading the big names from third; he’s now 13.1 seconds behind Tanak, and is followed by Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb and Jari-Matti Latvala who lead the way in SS1, only to drop back due to bad weather.
Petter Solberg hit a rock on SS2 which broke his Ford’s suspension, while Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen also damaged their cars in the same location.