Suzuki driver Kosti Katajamaki leads on the second day of the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship. Another Ignis of Alan Scorcioni is third, while the similar cars of Pavel Valousek and Martin Prokop are seventh and eighth.

Fin Kosti Katajamaki takes over de lead in Monte Carlo

Unfortunately, the two Monster Sport Europe Suzukis of P-G Andersson and Guy Wilks were forced to retire from first and fourth places in separate accidents on the final stage of the day. However, both hope to re-start the final leg under the new re-entry rules. Although they would each begin the final leg with a penalty of five minutes, they would still have every chance of scoring valuable points.

Day two of the all-asphalt event was the longest of the entire rally, comprising five stages. Although the weather in Monte Carlo was warm, the north-facing slopes of the mountainous stages often contained patches of ice to catch out the unwary. Nonetheless, the Suzuki drivers used slick tyres throughout the day's stages - which contained some fast roads as well as slower and more technical sections. Unfortunately it turned out to be a reasonably short day for the Junior World Rally Championship drivers, as stages six and seven were suspended following separate accidents. All the JWRC drivers were therefore given notional times for these two stages.

The Suzuki Sport Europe Ignis of Kosti Katajamaki enjoyed an exciting battle with Opel driver Kris Meeke throughout the day, establishing a clear lead on the final loop of stages. Kosti's Ignis was entirely reliable throughout the day, and he heads into the final leg with the firm aim of clinching his second Junior World Rally Championship victory.

The Finn, backed by two-time World Champion Marcus Gronholm, said: "Kris was very fast this morning and it was a big fight to keep up with him. There was a lot more snow and ice than yesterday, so maybe I was being a bit too careful as well. But it is so easy to go off, as we have seen, that you do not want to take too many risks. Today's been a strange day in many ways but I am delighted to emerge in the lead. We have been fighting at the front for all of the rally so I think we deserve it."

Alan Scorcioni, driving his first rally in an Ignis run by Czech team JM Engineering, ended the day in a career-best third place, although he chose rear tyres which were too soft for the opening stage. Nonetheless, the Italian was very pleased by the performance of his new Suzuki, and he drove perfectly throughout the rest of the day to make the best use of it.

He said: "It's been another amazing day which has far exceeded my expectations: although I am getting used to the fantastic performance of our car now. We had no real dramas at all, and drove quickly but safely. Of course we profited from other people's bad luck, but you still have to keep the car on the road and I'm pleased that we were able to do that in the tricky conditions. Tomorrow we have to stay concentrated and focused so that we can bring home a podium, which would be a great result."

P-G Andersson started the day with more than a minute's lead, but this was halved when he spun and hit a wall on the opening stage. He appeared to be back on track on the penultimate stage, but unfortunately crashed into retirement on the final stage of the day after sliding on some loose gravel on the inside of a corner.

The reigning Junior World Champion said: "It's tough to accept, but these things can happen. Right at the end of the first stage we were caught out when we hit a patch of ice and went straight into a wall. We were lucky then as there was no damage, but our luck did not hold on the final stage of the day. There was some gravel on the inside of a corner so we slid wide and badly damaged a front corner against a wall. Today has been much tougher than yesterday, with a lot more snow and ice. Hopefully we can still be in the rally tomorrow."

Guy Wilks had a repeat of the soft brake pedal he had suffered yesterday on the first stage. He managed to limit the time loss, but was still not at full confidence. On the final stage of the day, he crashed into a bridge on an icy corner that claimed several victims. However, the team is confident that Guy's car can be recovered to start the final leg.

He commented: "I concentrated on driving more smoothly than I had done yesterday, but when I tried to make up some time on the downhill slope of the opening stage I felt the brake pedal go soft again and it interrupted my rhythm. The accident on the final stage was just bad luck because everybody crashed on that corner: I was just more unfortunate than most. At least we have the possibility of starting again tomorrow and maybe even scoring some points."

Monster Sport Europe team manager Risto Laine commented: "I said before that you can never make any predictions about Monte Carlo and today has proved me right! We are confident that Guy's car can re-start tomorrow, but I am not entirely sure if it will be possible for P-G. There have been several accidents to the leading WRC cars as well on this leg, which just goes to show the difficulty of these inconsistent conditions. Up until their accidents P-G and Guy had been driving brilliantly, but it's a big consolation that we still have two Suzukis on the podium heading into the last day."

The final leg of the Monte Carlo Rally tomorrow is made up of six special stages, including two runs over the world-famous Col de Turini. More extensive patches of snow and ice are predicted, which could provide this classic rally with a final sting in the tail. The first car has an early start from Monaco at 06:52, and the winner is expected to spray the champagne at 14:30.

Junior World Rally Championship classification at end of leg two, Monte Carlo Rally:

(PROVISIONAL RESULT)

1 Kosti Katajamaki (Suzuki Ignis) 3h05m54.5s
2 Kris Meeke (Citroen C2) +13.3s
3 Alan Scorcioni (Suzuki Ignis) +1m39.6s
4 Luca Cecchettini (Renault Clio) +2m19.9s
5 Luca Betti (Renault Clio) +2m52.5s
6 Daniel Sordo (Citroen C2) +3m13.8s
7 Pavel Valousek (Suzuki Ignis) +3m53.3s
8 Martin Prokop (Suzuki Ignis) +5m32.6s