Bernardi climbs the leaderboard.

Nicolas Bernardi produced a strong display on leg two of Rallye de France - Tour de Corse to lift himself into the top ten on his debut with the Peugeot 307 WRC.

Bernardi was 14th at the end of the opening leg, meaning he was one of the first cars on the road for leg two but it didn't prove to be a disadvantage for the Frenchman who improved throughout the day to set the fourth quickest time on the final stage of the day.

"I made a cautious start as I did not want to throw away this amazing chance to drive a factory car, which I have been waiting for since the start of my career," he said. "After changing some aspects of the set-up, and with more experience of the 307WRC, I felt much more at ease today and I was able to attack without holding back. With every kilometre my confidence is growing, so I hope for a good finish to this rally tomorrow, in order to start the Catalunya Rally with every opportunity to be quick from the start."

Team boss Jean-Pierre Nicolas said he was pleased to see Bernardi impressing on the second day, which lifted the mood of the Peugeot team following Marcus Gronholm's retirement on leg one.

"We had to do without Marcus Gronholm on the second leg but we have seen Nicolas Bernardi getting stronger and stronger, setting split times which were increasingly impressive," he said. "After the first two stages, during which his tyres went off, Nicolas learned to look after them better in the afternoon. This allowed him to set an excellent fourth-fastest time that was quicker than any other Pirelli runner - including Petter Solberg."