Duval set to score.

Former Citroen and Ford works driver, Francois Duval looks set to finish in a strong points position following the second leg of the Rally Catalunya on Saturday.

Duval showed his intention of attacking from the start today when he set the joint fastest time on the opening stage and moved into eighth place overall. But the scratch time was not without problems as a tyre was damaged by a rock in the road early in the stage and the Belgian was grateful for the mousse system employed by BFGoodrich to keep the tyre intact.

By the end of the first three stages Duval's Fabia WRC 05 had suffered three more damaged tyres that prevented him pushing to the maximum and he dropped one place.

The First Motorsport Skoda Team made some set-up adjustments at the mid-day service to improve the balance of the car and reduce the strain on the tyres. In the afternoon Duval was able to overhaul his closest two rivals and gained an extra place when Xavier Pons crashed on this afternoon's opening stage. He ended the day sixth overall.

"It was really good to set the scratch time this morning but it is a pity that we can't do more when the brakes become so hot," he reflected. "This afternoon we used harder compound tyres and they really made a big improvement. It's been quite a good day overall."

First Motorsport team boss, Willy Collignon was also pleased and now he wants to see Duval get the car to the finish, something he often has a tendency not to do, as he showed all too often last year when he was at Citroen.

"It was a nice moment when Francois was fastest on the first stage today, adding to the scratch time he made in Monte Carlo, and the intermediate times on the next two stages were very good too. When we saw that he had suffered four damaged tyres in three stages I think it showed just how good his performance was. Our aim is to finish this rally and learn so we will not be taking risks tomorrow," concluded Collignon.