Martin: I can't catch Loeb

The penalty, however, has only resulted in firing up a frustrated Markko Martin, taking victory on the opening three stages of today's four tests, leaving him now only 50 seconds adrift with the mammoth 52km Teglia re-run still to come.

"It was disappointing to lose time in service," Martin said. "We have no chance of attacking Sebastien now unless he makes a mistake. There's no point in taking risks so we'll try to maintain our position.

The Estonian was however delighted with how his Focus WRC was handling on the Italian asphalt. "The car felt perfect through that stage (8) apart from a vibration after we hit a wall about 20km from the finish," said Martin. "There was some dirt on the outside of a corner and I took the racing line through the bend rather than the same line as everyone else.

"The back of the car just flicked out and clipped a wall on the left hand side. It knocked the wheel out of alignment and I had a vibration for the rest of the stage but I eventually got used to that and it didn't cost us much time."