Martin up to third for Ford.

Two contrasting speed tests just to the south of Vic, one the longest of the day and the other the shortest, comprised the quickfire second section on today's opening leg of the Rallye Catalunyna.

They were good news for Ford Rallye Sport drivers Markko Martin and Michael Park who climbed to third in their Focus RS World Rally Car.

The 27-year-old Estonian driver, struggling to keep his head upright after Sunday's accident in Corsica due to the G-forces, was not looking forward to the demanding 26.27km Sant Julia. However, he was fifth fastest over the stage, which included the much photographed hairpin where crowds gathered in their thousands high on the motorway bridge to watch the action on the downhill corner below. He was then fastest on the 5.05km Taradell, a short and featureless test on a main road - the Ford BP team's first stage victory of the event. He now lies 21.7sec behind leader Sebastien Loeb.

"I'm still finding it hard because of my neck," he said. "The short stage was fine but on the longer one I started to get very tired and couldn't keep my head in the right position. It's OK up to about 10km but longer than that and it troubles me. It's hard to concentrate on my driving. The car is perfect but I don't have a good feeling because of my neck." Martin, who tried driving with a brace earlier in the week, started this morning with padding behind his neck. He has now moved the position of that so it supports both sides of his neck but it is clearly an uncomfortable situation.

Ford BP team-mates Francois Duval and Stephane Prevot were third fastest through Sant Julia and sixth in Taradell to climb to seventh in their similar Focus RS.

"Both stages were new to me and I found it hard to read the roads but they weren't as difficult as I had expected," he said. "The drivers ahead of us are cutting the corners a lot and the roads are quite slippery by the time we get there because they have dragged gravel and dirt onto the asphalt."

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, competing in Spain for the first time, remain 13th in their 2002-specification Focus RS, run by M-Sport.

"The brakes felt soft in both stages," said 22-year-old Hirvonen. "The pedal went to the floor several times and I had to pump the pedal to get them to work properly. The roads here are faster and more slippery than in Corsica last week," added the Finn, who also suffered a vibration in Sant Julia after cutting a corner and breaking the anti-deflation mousse in his front left tyre.