Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala admits his only hope of winning Rally de France now lies with a change in the weather.
Latvala's deficit to Sebastien Loeb doubled when he went off the road on Saturday's second stage. The Finn starts the afternoon half a minute adrift of the leading Citroen.
"It's very hard now," said Latvala. "I was caught in the braking for a slow right corner. The road became damp and I locked the brakes. I hit a bank.
"We came out of there OK, but there was so much mud in the left-front wheel, the vibration was absolutely terrible.
"Through normal driving, I cannot catch Loeb now and I won't take the risk to try and do this. But, if the weather changes then I am ready to make a gamble with the tyre choice to try and win. But, we shouldn't forget that even if the weather does turn to wet, then Loeb is still a very, very good driver in these conditions."
Showers have been forecast for the afternoon stages. Loeb's Citroen left service with five hard tires, while Latvala has also gone out on hard tires but the Finn has taken two softs as spares, hoping for rain.