London World Cup Rally after four days of driving.
The Irish crew in their Volkswagen Polo are three minutes ahead of Alyson Marlow's and Barbara Armstrong's Peugeot 206 and third placed David Johnson and Robert Johnson in their Proton Satria.
The 20-day rally has a 70-strong line up, with entries from all over the world.
It has 82 time-controls, and 28 competitive test-sections, with more than 6,000 miles of varied terrain placing a premium on reliability.
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The 10-days in Morocco form the heart of the rally, but the drive up through Portugal, using some of the classic stages of the old TAP Portugese Rally, provides a sting in the tail and is expected to provide a major final influence on the leaderboard.