Changes made to Portugal itinerary

Stage eight of Vodafone Rally de Portugal will run approximately 60 minutes behind schedule, while stage 10 has been cancelled, the organisers of round four of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia have confirmed.

In a statement the organisers confirmed: “A car became stuck in a small water crossing on the road section between stage six and stage seven. The following cars could not get past so were unable to get to the start of stage seven, so the stage was cancelled for them. They then had to drive the road section back to service so the second loop was delayed to allow them to reach service and have the required service time. To avoid a possible repeat on the second loop, the organisers have decided to cancel the second running of the S. Bras de Alportel stage, which would have been stage 10. Therefore, SS9 will be the last stage of the day.”

After seven stages, Mikko Hirvonen leads in a Citroen DS3 WRC. Evgeny Novikov is second with fello Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Mads Ostberg in third position.