Double retirement for the Citroën Juniors

After the cleaner conditions of the previous two stages, things turned messy again on the repeated 35km Pays d’Ormont - a mud covered monster that brought about the retirement of both Citroen Junior team drivers.

First to go was Sebastien Ogier, who stopped 7.6 kilometres from the start when his damper problem took a serious turn for the worse and the top mount punched through the bonnet. His exit promoted Citroen privateer Petter Solberg - the stage winner - into third place overall.

Ogier’s Junior team-mate Kimi Raikkonen bowed out soon after by drifting wide and beaching his C4 WRC off the road at the 8.5km mark. Raikkonen and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom were uninjured in the slow-speed crash but are out of Saturday’s competition.

Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala appeared to revel in the slippery conditions, setting the second and third fastest times respectively - their best team performance of the rally.

Fourth fastest through SS15, rally leader Sebastien Loeb was two minutes slower than he had been in the morning but was relieved to have cleared the stage in one piece. “I knew it would be bad, but in places it was almost undriveable,” he said. “I was as happy to finish the stage as I am when I finish a rally!”