Hirvonen hits trouble / Sordo hits Hirvonen

Dani Sordo lies tantalizingly close to third place on his home round of the WRC after setting the fastest time though stage 10. But he would have taken the spot had he not struggled to pass the ailing Ford of Mikko Hirvonen mid stage.

Hirvonen’s car was slowed by a suspected turbo problem, meaning the hard charging Sordo caught it at the 12km point. Hirvonen was unaware of how close the Citroen was until he was given a few nudges on the rear bumper. At the stage end, Mikko apologised for the delay.

Sordo headed to SS11 just 0.3sec behind Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn, however, was feeling far happier with his Ford Focus after softer springs were fitted at service. Latvala also revealed that his car had incorrect damper settings for the morning stages.

Sebastien Ogier completed in the third fastest time but remained way down the leaderboard after his earlier bid to catch Sebastien Loeb ended in a crash on SS8. “Now this is just a drive for practice,” said Ogier. “It’s a shame because I had a good feeling this morning. I was trying as hard as possible - I have no regrets.”

Sebastien Loeb set the fourth fastest time to keep a comfortable 44.9sec rally lead over Petter Solberg.

Overall standings after SS10: