SS10: Ostberg leads by a whisker

Four stages and three changes of lead - that’s the story of a thrilling morning in the second leg of Rally Finland as Mads Ostberg arrived at the Jyvaskyla service park with a slender advantage of eight-tenths of a second over Sebastien Ogier.

Mikko Hirvonen recovered from his time loss in the rain last night to close to 7.5sec of Ostberg, while overnight leader Thierry Neuville lies 11.4sec off the lead as the quartet pulled clear.

Ostberg, driving a Ford Fiesta RS, moved ahead of a cautious Neuville in the opening 22.50km Jukojarvi. But in the following 13.92km Palsankyla, Ogier was quickest in his Volkswagen Polo R to move 0.2sec clear.

It was all-change again in Mokkipera as Ostberg was fastest to regain the advantage by 2.4sec. Although Ogier hit back by winning the 25.70km Lankamaa, Ostberg settled down to lunch with the lead.

“It’s so, so fast in places,” said the Norwegian. “In the last stage I was a bit careful in the high-speed sections. When I came into the really quick corners I tended to lift off and I lost time in those areas.”

Championship leader Ogier admitted his title aspirations were in his thoughts. “I have the championship in my mind,” he said. “I’ll try to stay in the battle for victory and if I can stay there and push a bit more towards the end, it would be perfect.”

Hirvonen remains in the thick of the fight in his Citroen DS3, but the Finn was too cautious through Lankamaa, which was run in the opposite direction to the usual route for the first time.

“I should have been better in there,” he said. “It was difficult to do the stage in the opposite direction. I know it so well the other way round and my notes were too fast this way.”

Overnight rain ensured the smooth gravel roads north of Jyvaskyla were damp, but as the sun broke through and the stages dried, Neuville felt happier. “I got some confidence back when it was drier. I took no risks and checked my notes, but I think this afternoon will be very interesting,” he grinned.

Kris Meeke is fifth following the demise of Juho Hanninen with broken right rear suspension on his Ford Fiesta RS. However, the Northern Ireland driver was angry after dropping 20sec in Palsankyla when he was held up by Evgeny Novikov, who crashed his Fiesta RS into a log pile after a crest.

The impact left Novikov’s bonnet obscuring his windscreen and as he limped to the finish, Meeke could not find a way past. He broke a front left wheel and his windscreen was peppered with stone chips in his efforts.

Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson later confirmed a message was sent to Novikov’s car requesting him to pull over and let Meeke’s DS3 through.

“I’m very disappointed and sorry for Kris,” said Wilson. “I even sent an apology to Yves (Matton, Citroen Racing team principal) because it’s not something we like to be involved in. I don’t know exactly what the circumstances were, but we know we sent the message telling him to pull over. I think there was some confusion.”

Andreas Mikkelsen lies sixth in a Polo R, just 5.9sec behind Meeke and ahead of Jarkko Nikara, who climbed from 10th during a strong morning. Dani Sordo, Martin Prokop and Jari Ketomaa complete the top 10.

WRC 2

Ford Fiesta R5 driver Ketomaa remains in control of WRC 2, the Finn returning to service with a 1m04.5s lead over Citroen DS3 RRC pilot Robert Kubica. Overnight third Elfyn Evans damaged his Fiesta’s suspension on today’s opening stage and retired later with an engine problem. Hayden Paddon is third, 15.8sec behind Kubica.

WRC 3

Ireland’s Keith Cronin became the new leader of WRC 3 after Alastair Fisher rolled his Citroen DS3 R3T in SS7. Cronin has a comfortable 1min 18sec advantage over WRC 3 newcomer Jussi Vainionpaa, with Simone Campedelli 2.4sec further back in third.