SS13: Frustration for Ford in Portugal

Sebastien Ogier continues to lead Vodafone Rally de Portugal but there was more frustration for the factory Ford team.

Former leader Jari-Matti Latvala completed the stage with three working driveshafts following his Fiesta’s failure on the previous test. A puncture, which he had to stop to change, then compounded his agony still further.

“We tried to work on the preload of the differential and there was not time to check the tyres before the stage started and we got a slow puncture,” said Latvala. “I tried to keep going as long as possible but the tyre delaminated and we had to change it. We have lost a lot of time.”

Latvala’s team-mate Hirvonen was also out of luck when his Fiesta’s rear suspension failed, which he said could have been caused by an impact with a rock.

Matthew Wilson made it through the stage unscathed and climbs to fourth overall in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.

Petter Solberg, at the wheel of a Citroen DS3 WRC, won the stage to close the gap to eighth-placed Federico Villagra. Solberg was 3.3s faster than Ogier, who will take a lead of 37.6s over team-mate Sebastien Loeb into the final day.

Standings after SS13: