SS13: Hirvonen loses ground

Mikko Hirvonen has lost ground in his efforts to catch Sebastien Loeb for victory on Neste Oil Rally Finland after he struck a rock with the rear-left of his Citroen DS3 WRC. “I went wide into a rock early in the stage and did the whole stage with an empty tyre,” said the Finn.

Loeb was 3.9s faster than Hirvonen after winning the stage to increase his overall lead to 8.9s. “I’m a little surprised, I didn’t think my advantage would be so good at the end of the stage,” said the FIA World Rally Championship leader. “I’m happy with my start to the day but Mikko is able to react so it’s not finished.”

Ford World Rally Team driver Jari-Matti Latvala was second quickest, 1.2s down on Loeb. He said: “I’m happy and relaxed this morning, the car feels good, everything is working and I like this stage. I try to push the Citroens into a mistake.”

Team-mate Petter Solberg said his factory Fiesta was “far too low” and added that he would be adjusting the set-up ahead of the next stage. He was 11.0s slower than Latvala.

Jari Ketomaa admitted to struggling in the slightly damp conditions due to his DMACK tyres being of a slightly harder compound compared to the soft compound Michelin tyres used by the bulk of the crews. His advantage over Matti Rantanen in the battle for seventh has been trimmed to 12.8s.

Matti Rantanen said he suffered a few moments in the narrow section of the stage, while Martin Prokop, who was 0.3s faster than the Finn, said starting lower down the order had improved his pace.

Ken Block reported taking a “few little cuts” in his efforts to maintain 10th overall in his Monster World Rally Team Fiesta, which was sporting some front-end damage and a radiator full of mud after he briefly went off the road.

Thierry Neuville, who has restarted under Rally 2 regulations following his roll on Friday’s penultimate test, said: “It’s more difficult to find a good rhythm today.”

Sebastian Lindholm completed the stage with the bumper of his privateer Fiesta missing. However, the veteran Finn was not sure where it had become detached.

Evgeny Novikov, who is running first on the road following the extensive delay he suffered when he rolled on Friday morning, lost a few vital seconds when he overshot a junction in his M-Sport Fiesta. Riku Tahko also missed a junction in his privateer MINI, while Armindo Araujo said set-up changes had improved the traction of his WRC Team MINI Portugal entry.

PROTON driver P-G Andersson has cut Craig Breen’s lead in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship to 1.5s.