SS15: Hirvonen closes up to Loeb

Mikko Hirvonen has slashed Sebastien Loeb’s lead on Philips Rally Argentina to 0.2s. The Finn was instructed not to challenge his Citroen team leader for victory on round five of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia but is now back in touching distance of top spot after Loeb dropped time through the famous Mina Clavero test.

Meanwhile, Petter Solberg continues to edge closer to sixth-placed Thierry Neuville in his quest for additional points. Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Solberg was fastest through the stage, 16.8s quicker than Neuville and is now 1m43.3s adrift. However, it remains to be seen whether or not the Norwegian will be able to catch the Belgian in the overall classification.

Volkswagen Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen struggled to complete the stage due to a broken front suspension damper on his Super 2000-specification Skoda Fabia. As a result he has slipped from seventh to 10th position.

Evgeny Novikov set the second fastest time for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. Neuville was third quickest with Hirvonen next up. Martin Prokop was fifth fastest with Dani Sordo - who suffered a spin on the previous test - sixth fastest.