SS3: Ostberg edges ahead

Mads Ostberg inched ahead of Ott Tanak in their battle for the RallyRACC-Rally de Espana lead at the end of the mammoth 44-kilometre Terra Alta stage.

The two satellite Ford drivers stayed clear of their factory competition even as weather conditions improved slightly on the final stage of the morning loop.

Ostberg spun on the stage, but recovered his composure in time to pull 2.7s clear of Tanak at the front of the field.

The works Citroens started stretching their legs again as the rain eased, but despite Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen being first and second fastest on the lengthy stage, they did not take a great deal out of Ostberg and Tanak’s advantage.

Hirvonen is 13s off the lead, and 6s ahead of Loeb.

The Citroens fared much better than the remaining factory Ford. Jari-Matti Latvala decided not to receive rivals’ split times and was too cautious. He lost a lot of time and is now nearly one minute from the lead.

Jarkko Nikara’s superb debut for the Prodrive MINI team continued as he moved to within 14s of Latvala in sixth place, while keeping Evgeny Novikov’s Autotek Ford five seconds behind.

Nikara is now Prodrive’s hope for a good result, as his team-mate Dani Sordo got stuck off the road on stage three.