SS5: Hirvonen fastest, declares “battle is on”

Mikko Hirvonen has claimed his first fastest stage time on this year’s Neste Oil Rally Finland and declared the “battle is on” in the battle for victory on round eight of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Hirvonen was 3.2s faster than Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb to cut the eight time world champion’s overall lead to 4.4s.

“I did a small change with the set-up and the rest is just between your ears,” said Hirvonen. “It was a good stage, the battle is on now.”

Loeb added: “I was pushing hard but Mikko is a bit faster. He was not 100 per cent confident yesterday but now the game is on. The stages are more narrow than yesterday and it’s not easy but at this moment I’m happy with my speed and the car.”

Petter Solberg has demoted Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala to fourth place after Latvala went 4.2s slower than Loeb in his works Fiesta. “I’m really trying, really pushing but I can’t match his time,” said Latvala. “He’s incredible quick. I tried to be cleaner but that’s not helping either.”

Evgeny Novikov has crashed his M-Sport Fiesta, while Jari Ketomaa reported the engine on his Autotek Motorsport example was misfiring nearing the stage finish. Ott Tanak has edged ahead of Chris Atkinson to move into seventh place.

Matti Rantanen has demoted Martin Prokop in the overall classification despite reporting a lack of confidence with the rear of his similar privateer Fiesta. Ken Block suffered a stall when he pulled his handbrake for a turn. Sebastian Lindholm, running first on the road, has overtaken Armindo Araujo’s WRC Team MINI Portugal entry.