SS8 & 9: Hirvonen and Meeke out

Both Mikko Hirvonen and Kris Meeke fell foul of the final mountain stage in today’s opening leg.

Third-placed Hirvonen gave an indication of problems when he quickly left the finish of the long El Chocolate test without speaking to media.

And those concerns proved true when the Finn parked his Ford Fiesta RS early in the following 15.59km Las Minas (SS8) with what his M-Sport team described as suspected electrical problems.

Meeke, who had just gone second fastest in El Chocolate to climb to fourth, was quickest at the opening split by almost five seconds. However, his times tumbled and he stopped his Citroen DS3 near the end of the stage with a broken suspension arm.

Their demise gave a very different look to the leaderboard. Behind Sébastien Ogier and Mads Ostberg in first and second, Jari-Matti Latvala now lies third. Robert Kubica, Elfyn Evans, both of whom are competing here for the first time, and Thierry Neuville complete the top six.