SS9: Hirvonen closes on Loeb

Mikko Hirvonen has taken a further 0.3s out of Sebastien Loeb’s lead on Philips Rally Argentina by winning the final stage of Saturday morning in his Citroen DS3 WRC. It means the Finn trails Frenchman Loeb by 2.1s heading to the midday service in Villa Carlos Paz.

“It was a little up and down and the end of the stage wasn’t so good because the pace notes were not perfect,” said Hirvonen. “But it was the best stage in Argentina that I ever did, it was absolutely fantastic.”

Loeb admitted he was lucky to complete the stage following a “big moment” when he briefly went off the road in his Citroen. “I was pushing very hard, I had a good start and had a big moment when I hit a big rock. It’s very, very close with Mikko.”

Petter Solberg said he wasn’t entirely confident with his pace notes for the last 10 kilometres, which he prepared in foggy and wet conditions earlier in the week. Nevertheless the Ford driver was third fastest.

Nasser Al-Attiyah reached the stage finish with significant right-rear suspension and wheel damage. The Qatar World Rally Team driver reported striking a rock in the last two kilometres of the stage and fears he would be forced to retire from day two.

Mads Ostberg said the right-rear wheel of his Adapta Fiesta came off a bridge during a moment in the stage. He survived to beat Martin Prokop to the seventh best time.

Thierry Neuville reported making a mistake in his Citroen, which he said was running too low to the ground. Martin Prokop suffered a few big moments in a high-speed section in his DMACK-shod Fiesta, while Armindo Araujo finished the stage with a badly worn left-rear tyre that was affecting the balance of his WRC Team MINI Portugal entry.

Daniel Oliveira’s Brazil World Rally Team Fiesta has developed a powersteering glitch. The 26-year-old completed stage nine with the steering column wresting on his legs and has lost considerable time as a result.

Former grand prix driver Eliseo Salazar likened the stage to a Formula One race after his MINI John Cooper Works WRC touched 200 kilometres per hour on a straight section.