Sunday midday wrap: Hirvonen edges closer to victory

Mikko Hirvonen is three stages away from winning Vodafone Rally de Portugal after completing Sunday morning’s three stages with a lead of 1m40.1s over Mads Ostberg.

Hirvonen, in a Citroen DS3 WRC, has driven without error as he chases down win number 15 in the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

“I don’t think I have ever driven a rally as slow as today,” said Hirvonen. “It is difficult to keep the concentration. It feels like we are losing minutes but it is okay. We just need to get to the end.”

Ostberg completed stage 19 on road mode after a suspected electrical problem struck his Adapta Fiesta. “The car started misfiring and I had to switch to road mode, there was no power at all,” said the Norwegian. “It would be a disaster if the car broke down but we hope we can fix it. The engineers are confident.”

Evgeny Novikov maintains his grip on third position in his M-Sport Fiesta with factory Ford driver Petter Solberg demoting Nasser Al-Attiyah for fourth on Sunday’s first stage.

“I don’t want to push so we are driving for the podium,” said Novikov. “Everything is fine with the car.”

Solberg, who was quickest through stage 19, said: “It was a good morning, no problem. I had worn tyres on the back compared with other drivers but that’s what I had left! It was a little difficult with the dry surface but we will see this afternoon.”

Czech Ford National Team’s Martin Prokop has reported a number of handling issues but he remains in sixth position, one place ahead of Dennis Kuipers. Sebastien Ogier is eighth with Peter van Merksteijn Jr ninth and Thierry Neuville in 10th.

Jari-Matti Latvala has gone fastest on two stages this morning but languishes in 17th overall following early delays in his Fiesta.

Hayden Paddon tops the Super 2000 World Rally Championship standings after Yazeed Al Rajhi, who was leading by almost nine minutes, retired with damaged front-left suspension.