Latvala strong leader

Difficult day for Sébastien Loeb, who spent his time opening the slippery slopes of Sardinia to other drivers. The Frenchman tried to control his passages, so as not to make mistakes, and lose as little time as possible on his rivals. Despite this uncomfortable situation, the Citroën driver managed to hold off most of the drivers, except Jari-Matti Latvala and, in the last special, Mikko Hirvonen. Latvala had a perfect day, rewarded with four scratch times, for a first place in the general classification and an already comfortable lead over his rivals.

Leader at midday after three timed sectors, the Ford driver attacks the afternoon with optimism. He increased his lead from SS4, even if the gaps with Hirvonen, Sordo and Loeb were minimal. Latvala, winner of three special stages, saw Sébastien Loeb pull away in SS5 to set the best time. But, with more than 17 seconds ahead, the Finn can see it coming and confirms that the lead he took in the morning will be difficult to make up for. Especially since the Ford driver once again mastered the pack during SS6, widening a significant gap over his adversaries. Sébastien Loeb was even pushed back more than 25 seconds during this special. The Frenchman, third overall, is more than 42 seconds behind Latvala but manages to limit the gaps, being only three seconds behind the eight points for second place.