Loeb moves closer to Hirvonen

Sébastien Loeb, who had lost 4??6 to Mikko Hirvonen in SS9, the first special of the day, was able to improve his deficit subsequently. In SS10, the start of which was delayed by 45 minutes due to the influx of spectators, the Frenchman took 3?9 from his Finnish rival, placing himself within seven seconds of the Ford driver overall.

« It's a great fight, recognized the six-time world champion. I caught almost as much as what Mikko took from me this morning. The special was really beautiful, I enjoyed it. It was wide with a good covering. I'm satisfied but I'm still behind. »

In the following special (SS11), the Frenchman shaved two tenths of a second off Mikko Hirvonen, achieving his fifth scratch of the weekend. With 6??7 behind the Finn after reaching the halfway mark, since there are ten stages remaining, the Frenchman maintains every chance of returning to the lead of this Rally from Sweden.

For his part, Mikko Hirvonen was less happy, hitting a wall of snow in SS10 and destroying his bumper, but the Finn was able to limit the damage by losing only 3??9 to Sébastien Loeb. Kimi Räikkönen also hit a wall of snow in this special but lost more time, finishing more than a minute behind the reference time.

Not all Citroën drivers were at the party. Just like Kimi Räikkönen, Dani Sordo hit a wall of snow after losing control of the car. The Spanish driver, despite losing around fifteen seconds and his rear wing, was able to continue the rally, just like Sébastien Ogier, victim of the same mishap in SS9.

In SS12, Sébastien Loeb continued to close his gap on Mikko Hirvonen. Despite the short distance to cover (1,87 km), the Frenchman took 2??5 from the Finn, approaching to 4??2 from his rival in the general classification. With four stages remaining in the afternoon, the Citroën driver is back on track.