Mikko Hirvonen, strong leader

Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus), if he lost time on Sébastien Loeb in SS12 and 16, during the passage of the Hagfors special (1,87 km), the Finn was able to widen the gap when necessary. The vice-world champion, however, only scored one scratch in eight stages, compared to three for Sébastien Loeb, but took precious seconds ahead when the Frenchman's tires put him in a delicate situation. As a result, in one day, the gap between the two men increased by ten seconds, with Sébastien Loeb now 16??6 behind Mikko Hirvonen.

« I had nothing to do, commented Loeb at the end of SS15. I had good front tires but the rear tires were destroyed. The car was undriveable, I couldn't attack. I just had to follow the road. But the rear did not want to follow the front. Having new tires in the front and destroyed tires in the rear is even worse than having four worn tires. »

In the fight for the third step of the podium, the second Citroën Total driver, Dani Sordo lost his duel against Jari-Matti Latvala, even if the Rally is not finished. In SS15, the Spanish driver had to stop to correct an error which caused his engine to overheat. Losing a minute during this stop, Sordo fell from third to fourth place in the general classification, with Latvala taking advantage of this windfall.

However, if the two Ford drivers seem to have gained the upper hand over their direct rivals, nothing is over. With five stages to compete on Sunday, the drivers will have to cover 120 km of timed sections, with an arrival scheduled for 13:20 p.m. for the podium candidates.