SS13: Bonnet
scare for
Latvala

Stage description:
By Volkswagen Motorsport co-driver Julien Ingrassia: “It’s strange to have two times the same stage in the morning. It’s a well-known stage running in reverse order. You find mostly vineyards but not so oppressive as the first day with more wide and more straight lines. It’s a nice stage with nice hairpins where spectators can watch the Mosel River with all the vineyards in front and the car going through. It’s really nice to watch and enjoyable as a competitor because you see a lot of spectators feet because there are seats into the wall and they are two metres higher than you.”

How the action unfolded:

Second-placed Jari-Matti Latvala had an unnerving start to the final day of the 2012 ADAC Rallye Deutschland when his bonnet threatening to fly up on the opening Dhrontal stage.

The Ford driver reached the finish of the 30.76-kilometre test having lost 9.7 seconds to pacesetter and overall leader Sebastien Loeb.

"I don't know happened with the bonnet," said Latvala." It may be a catch on the front, but it's loose and on the long, long fast straight it started to open and I had to ask [co-driver] Miikka [Anttila] what we do because if we stop we could lose this position now."

Latvala is still 32.7s clear of third-placed Mikko Hirvonen.

The rain returned with a vengeance as Sunday morning's action got underway, although this time everyone was prepared with soft tyres. Loeb was quickest by a comfortable margin, despite taking it cautiously.

"I don't care about the times. It was really tricky," said Loeb. "In some places you had to be really, really careful. Even with the soft tyre you had a lot of grip changes."

Fifth-placed Chris Atkinson was over a minute off the lead pace, but said that was all part of his plan to safely reach the finish.

"Maybe a bit steady, but we've got a gap," he said. "[Sebastien] Ogier might take time out of that, but we can go faster if we have to. We were just cruising through."

After their day two dramas, Ott Tanak, Dani Sordo, Petter Solberg and Thierry Neuville all rejoined for Sunday under Rally 2.