SS3: Latvala On The Charge

BP-Ford's Mikko Hirvonen took his third stage win of the day with a time of 15 minutes 55.7 seconds, keeping the overall lead by 21.4 seconds over his team-mate Marcus Gronholm.

Second fastest on the Rheola 1 stage was Jari-Matti Latvala, only 1.8 seconds slower than his Ford colleague. The young Finn, who is looking to score another podium this weekend, is fourth overall, only 7 seconds behind Sebastien Loeb in third.

Gronholm completed the stage third, 2.8 seconds behind the Stobart driver. He is only one second ahead of championship rival Loeb in the overall classification.

The Frenchman was fourth fastest on the test, followed by Subaru's Petter Solberg, 8.2 seconds separating them. The Norwegian is still fifth overall, 25 seconds behind Latvala.

Citroen's Dani Sordo finished sixth on the stage, 2.2 seconds slower than Solberg. He is sixth overall, 5.5 seconds behind the Subaru pilot.

Rounding out the top eight were Matthew Wilson, 3.7 seconds behind Sordo, and Chris Atkinson, 0.3 seconds slower than the young Brit. The result elevated Wilson to eighth overall, 20.1 seconds behind Atkinson in seventh place.