Ogier hangs on in Argentina lead

Following his roll on Ascochinga earlier today, Ogier was able to carry out basic repairs and keep going, albeit without any power steering on his Citroen.

Loeb and Hirvonen both took 8s out of Ogier on the following 3.9-kilometre Cabalango stage, meaning Ogier's lead is down to 12.8 seconds over Loeb and 15s over Hirvonen. He now has to negotiate the 3km Carlos Paz superspecial and another run through Cabalango to reach the finish.

Ogier said his priority was to reach the finish, but that he would do his utmost to resist Loeb and Hirvonen and take his third win of the year.

"I had no power steering, but I do what I can," said Ogier. "I tried to fix the car as best I can. And now it's not too bad.

"It will be okay to go to the end. That's the most important thing now.

"I think it will be difficult [to win]. We will see. We will try."

Petter Solberg remains fourth ahead of Mads Ostberg and Federico Villagra. Jari-Matti Latvala is up to seventh after the engine in Matthew Wilson's Ford cut out following a watersplash on Ascochinga.

Leading positions after SS17:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car            Time/Gap
 1.  Sebastien Ogier     Citroen           3h58m57.4s
 2.  Sebastien Loeb      Citroen              + 12.8s
 3.  Mikko Hirvonen      Ford                 + 15.0s
 4.  Petter Solberg      Solberg Citroen      + 46.5s
 5.  Mads Ostberg        Stobart Ford       + 5m22.5s
 6.  Federico Villagra   Munchi's Ford      + 6m52.9s
 7.  Jari-Matti Latvala  Ford              + 11m45.6s
 8.  Matthew Wilson      Stobart Ford      + 13m40.1s
 9.  Hayden Paddon       Symtech Subaru    + 25m29.5s
10.  Patrik Flodin       Uspenskiy Subaru  + 33m17.7s