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Sordo's retirement has certainly made life a bit easier for Ostberg, who is now 3m20s ahead of Solberg in fourth. The Citroen driver has altered his strategy accordingly, saying he now wants to give himself the best chance of bagging three bonus points on the final stage.
"There's no pressure now," said the Norweigan at the end of SS14. "I just took it steady to save the tyres and we'll do the same on the next one so we're ready to push for the powerstage."
"There's no pressure now," said the Norweigan at the end of SS14. "I just took it steady to save the tyres and we'll do the same on the next one so we're ready to push for the powerstage."
Meanwhile, we're pleased to report that the WRC teams have have settled their disagreement with the sport’s promoter and the drivers are now talking to the television crews again.
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The penultimate stage of the event is S. Bras de Alportel and gets going at 09:30.
Checkered flag
SS14 results: 1 Latvala 8m57.8s; 2 Ostberg +3.8s; 3 Mikkelsen +8.4s; 4 Neuville +8.5s; 5 Ogier +8.6s; 6 Hirvonen +13.7s.
Overall: 1 Ogier 3h12m46.2s; 2 Hirvonen +43.2s; 3 Ostberg +1m21.9s; 4 Solberg +4m41.9s; 5 Mikkelsen +4m44.6s; 6 Neuville +7m31.3s.
Overall: 1 Ogier 3h12m46.2s; 2 Hirvonen +43.2s; 3 Ostberg +1m21.9s; 4 Solberg +4m41.9s; 5 Mikkelsen +4m44.6s; 6 Neuville +7m31.3s.
And we didn't have to wait long. Ogier's time is 8.6s slower as the reigning champion admits he's looking after his tyres this morning.
Latvala still leads the stage while we wait for his VW team-mate to arrive.
Hirvonen goes fifth quickest with a time of 9m11.5s.
We suspect it's a rear suspension problem for Solberg. Not that he was letting on of course...
The popular Norwegian posts a rather slow time 9m18.4s. The reason?
"I have to fix something - a small adjustment, or something."
"I have to fix something - a small adjustment, or something."
Solberg was set a quick time through the first split - almost equal to Latvala - but trailed off in the second.
Neuville completes the opening stage of the final day 8.5 slower than Latvala. Hanninen, meanwhile, had an encounter with a tree and completed Loule 56.6 off the ultimate pace.
Latvala is next through and and goes 15.0s quicker than Evans.
The first stage went live a lot earlier than everybody was expecting. We thought Evans would be departing at 08:50, but things appear to have been shifted 15 minutes forward.
The Welshman completes SS13 in 9m12.8s.
The Welshman completes SS13 in 9m12.8s.
One man we definitely won’t be seeing today is Kubica after he experienced his second crash of the event during yesterday’s action.
We reckon that since his WRC debut on last year’s Rally GB the ex-F1 driver has had at least 10 shunts…
We reckon that since his WRC debut on last year’s Rally GB the ex-F1 driver has had at least 10 shunts…
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Ogier
Ogier dominated day three of the event, winning five of the six gravel stages and giving himself a 38.1 advantage at the top of the leaderboard.
His nearest rival Hirvonen rued not running on the hard compound tyre yesterday afternoon as his Michelin rubber was down the canvas when the day drew to a close.
Ostberg currently lies in third position after inheriting Ott Tanak’s podium place when the Estonian rolled his Fiesta RS in the morning.
Ogier increases lead over Hirvonen
The event then finishes at the rally’s Algarve Stadium base, pictures of which you can find if you scroll a little down this web page.
Today is a much shorter day with three stages closer to Faro, covering less than 44km.
Loule is used twice, the second pass forming the live TV powerstage with bonus points for the fastest three drivers.
Loule is used twice, the second pass forming the live TV powerstage with bonus points for the fastest three drivers.
His misfortune moves Solberg up the order to fourth, with Mikkelsen just 4.9s behind in fifth.
Breaking news
Sad news for Sordo fans this morning as the Spaniard has been forced to retire on a road section to the first stage of the day. Early reports suggest it is a broken driveshaft.
Good morning and welcome to the final day of the 2014 Rally of Portugal.
There's only three stages tomorrow, covering less than 44km, so it's going to take a minor miracle for Hirvonen to make up the best part of 40s.
We'll be back for the first of Sunday's stages, which is the first pass through Loule at 08:50.
See you then, rally fans!
We'll be back for the first of Sunday's stages, which is the first pass through Loule at 08:50.
See you then, rally fans!
Checkered flag
SS13 results: 1 Ogier 13m49.2s; 2 Latvala +4.6s; 3 Sordo +11.7s; 4 Ostberg +15.3s; 5 Hirvonen +17.3s; 6 Evans +17.6s.
Overall: 1 Ogier 3h03m39.9s; 2 Hirvonen +38.1s; 3 Ostberg +1m26.7s; 4 Sordo +1m46.7s; 5 Solberg +4m29.9s; 6 Mikkelsen +4m44.8s.
Overall: 1 Ogier 3h03m39.9s; 2 Hirvonen +38.1s; 3 Ostberg +1m26.7s; 4 Sordo +1m46.7s; 5 Solberg +4m29.9s; 6 Mikkelsen +4m44.8s.
And he doesn't, losing 17.3s on that stage alone.
And Hirvonen? He's 12.0s down at the final split, so he's unlikely to make a dent in Ogier's overall lead.
Stopwatch
New best time is set by... (drum roll) Ogier! He flies through the finish in 13m49.2s.
Sordo's time is 7.1s slower than Latvala's and the Spaniard slots into second place on SS13. Just waiting for Ogier and Hirvonen to arrive...
Maybe not. The Finn has lost 6.8s to Ogier at the 12.20km interval.
Ogier is 1.9s quicker than team-mate Latvala through the second split. Will Hirvonen be able to claw back the 20.8s deficit?
Going from bad to worse for Neuville, who has allowed Sordo to pass him mid-stage.
Mikkelsen finishes in 14m07.4s - 13.6s off Latvala's best.
Latvala continues to lead the way in SS13, 13.0s ahead of Evans and 35.1s in front of Prokop.
Ostberg is 2.0s quicker than Sordo at the first interval.
Neuville's split times don't make for pleasant viewing. He's 21.9s and 42.4s off the pace in the first and second splits respectively. He'll lose fifth place to Solberg at this rate.
Breaking news
AUTOSPORT understands the drivers will be talking to WRC TV at the end of the stage. Agreement on this point has been reached during the meeting between manufacturers and the WRC Promoter.
Neuville is onto SS13 and this is going to be a painful experience for the Belgian who'll need to nurse his Hyundai i20 to the finish.
Stopwatch
Latvala is up next and is 13.0s quicker than Evans!
Evans completes the stage in 14m06.8s.
While we wait for the WRC drivers to arrive at the finish, we'll bring you up to speed on what's going on in WRC2.
Well, Nasser Al-Attiyah won SS12 and stole the overall lead from Jari Ketomaa. The Qatari driver is making his WRC season debut in Portugal this weekend.
The difference between them is a slender 2.9s.
Well, Nasser Al-Attiyah won SS12 and stole the overall lead from Jari Ketomaa. The Qatari driver is making his WRC season debut in Portugal this weekend.
The difference between them is a slender 2.9s.
Split times are - rather slowly - coming in. Latvala is 4.6s up on Evans at the 8km interval.
Malhao is a 22.15km test which Latvala went quickest on this morning. The VW driver completed it in 13m58.1s, ahead of team-mate Ogier. Hirvonen was given the same time as Ogier after Tanak blocked his path with his mid-stage mishap.
By: Dan Cross, David Evans, Scott Mitchell, Charles Bradley
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