Day 3am: Solberg pushes on

Solberg seemed certain to continue his run of stage wins from Saturday after taking the first test victory of the day - SS14, the 18.10km Limbara 1 - by 6s over Martin. But Loeb was determined to spoil the Norwegian's party and put his foot down to take the honours on the second stage of the day, the 11.59km run through Terramala 1.

Solberg fought back on the third stage of the day, the short 8.64km run through Monti di Deu, taking it 3.7s quicker than his nearest challenger Sainz. Loeb was over 6s off the Norwegian's pace, but the Frenchman is just playing it cool and driving for a finish.

Having relinquished third spot to Martin on the second stage of the day, Sainz has re-taken the spot after the Estonian hit trouble on the third test. The Ford driver was forced to retire on stage as a result of engine problems.

Italian privateer Andrea Navarra continues to impress in his Subaru setting the third quickest time on the third stage and moves up to fourth spot overall following the demise of Martin. While there's no hope of catching Sainz in third, unless the Spaniard hits trouble, Navarra is also a comfortable distance ahead of fifth-placed driver Francois Duval (Ford). The Belgian is 52s adrift of the Italian.

Likewise, Duval's spot remains unthreatened for sixth-placed Gigi Galli is 10 minutes back in the Mitsubishi, five inutes ahead of Antony Warmbold in the Ford Focus. Junior WRC driver Per-Gunnar Andersson rounds out the top eight with just three stages of the rally left to run.