Frustrated Hirvonen targets third

The Rally Norway winner had been frustrated to lose second to Gronholm in SS11 on Saturday and then had a time-consuming spin in SS13 while trying to keep pace with his teammate during the afternoon.

"About 3km after the start I went into a fourth gear right-left combination bend too fast and just slid wide and spun," Hirvonen explained. "I punctured both rear tyres but the mousse system worked perfectly to keep the tyres inflated.

"I was a little bit lucky that I only spun because it could have been more serious.

"To fight for second place I had to take risks otherwise my only option was to lift off the accelerator and settle for third, which I wasn't going to do."

That incident dropped Hirvonen to fourth behind Sordo, and although he repassed the Citroen in SS14, Sordo moved back in front of the Ford by the end of the leg after a strong performance in the two superspecials.

"It's great to be on the podium this evening," said Sordo. "We didn't make any mistakes and the car went very well.

"It's not over yet, though. We still have to defend our position over the four stages that remain before the finish."

Hirvonen does not think he can close the 37 second gap to second-placed Gronholm in today's leg, so is focusing on Sordo, who is only 2.8 seconds ahead of the Ford.

"Second is now out of reach which I'm disappointed about but I'm still in the battle for a podium place," said Hirvonen.

"There will be a big fight for third and I'm ready for that. I don't want to let Dani take third from me."

Subaru's Chris Atkinson is also still in contention for the podium, as he is only 12.7 seconds behind Sordo in fifth place.