Hirvonen retires from third place

Mikko Hirvonen has joined Ford teammate Marcus Gronholm in retiring from the Rally Argentina.

The Finn's Ford Focus went onto three cylinders before SS9. Hirvonen stopped on the road section and changed first the spark plugs, then the ECU, before admitting defeat and returning the car to service.

A few minutes earlier, Gronholm had stopped in SS8 while leading the rally, his Ford apparently losing drive. It is not yet clear if the problem was related to the large rock that Gronholm had clipped during the previous stage.

The Ford drivers' retirements changed the face of the top five, with Sebastien Loeb completing a remarkable comeback by moving into the lead of the rally despite spinning down to seventh on the first stage of the morning.

Petter Solberg is now 20 seconds behind Loeb in second, with Gigi Galli up to an amazing third. The Italian was not able to test before Argentina, so had never driven his privateer Peugeot 307 on gravel prior to the start of the event.