Loeb on verge of victory

Marcus Gronholm hoped that the 19 second gap between himself and Loeb could be overturned during leg three, but instead it was Loeb who made the best of the wet and muddy conditions by winning the opening Mina Clavero stage and pulling another eight seconds further ahead of Gronholm.

He continued to extend the advantage in SS20 and SS21, and although Gronholm struck back with a quicker time in El Condor 2, Loeb's lead still stands at 35.4 seconds heading into the final service of the event.

Mikko Hirvonen remains a solitary third, while rising star Jari-Matti Latvala has pulled away from the chasing pack and established himself in a superb fourth place for Stobart Ford.

Most of the activity today has been in the battle for fifth, with Chris Atkinson reclaiming the place from Henning Solberg in SS19, before losing it again in SS21.

The Subaru then fell behind the charging Dani Sordo in SS22. The Citroen driver had lost two minutes and four places yesterday afternoon following hydraulic problems that left him limping through the final stage, but he mounted a recovery charge this morning, winning both runs through the El Condor stage.

Although Sordo is now just five seconds behind Solberg, he is likely to have to settle for sixth place as the crews only have to tackle the 2.4kms Cordoba Stadium superspecial to complete the rally.

Manfred Stohl has dropped back to eighth in the OMV Kronos Citroen. With only eight WR cars still running competitively, the final top ten placings are being contested by the battling Production class leaders Federico Villagra and Toshi Arai.

Leading times after SS22:

Pos  Driver     Make        Time
 1.  Loeb       Citroen     2h 49:38.4
 2.  Gronholm   Ford        +     35.4
 3.  Hirvonen   Ford        +   2:13.5
 4.  Latvala    Ford        +   3:38.2
 5.  H Solberg  Ford        +   4:04.6
 6.  Sordo      Citroen     +   4:09.9
 7.  Atkinson   Subaru      +   4:38.4
 8.  Stohl      Citroen     +   5:15.0
 9.  Villagra   Mitsubishi  +  16:42.5
10.  Arai       Subaru      +  16:54.0