Title contenders not enjoying finale

Loeb is taking it easy as he only needs a top five finish to be guaranteed of the title, while Gronholm is also not pushing, as he has no chance of the title unless Loeb has a problem.

Neither man is offering much of a challenge to rally leader Mikko Hirvonen, who is leading the event by more than half a minute.

"It's not a pleasure to drive in this situation but it's what we have to do," said Loeb. "I just try to be in the position I need to be.

"It's not so fun to drive like this, it would be more interesting to go for the win, but it's more important to win the title, and that is going well so far."

Gronholm tried to push a bit harder on Saturday morning's stages, but he added that he is still taking things relatively easy.

"This is not very interesting," he told autosport.com. "It would be nice to win but that's not what we need to do.

"I'm not really enjoying it. I tried to go faster but it's still not nice. It would be much better if we had to fight at the front."