Mikko Hirvonen continues to lead Rally Sweden following, in the words of his Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson, a career-best performance.
Hirvonen started the day 6.2 seconds in front of arch-rival Sébastien Loeb but will enter the final leg of the snow event 16.6 seconds clear of the six-time World Rally Championship winner.
Wilson said Hirvonen’s faultless performance behind the wheel and his ability to effectively manage his tyres was instrumental in him building his advantage over Loeb.
Although sub-zero temperatures continued to savage the WRC's opening round, a lack of ice cover on the stages meant the gravel surface beneath the snow has been exposed, causing extensive tyre stud loss when the stages were repeated.
Hirvonen bolted on two spare front tyres for the day’s penultimate forest stage and went almost 10 seconds faster than Loeb.
Loeb did the same for the next stage but, because his rear tyres were so badly worn, he failed to benefit from the switch and Hirvonen again managed to take time out of his rival to open up a 23-second lead.
However, Hirvonen’s tyres were completely shot for the day-closing superspecial in Hagfors and Loeb was able to peg back the Finn’s advantage.
Jari-Matti Latvala demoted Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo to fourth. The Spaniard survived a fifth gear spin on stage 11 but lost almost one minute on stage 15 when he had to stop to remove an air intake cover after his Citroen C4 began to overheat. It should have been detached before the stage start but Sordo’s co-driver Marc Marti forgot.
Citroën Junior Team driver Sébastien Ogier continues to impress in fifth overall, with Henning Solberg sixth in his Focus. Kimi Räikkönen is 34th overnight, while a puncture delayed Marcus Gronholm, who hit back by celebrating his first stage win since 2007 on his one-off return to the WRC.
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