The 2013 edition of Neste Oil Rally Finland has been an extremely exciting event so far with a hotly-contested battle for the lead between several drivers. Mads Ostberg moved into the lead on Friday’s morning loop after a string of quick performances and a win on SS9.
Rally d’Italia Sardegna winner Sebastien Ogier holds second place, just 0.8 seconds behind the M-Sport Ford driver; Ogier posted the quickest times on SS8 and SS10.
Mikko Hirvonen has been quickest of all Citroen DS3 drivers, he’s third overall and 7.5 seconds off the lead, followed by Thierry Neuville who dropped back from first to fourth this morning after not being able to keep up with the aforementioned trio.
Following Evgeny Novikov’s crash, Juho Hanninen was a second retirement this morning; the Finn was running fifth until a right-hand rear suspension damage forced him to stop on SS9.
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Mads Ostberg M-Sport Ford 1h01m39.8s 2. Sebastien Ogier VW +0.8s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen +7.5s 4. Thierry Neuville M-Sport Ford +11.4s 5. Kris Meeke Citroen +57.1s 6. Andreas Mikkelsen VW +1m03.0s 7. Jarkko Nikara Prodrive Mini +1m27.4s 8. Dani Sordo Citroen +1m45.8s 9. Martin Prokop Czech Ford +2m15.8s 10. Jari Ketomaa Autotek Ford +3m23.6s