Mikko Hirvonen inherited the lead in Italy from Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb who retired during the early stages of the Rally having crashed out on SS3 due to a misjudged pace note.
Hirvonen holds a 25-second gap over second-placed Petter Solberg as both are the only drivers left in contention for the win, ahead of Adapta Ford’s Mads Ostberg who’s clinching onto third-place, and is currently withholding pressure from Evgeny Novikov.
Novikov’s M-Sport teammate Ott Tanak currently holds fifth place from Chris Atkinson and Sebastien Ogier; the latter who stunned the WRC world by going fastest on the fifth Tergu-Osilo stage.
SS3 saw Neuville roll out of the rally, the Belgian blaming his “lack of concentration”. Italy didn’t quite smile for Latvala either as he crashed out on SS4, damaging his Fiesta WRC’s radiator.