Going into the second dash through the Mystery Creek super special, ahead of the mid-day halt, Gronholm's lead was down to just 3.6 seconds and although he managed to gain a few more tenths there, with another stage win, the gap was now just 4 seconds.
Following the break for lunch Loeb put in a charge on Saturday afternoon, winning both SS10 and SS11. Furthermore while he was only 0.3 seconds up on Gronholm in Te Akau South, he was 5.4 seconds faster in Te Akau North, something that was enough to push him up into P1.
With only 1.7 seconds separating them though the scene was set for a thrilling final day and leg 3 didn't disappoint.
Indeed on the first loop there WAS virtually nothing between the two, until SS14, when Loeb inched ahead in his
Citroen C4 WRC to go into the remote service zone at Raglan with a 2.9 second cushion.
On the repeat runs though, Gronholm bounced back, winning all three tests and going back top in the second run through Whaanga Coast 2.
That wasn't enough to decide things however and with only a 0.7 second advantage it went all the way to the wire and the third run through the Mystery Creek super special.
Marcus held on there to take the maximum ten points – even though Loeb took the stage win - and he eventually secured the victory by just 0.3 seconds, the closest ever finish in the history of the WRC.
The result increases the Finn's lead in the drivers' championship over Loeb, from 8 points to 10, with five rounds to go.
Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile completed the rostrum in the second
BP Ford Focus RS WRC car, over 1.5 minutes off the top two, but also nearly a minute up on the squabble for fourth.
Mikko lost time in the first loop on Friday, when like Gronholm, he opted for the wrong tyres. After that he was never in contention for the win – nor though was he ever under any threat in third.
