Sebastien Ogier wins Rallye Deutschland and puts an end to Sebastien Loeb's German reign; Loeb has to settle for the runners-up spot after his puncture in Panzerplatte 2; Dani Sordo completes the podium following an excellent run in his MINI.
Record-breaking multiple WRC champion Sebastien Loeb saw his advantage reduced from 40.5 seconds to 33.4 following SS11 and SS12 this morning, as he paces himself to the finish and what will be his fourth win of the 2010 WRC season.
Citroen number two driver Dani Sordo has retired from day two of the Acropolis Rally of Greece. Sordo's Citroen C4 WRC car suffered a broken suspension arm in the final test this morning, the 24.15 kilometre run through Kefalari 1.
Mikko Hirvonen has defied his early running order to emerge from the opening leg of the Rally Portugal with a comfortable 15 second lead over Dani Sordo having managed to stay error free throughout the day.
SS20 - Sapporo 4 (1.49km): Sordo fastest in SS20; Gardemeister second; Latvala third; Loeb and Hirvonen joint fourth; Wilson sixth; Novikov heads the PWRC category; Hirvonen leads overall by 15.5 seconds at the end of day 2. Top ten stage times for SS20:
Citroen's Dani Sordo is hoping to be able to re-start the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse under the SupeRally on Saturday following his accident today [Friday] in stage three.
Sebastien Loeb has extended his lead in the WRC standings to eight points with only four rallies remaining, two of which will occur on his preferred Tarmac surface.
The World Rally Championship is currently in the midst of a trio of back-to-back Mediterranean events and following the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, next up is the legendary Acropolis Rally of Greece - one of the oldest and most prestigious rounds in the series.
Sebastien Loeb has said that it was a 'dream come true' for him to be able to drive a Formula 1 car on Wednesday, when he got behind the wheel of last year's championship-winning Renault R26.
Following the long-haul trip to Japan at the end of last month, the FIA World Rally Championship now returns to Europe for the Rally Ireland, the penultimate round of the season.