Petter Solberg’s chances of taking his first WRC victory since 2005 all but disappeared on SS23 when a mechanical problem dropped him six seconds further behind rally leader Sebastien Ogier.
At the stage end Solberg revealed that his Citroen’s left-hand front damper had broken earlier in the day on SS20, leaving his C4 with increasingly vague steering ever since.
“There’s about 30mm of play in the steering wheel before I can turn left or right - it’s very difficult to drive,” he explained. “I’m lucky to be here now. Now all I can hope to do is keep my place.”
With just three short stages of the rally to go, Ogier’s lead stood at a relatively secure 11.3seconds, but further down the order positions were still changing.
Stage winner Jari-Matti Latvala moved up to third, ahead of a frustrated Dani Sordo who said he was losing time in the slower corners.
Sebastien Loeb meanwhile moved up to fifth, ahead of Mikko Hirvonen who continued to struggle with his car’s transmission problem.
Overall standings after SS23:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sébastien OGIER | Citroën C4 WRC | 3h05m00.4s |
| 02 | Petter SOLBERG | Citroën C4 WRC | +11.3s |
| 03 | Jari-Matti LATVALA | Ford Focus WRC | +26.8s |
| 04 | Dani SORDO | Citroën C4 WRC | +33.7s |
| 05 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën C4 WRC | +54.2s |
| 06 | Mikko HIRVONEN | Ford Focus WRC | +1m08.2s |
| 07 | Henning SOLBERG | Ford Focus WRC | +3m03.5s |
| 08 | Federico VILLAGRA | Ford Focus WRC | +10m13.4s |
| 09 | Jari KETOMAA | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +14m25.2s |
| 10 | Martin PROKOP | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +15m05.6s |
| 11 | Patrik FLODIN | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | +20m18.5s |
| 12 | Hayden PADDON | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +23m05.7s |
| 13 | Haruo OSHIMA | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +28m35.3s |
| 14 | Eiichi IWASHITA | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +31m17.2s |
| 15 | Gento NAGAYOSHI | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +34m02.0s |