Juho Hänninen has strengthened his grip on third place on Rallye Sanremo by winning the 1.73-kilometre Bajardo stage, which was televised live on RAI Sport in Italy.
The Finn edged out his Škoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecký by seven-tenths of a second with Kris Meeke third fastest in his Peugeot UK 207.
In the battle for overall victory on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event, Paolo Andreucci has extended his lead over Giandomenico Basso to 2.5s with two stages remaining.
Overall positions after SS9:
1 Paolo Andreucci 1h59m14.2s
2 Giandomenico Basso +2.5s
3 Luca Rossetti +16.3s
4 Juho Hänninen +27.3s
5 Kris Meeke +49.0s
6 Freddy Loix +58.3s
7 Jan Kopecký +2m04.8s
8 Gianfranco Cunico +2m06.3s