Sebastien Loeb completed Saturday morning’s loop of stages with his rally lead intact but slimmed to 2.5 seconds after a spin on Halfway.
The Citroen team-leader acknowledged he was probably pushing too hard before the incident - as he fought to defend his position from a hard charging Petter Solberg.
Solberg was fastest though the stage and happy to have emerged from the slippery conditions with nothing more serious than a half spin. “The most important thing is not to make any mistakes,” he said. “I can push harder, but I’m trying to keep a consistent speed.”
Mikko Hirvonen was third fastest, despite having to swerve to avoid a flock of sheep which had wandered onto the road. Dani Sordo slipped to fifth overall after going straight on at a hairpin. “There were two crests before it and my co-driver made a mistake and called the wrong note. It’s okay. It happens,” he said.
Jari-Matti Latvala was second fastest through the stage to move ahead of Sordo into fourth overall.
Crews will repeat the morning’s four stages after a 15-minute remote service at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.
Overall standings after SS11:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën C4 WRC | 1h53m17.3s |
| 02 | Petter SOLBERG | Citroën C4 WRC | +2.5s |
| 03 | Mikko HIRVONEN | Ford Focus WRC | +1m02.5s |
| 04 | Jari-Matti LATVALA | Ford Focus WRC | +1m13.7s |
| 05 | Dani SORDO | Citroën C4 WRC | +1m20.1s |
| 06 | Henning SOLBERG | Ford Focus WRC | +3m51.3s |
| 07 | Matthew WILSON | Ford Focus WRC | +4m55.4s |
| 08 | Mads OSTBERG | Subaru Impreza WRC | +5m26.5s |
| 09 | Kimi RAÏKKONEN | Citroën C4 WRC | +6m28.9s |
| 10 | Ken BLOCK | Ford Focus WRC | +7m50.9s |
| 11 | Andreas MIKKELSEN | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +8m11.4s |
| 12 | Jari KETOMAA | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +8m41.6s |
| 13 | Khalid AL QASSIMI | Ford Focus WRC | +9m29.6s |
| 14 | Xevi PONS | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +11m36.1s |
| 15 | Craig BREEN | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +12m53.1s |