Jari-Matti Latvala moved into the lead of Rally Sweden in the Rämmen stage when Andreas Mikkelsen dropped time after sliding into a ditch near the finish.
Mikkelsen ceded five seconds to his Volkswagen colleague and admitted he was fortunate to escape so lightly. “We went out in a ditch in fourth or fifth gear and filled the front of the car with snow. We’re lucky we got out of there to be honest. We were keeping up with Jari-Matti until then,” said the Norwegian.
Latvala moved ahead by 1.8sec but the Finn also found the stage tough. “I pushed a lot. At the start there was a lot of snow and I had a good feeling. The stage then climbed the mountain and there were some long corners where I was loading the rear tyres. They overheated and then I was struggling a little,” he explained.
Sébastien Ogier set fastest time in his Polo R while Mads Ostberg consolidated third place in his Citroen DS3, extending his advantage over Mikko Hirvonen’s Fiesta RS to 7.4sec