Second-placed Jari-Matti Latvala had an unnerving start to the final day of the 2012 ADAC Rallye Deutschland when his bonnet threatening to fly up on the opening Dhrontal stage.
The Ford driver reached the finish of the 30.76-kilometre test having lost 9.7 seconds to pacesetter and overall leader Sebastien Loeb.
"I don’t know happened with the bonnet," said Latvala." It may be a catch on the front, but it’s loose and on the long, long fast straight it started to open and I had to ask [co-driver] Miikka [Anttila] what we do because if we stop we could lose this position now."
Latvala is still 32.7s clear of third-placed Mikko Hirvonen.
The rain returned with a vengeance as Sunday morning’s action got underway, although this time everyone was prepared with soft tyres. Loeb was quickest by a comfortable margin, despite taking it cautiously.
"I don’t care about the times. It was really tricky," said Loeb. "In some places you had to be really, really careful. Even with the soft tyre you had a lot of grip changes."
Fifth-placed Chris Atkinson was over a minute off the lead pace, but said that was all part of his plan to safely reach the finish.
"Maybe a bit steady, but we’ve got a gap," he said. "[Sebastien] Ogier might take time out of that, but we can go faster if we have to. We were just cruising through."
After their day two dramas, Ott Tanak, Dani Sordo, Petter Solberg and Thierry Neuville all rejoined for Sunday under Rally 2.