Petter Solberg has taken yet more time out of Dani Sordo on Rallye Monte-Carlo but with a margin of 18.3s over the Norwegian, Spaniard Sordo believes he has enough of a gap to hold the position heading into the final day of Rallye Monte-Carlo on Sunday.
“Petter needs to push a little harder because I think we have enough of a gap now,” MINI driver Sordo told World Rally Radio after setting a time of 13m17.5s.
Solberg was fastest through the stage in 13m05.0s in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, 12.5s quicker than Sordo. “Everything is so nice and easy - it’s great,” said Sordo. “Okay we had to be a bit careful in the damp areas but I’m so happy and I’m really enjoying this rally.”
Sebastien Loeb kept his overall lead firmly intact with the second fastest stage time in his Citroen DS3 WRC, 7.7s down on Solberg.
Francois Delecour was third fastest in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta with Pierre Campana impressing with the fourth quickest time in his factory MINI.
In the battle for ninth position, Martin Prokop continues to keep Armindo Araujo at bay after they both took 13m32.5s to complete the stage.
Crews are now heading back to Monaco for service and the overnight halt. The final test, the 5.16-kilometre Power Stage, gets underway on Sunday at 10:11hrs local time.
Standings after Day 4:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. LOEB / D. ELENA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 4h29m12.1s |
| 02 | D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO | MINI WRC | +2m41.6s |
| 03 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +3m00.7s |
| 04 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Citroën DS3 WRC | +4m05.6s |
| 05 | E. NOVIKOV / D. GIRAUDET | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +6m00.8s |
| 06 | F. DELECOUR / D. SAVIGNONI | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +6m55.7s |
| 07 | P. CAMPANA / S. DE CASTELLI | MINI WRC | +8m21.3s |
| 08 | O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +10m27.2s |
| 09 | M. PROKOP / J. TOMANEK | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +16m06.3s |
| 10 | A. ARAÚJO / M. RAMALHO | MINI WRC | +16m09.6s |
| 11 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +18m39.2s |
| 12 | K. ABBRING / L. VANNESTE | SKODA Fabia S2000 | +18m42.2s |
| 13 | H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +20m11.3s |
| 14 | C. BREEN / G. ROBERTS | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +24m07.6s |
| 15 | B. BOUFFIER / X. PANSERI | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +27m19.0s |
| 16 | M. BURRI / S. REY | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +30m08.1s |
| 17 | C. ROBERT / Y. PERRET | Citroën DS3 R3T | +31m58.8s |
| 18 | O. BURRI / J-J FERRERO | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | +34m45.3s |
| 19 | S. CHARDONNET / T. DE LA HAYE | Renault Clio R3 | +36m33.2s |
| 20 | P. NOBRE / E. PAULA | MINI WRC | +38m38.0s |