Jari-Matti Latvala’s fight back from his stage three delay has begun after the Finn set the fastest time on the fourth test in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to move ahead of Armindo Araujo and Dennis Kuipers in the overall classification. However, he remains almost 1m20s behind leader Sebastien Ogier, who was fourth quickest through the stage.
Dani Sordo maintained his impressive start to Rallye de France Alsace with the second best run in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC. The Spaniard is now 6.6s behind Ogier and 1.6s adrift of second-placed Petter Solberg, in a privateer Citroen. Sordo’s team-mate Kris Meeke is fourth in the second MINI.
Crews are now heading to the permanent service park on the outskirts of Strasbourg for a 30-minute halt. Stage five, the repeat of the 9.68-kilometre Klevener test, goes live at 1323hrs local time.
Standings after SS4:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 41m26.6s |
| 02 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +5.0s |
| 03 | D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO | MINI WRC | +6.6s |
| 04 | K. MEEKE / P. NAGLE | MINI WRC | +28.0s |
| 05 | M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +53.5s |
| 06 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m00.1s |
| 07 | J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m19.7s |
| 08 | A. ARAÚJO / M. RAMALHO | MINI WRC | +1m20.4s |
| 09 | D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m25.6s |
| 10 | K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m53.8s |
| 11 | O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +2m07.1s |
| 12 | H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +2m08.9s |
| 13 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +2m20.1s |
| 14 | P. VAN MERKSTEIJN / E. MOMBAERTS | Citroën DS3 WRC | +2m29.8s |
| 15 | P. CAMPANA / S. DE CASTELLI | MINI WRC | +2m30.8s |