Mikko Hirvonen has claimed his third stage victory of Rally d’Italia Sardegna to move from fourth to third in the overall classification in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Petter Solberg was second fastest and takes the runner-up spot from Sebastien Ogier, who elected to slow in order to secure a lower and more favourable road position for Saturday’s stages. He falls to fourth overall behind Hirvonen.
Sebastien Loeb was third quickest and will start day two with a lead of 33.2s in his Citroen DS3 WRC.
“This stage was more difficult compared to the others because there was a lot of road cleaning,” said Loeb. “It was very slippery but I lost some time and tried hard.”
Standings after SS8:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. LOEB / D. ELENA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 1h27m47.0s |
| 02 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +33.2s |
| 03 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +53.1s |
| 04 | S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA | Citroën DS3 WRC | +55.5s |
| 05 | M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m04.7s |
| 06 | D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO | MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS | +1m33.2s |
| 07 | O. TANAK / K. SIKK | FORD FIESTA S2000 | +2m36.0s |
| 08 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +2m54.5s |
| 09 | M. PROKOP / J. TOMANEK | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +3m01.7s |
| 10 | J. HANNINEN / M. MARKKULA | SKODA FABIA S2000 | +3m19.8s |
| 11 | A. ARAÚJO / R. MIGUEL | MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS | +4m30.1s |
| 12 | K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +4m53.5s |
| 13 | D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +5m39.2s |
| 14 | N. AL ATTIYAH / G. BERNACCHINI | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +6m06.4s |
| 15 | B. SOUSA / A. COSTA | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +6m21.5s |