The Rally Finland leaderboard was shaken up once again on SS9, when stage winner Mads Ostberg snatched the lead from Sebastien Ogier, Mikko Hirvonen passed Thierry Neuville for third and Juho Haninnen [pictured] retired from fifth.
With the top four split by less than five seconds things remained extremely tight, but having pulled a 2.4 second lead over Ogier, Ostberg arrived at the stop control in an almost zen-like state of calm.
“I’m getting closer and closer to where I want to be,” the Fiesta RS driver reflected. “I’m going at a comfortable pace and enjoying myself. I don’t have any split times, instead I’m going only on how I feel – taking one stage at a time. I’m pleased with how this approach is working out.”
Citroen DS3 driver Hirvonen was second quickest to lie 5.3sec adrift of Ostberg in the overall standings. “Okay, we weren’t fastest, so there’s room for improvement, but I tried to push more in there and I’m quite happy,” he said.
Volkswagen’s Ogier meanwhile accepted that he could have done better. “I’m not taking too many risks, but okay, this one wasn’t so good,” he said.
Overnight leader Neuville dropped to fourth as he continued to fine-tune his pace-notes. “My driving could have been better, but on the first pass I prefer to look at he conditions. For this afternoon it will be better. I know I can push much harder.” he said.
The stage brought a premature end to Ford privateer Juho Hanninen’s day. The Finn had been an impressive fifth, but retired shortly after the stop control with right-hand rear suspension damage.
“We went a bit wide on a left-hand corner and hit a rock,” he explained. “I thought I had a puncture but when I got to the finish I saw that the tyre was okay, but the suspension arm was broken and the driveshaft also. It’s impossible to fix it now. When you start to push these things can happen.”
Jarkko Nikara recorded another impressive fifth-fastest time in his Prodrive-prepared Mini JCW to remain well cushioned in eighth.
Kris Meeke was sixth fastest in his Citroen DS3 and still bitter that Evgeny Novikov hadn’t let him past on the previous test. With his car’s windscreen peppered with stone chips from the Russian’s Fiesta, Meeke said he had struggled to see properly. “I used up all my wiper fluid trying to keep it as clear as possible,” he said. “This isn’t a little boys’ game here. He’s destroyed my position and he needs to think a bit more.”
Novikov meanwhile dropped 40-seconds in his battle-scarred Ford but said it drove better than it looked. “I think it’s okay - quite possible to fix,” he said. “The main problem is the windscreen which is completely broken so it’s difficult to see anything.“