With a tour of the harbour area of the Monaco GP circuit to go - Citroen look to secure a 1-2 on their maiden outing with the C4.
The third and final leg began in darkness this morning from the rally base in Valence. Competitors headed north-west of the city to tackle two identical loops of three special stages covering 128.72km. Conditions were again dry and sunny in the mountains, although drivers reported a 500m section of patchy ice this morning – the only winter weather encountered in an area normally blanketed by snow and ice at this time of year.
Leader Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) was quickest on the opening stage but the Frenchman could afford to pace himself through the rest of the day. He ended with a 31.1sec advantage over Spanish team-mate Dani Sordo, who was also untroubled.
BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen ended the mountain speed tests of the Rallye Monte Carlo tonight in a comfortable podium position in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. The Finns were no under no pressure from behind and took no risks as they eased through the day to preserve third position on this opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship with a just a short test remaining on Monaco's Grand Prix circuit tomorrow morning.
In contrast, team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen fought furiously with Chris Atkinson. They go to Monaco tonight with the Focus RS pair in fourth, ahead by just 0.8sec with 2.80km of competition to decide the outcome. The Finns won three of the day's six speed tests in the Haute-Loire region of central France in a thrilling battle with the Australian that saw them swap positions on virtually every stage.
Behind the BP-Ford duo and Chris Atkinson (Subaru), Petter Solberg (Subaru) lies sixth, despite escaping with just damaged steering after slipping into a ditch at a sixth-gear kink on the second stage. Brother Henning (Ford) spun at the same point. After two days' battle, Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) closed to within 5.4sec of Jan Kopecky (Skoda) in their duel for the final drivers' points' position, but Latvala hit a wall on the last stage and dropped more than two minutes as he slipped from ninth to 11th. However, on returning to service the damage to the side of the car was too great for him to continue and he retired.
Tomorrow’s Route
The final action of this 75th Rallye Monte Carlo takes place in Monaco, the only part of the event that is held in its traditional home. After a free transit section to the Principality this evening, drivers tackle a 2.80km super special stage around the harbour area of the Grand Prix circuit. Two cars at a time will drive the test, starting on opposite sides of the swimming pool complex, and all competitors must use unstudded snow tyres. It starts at 09.00 with the field tackling the test in reverse order and the action will be broadcast live on Eurosport.
Leaderboard after Leg 3 (interim) 1. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4 3hr 08min 36.2sec 2. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4 3hr 09min 07.3sec 3. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 09min 59.8sec 4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 11min 04.8sec 5. C Atkinson/G MacNeall AUS Subaru Impreza 3hr 11min 05.6sec 6. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 3hr 11min 42.2sec 7. T Gardemeister/J Honkkanen FIN Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 12min 14.5sec 8. J Kopecky/F Schovanek CZ Skoda Fabia 3hr 13min 12.6sec 9. J-M Cuoq/D Marty F Peugeot 307 3hr 14min 31.4sec 10 M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara 3hr 15min 11.9sec
Stage Times
Stage 9: 1. Loeb 10min 47.2sec; 2. Sordo + 1.1; 3. Grönholm + 10.1; 4. P Solberg + 13.9; 5. Hirvonen + 14.9; 6. Cuoq + 16.6.
Overall: 1. Loeb 2hr 08min 28.3sec; 2. Sordo + 26.3; 3. Grönholm + 1:25.8; 4. Atkinson + 2:51.0; 5. Hirvonen + 3:02.4; 6. Gardemeister + 3:12.9.
Stage 10: 1. Atkinson 12min 42.7sec; 2. Grönholm + 3.6; 3. Latvala + 7.2; 4. Sordo + 7.3; 5= Cuoq, P Solberg + 7.7; 7. Hirvonen + 8.9.
Overall: 1. Loeb 2hr 21min 26.2sec; 2. Sordo + 18.4; 3. Grönholm + 1:14.2; 4. Atkinson + 2:35.8; 5. Hirvonen + 2:56.1; 6. P Solberg + 3:12.0.
Stage 11: 1. Hirvonen 11min 46.9sec; 2. Loeb + 1.2; 3. Grönholm + 5.8; 4. Kopecky + 8.0; 5. Latvala + 8.1; 6. Gardemeister + 8.8.
Overall: 1. Loeb 2hr 33min 14.3sec; 2. Sordo + 29.6; 3. Grönholm + 1:18.8; 4. Atkinson + 2:46.0; 5. Hirvonen + 2:54.9; 6. P Solberg + 3:20.5.
Stage 12: 1. Hirvonen 10min 45.1sec; 2. P Solberg + 0.8; 3. Grönholm + 4.9; 4= Kopecky, Loeb + 7.9; 6. Sordo + 8.2. Overall: 1. Loeb 2hr 44min 07.3sec; 2. Sordo + 29.9; 3. Grönholm + 1:15.8; 4. Hirvonen + 2:47.0; 5. Atkinson + 2:47.4; 6. P Solberg + 3:13.4.
Stage 13: 1. Atkinson 12min 32.4sec; 2. Sordo + 2.1; 3. Latvala + 5.4; 4. P Solberg + 6.3; 5. Hirvonen + 7.6; 6. Loeb + 8.8; 8. Grönholm + 14.4.
Overall: 1. Loeb 2hr 56min 48.5sec; 2. Sordo + 23.2; 3. Grönholm + 1:21.4; 4. Atkinson + 2:38.6; 5. Hirvonen + 2:45.8; 6. P Solberg + 3:10.9.
Stage 14: 1. Hirvonen 11min 30.5sec; 2. Atkinson + 8.0; 3. P Solberg + 12.3; 4. Loeb + 17.2; 5. Gardesmeister + 18.7; 6. Grönholm + 19.4.
Overall: 1. Loeb 3hr 08min 36.2sec; 2. Sordo + 31.1; 3. Grönholm + 1:23.6; 4. Hirvonen + 2:28.6; 5. Atkinson + 2:29.4; 6. P Solberg + 3:06.0
