Whilst Dani Sordo grabbed the overall lead in his DS3 WRC on day three of Rallye Deutschland, the Citroen Top Driver standings remained largely unchanged. Sebastien Chardonnet held onto the lead, with Keith Cronin and Mohammed Al Mutawaa completing the podium places in the WRC3 provisional standings.

Held on roads leading from Trier to Baumholder, the third day’s racing featured six timed stages, including the legendary “Arena Panzerplatte”, a 41-kilometre test on the slippery and treacherous tarmac roads at the military base. To spice up the action, heavy rain began to fall during the midday service, making conditions even more difficult.

The Citroen Top Driver field featured five crews at the start of “Stein&Wein 1”. After rejoining under Rally2 rules, Quentin Gilbert was caught out within the first few kilometres and forced to retire, whilst Keith Cronin took the day’s first stage win. The Irishman held onto his second place despite running into trouble on “Peterberg 2”, losing over a minute in the process.

Leaders since the start of the event, Sebastien Chardonnet and his co-driver Thibault de la Haye produced another impressive performance in the morning, especially in setting a superb time on the first run through Panzerplatte. They maintained their pace in the afternoon loop and made it back to the service park without returning to the military base, as the second run on Arena Panzerplatte was cancelled after an accident occurred involving a historic car taking part in a non-competitive demonstration.

After rejoining under Rally2 rules, Christian Riedemann rebuilt his confidence and stayed in touch with the leaders. He ended the day in fourth position.

For Mohammed Al Mutawaa, Saturday’s leg was yet another useful learning experience. The young Emirati driver managed to hold onto third place and admitted he was delighted with the feeling in his DS3 R3.