SS13: Hirvonen quickest again

Mikko Hirvonen has made it two stage wins out of two on day three of Rallye Monte-Carlo to close to within 20.8s of third-placed Petter Solberg on the opening event of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

Finn Hirvonen set a time of 17m08.8s through the test as Solberg lost ground after breaking the front-left rim of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC cutting a corner too tightly a handful of kilometres from the stage finish. He reached the stop line nursing a front-left puncture with the fifth best time.

Sebastien Loeb was second fastest through the stage, 2.9s slower than fellow Citroen DS3 WRC driver Hirvonen. The eight-time world champion will head to the overnight halt in Monaco leading by a commanding 2m12.4s. He said: “It was hard to make the right tyre choice this morning but for this one it was like a normal Tarmac stage. I was not taking any risks.”

Dani Sordo, in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC, was 3.4s slower than Loeb in fourth position. However, he has increased his advantage over third-placed Solberg to 1m09.8s: “We got a big gap in the stage before,” said Sordo. “It was the first time for me on this stage but it’s unbelievable, really, really nice.”

Evgeny Novikov shone with the third fastest time in his M-Sport Fiesta, a 17m41.1s. Francois Delecour was sixth quickest in a time of 17m30.8s. Pierre Campana took 17m32.0s to complete the stage with fellow MINI driver Armindo Araujo 3.6s slower.

Crews are now embarking on the 239-kilometre road section to the overnight halt in Monaco ahead of Saturday’s four stages.