JYVASKYLA, Finland — Four-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb took a grip on the Rally Finland on Saturday, holding off Mikko Hirvonen in an exciting duel to lead by 18.2 seconds.
Only 3.8 seconds separated the two top drivers on the day’s 168.25 kilometers (104.5 miles) of special stages.
Trailing by 14.4 seconds going out, Hirvonen three times cut the lead to between 11.1 and 11.5 seconds, but the Finnish Ford driver was unlucky as his car stalled at the start of the last stage, losing about four seconds.
Behind the two title contenders, Subaru driver Chris Atkinson of Australia had a good day on the fast gravel roads in central Finland to move past Daniel Sordo of Spain for third overall on the last stage. One second separated them before the last day.
Atkinson had two top-three finishes and was the fourth fastest five times.
There will be a new winner in Rally Finland, as former world champion Marcus Gronholm of Finland has retired.
Loeb has never won in Finland, but with a win, and Hirvonen in second, the French Citroen driver would be within a single point of the Finn in the standings. Hirvonen has 59 points against Loeb’s 56.
Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, one of the top drivers and third in the championship standings, was the fastest on three stages and top three on five more after retiring on Friday’s third stage.
Gigi Galli of Italy had to retire from third place, as did Per-Gunnar Andersson of Sweden when lying ninth.
Saturday at Jyvaskyla, Finland
After two legs, 21 special stages with a total of 299.95 kilometers (186 miles)
1. Sebastien Loeb, France, Citroen, 2 hours, 33 minutes, 43.5 seconds.
2. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, Ford, 18.2 seconds behind.
3. Chris Atkinson, Australia, Subaru, 3:03.6.
4. Daniel Sordo, Spain, Citroen, 3:04.6.
5. Henning Solberg, Norway, Ford, 3:31.6.
6. Petter Solberg, Norway, Subaru, 3:58.7.
7. Matti Rantanen, Finland, Ford, 5:55.2.
8. Toni Gardemeister, Finland, Suzuki, 7:28.6.
9. Matthew Wilson, Britain, Ford, 7:54.5.
10. Conrad Rautenbach, Zimbabwe, Citroen, 9:29.1.
11. Luis Perez Companc, Argentina, Ford, 10:12.3.
12. Khalid Al Qassimi, Arab Emirates, Ford, 12:11.9.
13. Juho Hanninen, Finland, Mitsubishi, 12:42.2.
14. Andreas Mikkelsen, Norway, Ford, 14:11.7.
15. Patrik Flodin, Sweden, Mitsubishi, 14:37.3.
Retired
Gigi Galli, Italy, Ford; Per-Gunnar Andersson, Sweden, Suzuki.
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