At the end of the third days rallying in Sweden Volkswagen Motorsport drivers remain first and second overall, although during a dramatic day of rallying excitement and problems changed the look of the leaderboard dramatically.
Overnight leaders Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia plummeted down the leaderboard on the first stage of the day having spent over 4 minutes stuck in a snow bank. Ogier accepted full responsibility for the driver error blaming a lack of concentration. Having clipped a snow bank and got sucked into the duo then needed help to dig the car out before they could continue.
Andreas Mikkelsen / Mikko Markkula took the rally lead on the first stage and then became embroiled in a tight battle with teammates Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila for the top podium spot. Latvala really seemed to revel in the battle overtaking Mikkelsen and very gradually extending his slender lead.
With road conditions varying from snow and ice to gravel and standing water the drivers had to balance outright pace with tyre and car preservation. Despite this Ogier began a charge back up the leader board, finishing the day with 6 fastest stage times having recovered from 20th overall to 9th by the end of the final stage of day 3.
Day 4 sees the longest stages of the rally and there remains plenty of excitement left in the 2014 Rally Sweden.
Rally Sweden leader board after day 3
| 1. | J. Latvala | |||||
| 2. | A. Mikkelsen | |||||
| 3. | M. Østberg | |||||
| 4. | M. Hirvonen | |||||
| 5. | O. Tanak | |||||
| 6. | K. Meeke | |||||
| 7. | H. Solberg | |||||
| 8. | P. Tidemand | |||||
| 9. | S. Ogier | |||||
| 10. | E. Evans |
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