The Frenchman has pushed his rival hard throughout the day and when Paddon lost more time in the closing two stages with a gearbox problem, he was able to increase his lead to over two minutes with four stages remaining on Sunday. After a day when virtually every driver hit problems, Mads Østberg has moved up the leaderboard into the final provisional podium position.

Today’s route was again long and hot and the 212.83 competitive kilometres represented the longest day in the WRC since the Safari Rally in 2002. Paddon started the day with an 8.8 second advantage and while the Volkswagen drivers largely dominated the morning, top times from Paddon ensured he maintained his lead going into the mid-day service. Going into stage 17 however, his lead of nine seconds suddenly turned into a 12.6 second deficit with a spin and he lost a total of 21 seconds when the car stalled and wouldn’t re-start. Gearbox problems in the following stages dropped him further adrift but his second position remains reasonably comfortable with Østberg a further minute behind. The Norwegian was fifth last night and has won two stages during a strong day, despite two punctures, enabling him to move up the leaderboard while also capitalising on rivals’ problems.

Behind the leading trio, Thierry Neuville has moved into fourth, he and Østberg locked in an earlier battle until leaking power steering fluid saw the Belgian drop back. He is in a relatively safe position with Elfyn Evans over a minute behind in fifth, the Welshman enjoying a better day of competition. Jari-Matti Latvala has had a disappointing day. The Finn, third last night, lost over two and a half minutes in stage 13 when he had to stop and change a wheel. He then hit a rock in stage 17 and damaged the suspension and was forced to start the penultimate stage four minutes late. He struggled through the final two stages – the two longest in the rally – and while he dropped to sixth he was nevertheless happy to have nursed his Polo R WRC through the day.

Such has been the rate of attrition FIA WRC 2 Championship drivers fill the remaining top 10 positions, with Yurii Protasov heading the challenge ahead of Italian Rally Champion Paolo Andreucci. In the WRC, leading retirements included Andreas Mikkelsen who took a wheel off, Dani Sordo with an engine problem, Martin Prokop who had an oil leak, and Robert Kubica and Ott Tanak who both got stuck in high gears and couldn’t continue. Lorenzo Bertelli was also forced out this morning.

Rally Italia Sardegna – Unofficial Results after Section 5