SS5 0855hrs Duarte –Nvo Valle 1 (25.58km)
Undeterred by the dramatic events of the previous evening, when a time control rule infringement relegated him from the lead of the rally to 13th overall, Subaru driver Petter Solberg blazed through the first test of the day to emphasise his winning pace on the stages with the new Impreza WRC2004. Even though his performance would have no impact on the top-ten, (he moved from 13th to 11th) Petter set the fastest time and took his third stage win of the event. Markko Martin was second fastest through the test, while the new event leader Sebastien Loeb was third. The test’s small river crossing and series of tight and twisty sections caused no problems, but Marcus Gronholm got off to a difficult start when his car suffered a power steering problem, which cost him well over a minute. Gianluigi Galli also suffered problems due to damaged suspension on his Mitsubishi Lancer and completed the test more than 40 minutes slower than the winning pace. He later retired on the road section to the start of SS6.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 18:30.3

SS6 0943hrs Derramadero-Chichimequillas 1 (23.56km)
Another stage win for Subaru and Petter Solberg, this time by a margin of 5.1 seconds. The Norwegian’s charge saw him move another place up the leaderboard to cross the finish in tenth position overall. Ford’s Francois Duval was second fastest and team-mate Martin third. Gronholm continued to be dogged by his power steering problem and lost a further 1 minute 27 seconds, while Panizzi was off the pace in his Mitsubishi and finished 1 minute 15 seconds behind the leader. Problems too for event leader Loeb. The Frenchman damaged his sump on a rock near the finish and began losing oil pressure. He completed the test fourth fastest, but despite strenuous efforts to stem the resultant oil leak at the finish, his attempts proved futile and he retired on the road section leading to SS7. His misfortunate promoted Markko Martin to event leader. After the finish, the remaining crews stopped for a supplementary refuel before moving to the start of SS7.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 13:51.8

SS7 1059hrs El Gigante – El Zauco 1 (28.03km)
Running through the Sierra de Lobos mountains, the stage at El Gigante peaks 2,600 metres above sea level. Presenting crews with a softer packed road surface than yesterday, the stage took competitors on a slow ascent on narrow, technical roads before opening onto more flowing roads with views across spectacular plains. Solberg continued his dominating performance and set another cracking pace in his Subaru for his third consecutive win of the day. At the finish he lay in fifth position overall, having moved an astonishing eight places up the leaderboard. Mikko Hirvonen had a lucky escape when he was forced to take evasive action to avoid a large boulder flicked out into the middle of the road by one of the cars ahead of him. He tried to squeeze his car to the right of the rock, but it hit the rear wheel on his side of the car and damaged the rear suspension, knocking the wheel badly out of alignment. Mikko pressed on with the damaged car for the remaining 24km and remarkably finished fifth fastest to move up to fourth position overall. Gronholm lost a further 2 minutes 30 seconds with his power steering problem, while his team-mate and fellow-Finn Harri Rovanpera dropped 16 minutes due to broken suspension.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 19:22.8

Driver Quotes - Service D– After SS7

Petter Solberg:

I’m feeling quite good now. Last night was just terrible and I didn’t sleep so well. I came here to win and yesterday evening I thought that the story was over. But, after the way things have gone today, I have my motivation back. My plan is to try and take more points, and maybe to get on the podium. The situation is quite incredible. Our pace today is not 100 per cent, but it’s quicker than yesterday. It’s the same pace that we’d expected to do on Leg two anyway. I’ve just gone up a click that was always the plan. For now, I’ll see what we can do, I can’t do any more than that.

Mikko Hirvonen:

That was much better than yesterday. We made a few changes to the diffs and that’s given me better confidence. I’m much happier on the stages now, although we had a bit of a drama on SS7. About 4kms from the start I saw a huge rock in the middle of the road. It looked like another car had gone off and it had been flicked onto the stage. I tried to go around it, but there just wasn’t enough room and it hit the rear wheel on my side and damaged the suspension. I was able to carry on, but the suspension was badly out of alignment and I had a spin a little later. I think we did 24km like that and I was very glad to get back to service.

SS8 1357hrs Duarte – Nvo Valle 2 (25.58km)
The drama at the top of the leaderboard continued when the Citroen team made a clerical error and nominated the same tyres that Sainz had used for the morning stages for the afternoon stages too. New tyre regulations obliged him to tackle the remaining three stages on the same tyres rather than the new ones that he had intended to use. With less traction than his rivals, he started losing time from the outset and finished the stage sixth fastest. Solberg was again quickest to notch up his sixth win of the event, while a rejuvenated Gronholm was second. Event leader Markko Martin had a difficult stage when the anti-lag system on his car broke, his engine developed an oil leak, and he reported smoke in the cockpit. But, despite these problems, the Estonian brought the car over the finish line with the third fastest time. The repeated test brought no change to the overall top ten, but Francois Duval moved to within striking distance of Sainz in overall second, as the Spaniard battled to maintain the pace on his worn tyres. After the finish, crews moved directly to the start of SS9.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 18:32

SS9 1445hrs Derramadero-Chichimequillas 2 (23.56km)
Still running on his worn tyres, Carlos Sainz was closer to the pace on the second repeated test and lost 5.9 seconds to the leaders throughout the 23.56km. But it wasn’t enough to prevent Duval snatching overall second and at the finish, 0.1 seconds separated the pair in the Frenchman’s favour. Solberg continued to lead the stage times and was again fastest for his fifth consecutive win. Gronholm was second fastest and Duval third. Event leader Martin was fifth to maintain the overall lead, while Hirvonen was sixth. Recording speeds of up to 200kph, crews descended through a series of hairpins to the village of La Estancia before completing a fast downhill stretch to the dam of Chichimequillas. After the finish, competitors stopped for a supplementary refuel before moving to the start of SS10.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 13:47.5

SS10 1601hrs El Gigante – El Zauco 2 (28.03km)
Once again, Petter demonstrated his lightening quick pace in the new Impreza and repeated his earlier charge through the high-speed El Gigante stage, to slice 10.2 seconds off his previous time and take yet another win, this time by a margin of 8 seconds. Carlos Sainz was second fastest to snatch back second from Duval, while Martin was third to maintain the overall lead. Duval was fourth fastest and ended the day in overall third, 3.6 seconds behind his Spanish rival.
Fastest Time: Solberg (Subaru) 19:12.6