The final leg of the rally took competitors to an area known as Serra de Mu ou Caldeirao, mid-way between the locations of legs one and two. The first stage of the morning loop was completely new for all competitors and featured a dusty, loose surface that was similar to that found on leg one. With rally leader Sebastien Loeb relatively well cushioned from second placed Marcus Gronholm, the focus was on the battle for the final podium place between Mikko Hirvonen and Subaru’s Petter Solberg. Solberg set the fourth fastest time, but lost out to Hirvonen who attacked hard and set the quickest time through the stage by a margin of 5.3sec. “It’s very loose, and I tried my best to go super quick but that’s how it is sometimes. I’ll keep fighting,” said Solberg.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Hirvonen (Ford) 11m 18.0s

Straight after the end of SS14, crews drove a 5km liaison section to the 22km stage at Loule, the longest test of the day. SS15 was a reworked version of a stage that was used in the rally in 2005 and 2006, and included a typically Portuguese variety of conditions, from narrow and twisty sections to high-speed sprints through open countryside. The predominant road surface was a hard base covered with a light dusting of gravel, and this favoured competitors using harder tyre compounds. With a limited number of tyre options available, Solberg had selected his hardest compound for the morning loop, but felt this rubber was too soft for the conditions. He was fifth-fastest as a result. Hirvonen was third fastest, driving according to Solberg’s split times to keep ahead of him on the overall leaderboard.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Loeb (Citroen) 14m 09.3s

After a visit to the Algarve Stadium for a 30-minute service, crews made their way back to Loule to repeat the morning’s first test. With the end of the rally approaching, and each of the top 10 drivers relatively secure in their positions, for many the focus now was getting to the finish without incident. Gronholm ended the stage in the best time, with Loeb second and Hirvonen third. Solberg reported that his engine lacked some response, but he still managed to go fifth fastest.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Gronholm (Ford) 11m 11.1s

The final proper stage of the rally was a rerun of the leg’s second test, and once again Gronholm was the quickest driver. But with Loeb next quickest the Finn was unable to make any significant impact on the Frenchman’s lead, and the gap merely closed to 33.4 seconds with just the superspecial remaining. The only change to the overall top-ten came about when Petter Solberg’s brother Henning lost around three minutes with a damaged clutch, and dropped from eighth to ninth place.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Gronholm (Ford) 14m 02.0s

The rally ended where it began on Thursday night, with a second visit to the superspecial inside the Algarve Stadium. Once again drivers tackled the smooth asphalt track in pairs, running head-to-head in front of a crowd of more than 20,000 spectators. With such comfortable spacing between the top-ten positions, the priority for most drivers was to put on a good show, and only a handful of roadside barriers remained untouched as a result. Petter Solberg’s natural desire to please the crowd was tempered by a lack of engine power, brought on by a turbo anti-lag problem that occurred on SS16. Nevertheless Solberg secured his fourth place overall and, ever the showman, managed to complete most of his warm down lap hanging from the open door of his Subaru.
Fastest Time: Fastest time: Loeb (Citroen) 2m 06.8s

	1 Sebastien LOEB CITROEN C4 WRC 3:53:33.1   2 Petter SOLBERG SUBARU IMPREZA WRC2007 +3:13.9   3 Daniel SORDO CITROEN C4 WRC +5:05.3   4 Marcus GRONHORM FORD Focus RS WRC 06 +5:37.1   5 Mikko HIRVONEN FORD Focus RS WRC 06 +7:08.1   6 Daniel CARLSSON CITROEN Xsara WRC +8:13.2   7 Gianluigi GALLI CITROEN Xsara WRC* +9:39.6   8 Jari-Matti LATVALA FORD Focus RS WRC 06* +10:44.9   9 Manfred STOHL CITROEN Xsara WRC +12:46.0   10 Andreas MIKKELSEN FORD Focus RS WRC 04* +13:51.9

Round six of the World Rally Championship takes places in Argentina on May 4-6. Another all-time classic rally, which a few years ago moved to a May date in order to avoid the notorious rain and mud that had made the event so tough in the past. But in the Pampas anything can happen, and the unpredictable conditions can still upset the strategy of the teams. The stages are medium to fast soft gravel roads that can quickly become rutted and waterlogged. This event is extremely tough on cars, as high altitudes rob the engines of power – meaning that drivers have to push to the limit in order to set fast times!