The day had started much more encouragingly for Mikkelsen - who was thrust into the rally lead on Friday afternoon when both Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala went off the road - as he outpaced Ogier on the opening Fredriksberg stage and stretched his advantage to half a minute. But Ogier, who had already moved up from fourth to third thanks to Mads Ostberg puncturing a rear tyre on his Citroen when he clipped a snow bank, then set the pace on the next three stages. That brought him past Thierry Neuville into second, while Mikkelsen lost a few seconds in a ditch on Rammen before having a costly spin at the start of Vargasen. By the end of the loop Mikkelsen's advantage had come right down to...
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