Intro:

Sebastien Ogier leads the Rally of Spain with one day remaining.

Script:

The first full day of Catalan tarmac proved just as challenging as the gravel to plenty of the drivers, during the late stages on Saturday (25th October).

None more so than Ukrainian driver Yuriy Protasov was one who struggled, coming close to rolling his Ford Fiesta in stage nine.

The fight for third was an all Scandinavian affair. Mads Ostburg had held onto the podium position for long periods in Catalunya, while Andreas Mikkelsen dropped away after tyre troubles.

Mikko Hirvonen eventually took third as he powered past Norwegian Ostburg.

Up the front, it was the familiar combination of Sebastian Ogier & Jari Matti Latvala,

Rally leader Sebastien Ogier was almost five seconds quicker than his rival Jari-Matti Latvala in stage 11 on Friday, despite driving on a delaminated tyre.

The Finn immediately snatched five seconds back in stage 12, but with stages fast running out his hopes of keeping his slender title hopes alive appear to be fading.

Ogier currently leads by 27.3 seconds, and will clinch a second straight drivers' championship on Sunday (26th October) if Latvala is unable to overhaul him.