Italy WRC: Neuville still leads, Mikkelsen and Ostberg in trouble

While Latvala completed the morning loop just behind Neuville, the latter topped the first afternoon run, extending his gap by 10 seconds.

Although the Finn was fastest in the following SS14, Neuville set the pace in the day's final stage, the 44km Monte Lerno test.

Sebastien Ogier will kick off tomorrow more than a minute adrift in third as the championship leader continued to lose ground due to the disadvantageous running order.

However, he has been relieved of additional pressure coming from Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Ostberg, the duo hitting trouble in SS14 and SS15 respectively.

Mikkelsen rolled under rainy circumstances after hitting a rock, while his Norwegian compatriot lost pace and eventually parked his car not far from the finish.

That allowed Dani Sordo and Ott Tanak to inherit fourth and fifth respectively, the latter losing a minute due to a puncture.