Mikko Hirvonen now looks more secure in second place in Italy after the rally organizers corrected a timing error from Saturday and adjusted his results.
Ford had been adamant that Hirvonen's time on the Monte Lerno stage yesterday had been 4.5 seconds quicker than the officially recorded pace. After an investigation, the officials have agreed with Ford's assessment and corrected Hirvonen's result.
The time gain means his advantage over third-placed Petter Solberg going into the final stage rises from 1.3sec to 5.8sec. Yet while the change also moves Hirvonen slightly closer to leader Sebastien Loeb, with only the 8km power stage remaining, the 14sec gap will be too big for Hirvonen to overcome unless the leading Citroen has a problem.