No crazy risks, promises Solberg

Solberg closed in on the Spaniard's C4 by setting the fastest time on every one of the afternoon's three stages on the Borovets-based event.

Having started the loop 26.8s behind, he beat everybody through the three tests to slash the gap by 22ss. But Solberg was quick to point to his Rally New Zealand crash as an example of what can happen when embroiled in a final-day fight.

"Remember New Zealand?" he said. "I was fighting for the lead there and we lost it and crashed. I'm not going to let that happen again. I have to think about the sponsors and everything like that. Of course I am going to push to try and win, but I'm not going to go crazy for second place."

Solberg's times came after he elected to run Pirelli's harder compound tyre for the afternoon, while Sordo ran a mixed car with hard at the front and soft at the rear of his C4.

"We heard there could be some rain in this loop," said Sordo, "so we had to be ready for it. But it didn't come - and now we're in the big fight for tomorrow."

Asked if he was confident of beating Solberg, he replied: "Confident? No. You can never be too confident when you are fighting Petter Solberg."