Hirvonen was a point behind Loeb going into the Turkish event

Mikko Hirvonen goes into the final day of the Rally of Turkey poised to regain the World Rally Championship lead.

The Finn won three of the day's stages to open up a 34.2 second lead over series leader Sebastien Loeb.

Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala is in second spot, 16.1 seconds behind, with Frenchman Loeb in third.

The Citroen star paid the price for having to start Saturday's action in the lead and therefore, 'sweep' the road for the Ford drivers behind him.

Despite the handicap, reigning champion Loeb lost just 13 seconds on the Ford duo in the morning's stages.

"I've done everything I can so far; I've made no mistakes, the car has had no problems, and we've been flat-out all the time," he said.

"Everything is possible on Sunday, I think. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Hirvonen had said that a lead of 50 seconds was necessary to counteract the expected road-cleaning disadvantage of running first on Sunday.

"It's going to be a big fight," he said. "I've been flat out all day, but I don't know if my lead is enough. Sunday's going to be a difficult day."