Petter retakes the lead

Petter Solberg moved back into the lead of Rally Japan on SS16 after Jari-Matti Latvala failed to hang on to the position with his three-wheel-drive Ford Focus.

The broken driveshaft cost Latvala around two seconds per kilometre over the 9km Kina stage and dropped the Finn to fourth in the overall standings.

Stage winner Solberg holds a 4.3sec advantage at the top of the standings, with Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen his closest rival. With Sunday’s running order based on the positions after SS16, Solberg and Hirvonen will be first and second on the road.

Sebastien Ogier slowed deliberately on SS16 - slotting into third place in an effort to give himself a better position in the final day’s start order.

Overall standings after SS16: