SS10: Latvala edges further ahead

Jari-Matti Latvala continued to edge away from Thierry Neuville in their battle for the lead at ADAC Rallye Deutschland.

The Finn was second fastest in his Volkswagen Polo R, stretching his advantage over the Belgian by a further 3.2sec in just 9.23km. Latvala heads towards the daunting 41.08km Arena Panzerplatte test on the Baumholder military land with his lead up to 10.6sec, the largest since their duel at the top began yesterday morning.

“It was really fast and we drove for a long time on the rev limiter, but there were also narrow places under the trees in the forest,” said Latvala. “There’s a good fight going on and now we go to the military area for a long stage. That’s the important one. It’s usually the key stage in the rally.”

Neuville admitted he could have done no more to match Latvala. “It’s difficult to follow Jari-Matti at this pace. I can see his lines and I’m braking later than him so I can’t do anything else. I had a perfect run,” said the Ford Fiesta RS driver.

Dani Sordo was quickest, two-tenths of a second ahead of the leader, in his Citroen DS3. The Spaniard thought he had won the previous test until his time was smashed by Sebastien Ogier, but this was his first stage win since the Acropolis Rally of Greece in June.

Ogier settled for third this time, 1.9sec off Latvala’s pace. “I’m getting experience with the car and working on the set-up,” said the Frenchman.

“There were a lot of cuts and the road was dirty so there was no chance to be fastest. We’ve decided to drive at a good rhythm otherwise it’s a long and boring day,” added Ogier, who restarted under Rally 2 regulations after retiring yesterday.

Mikko Hirvonen and Mads Ostberg were both caught out by the same tricky junction. Hirvonen dropped almost 10sec while Ostberg escaped with a smaller loss.

“I missed a junction and went into a field,” said Hirvonen. “It took me a while to get back on, but no dramas.” The Finn remains fourth in his Citroen DS3, 38.6sec behind team-mate Sordo.

A smiling Ostberg related his own story. “I braked too late and overshot the junction. I think it was probably the same place as Mikko. I saw some lines and thought ‘they look like good lines’ so I followed them and ended up in a field!” he joked.