SS14: Quartet of stage wins for Latvala

Jari-Matti Latvala has continued his sensational start to the second day of Rally Australia by making if four stage wins out of four in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

The Finn was 4.4s quicker than the chasing pack through the Uranga stage to pull 17.2s clear of team-mate Mikko Hirvonen in the overall classification.

“I’m enjoying the driving at the moment, it’s feeling absolutely fantastic,” said Latvala. “I’m lucky with my road position because Mikko is cleaning and it’s getting more difficult for Petter [Solberg behind me].”

Russian Evgeny Novikov reported losing 10 seconds when he spun his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta. Despite his delay he completed the test 8.4s slower than Latvala.

Sebastien Ogier was second fastest in his repaired Citroen DS3 WRC. World championship leader Sebastien Loeb set the fourth fastest time in his battered Citroen.

Crews are now heading back to the permanent service park at Coffs Harbour’s regional airport for a 30-minute halt. Stage 15, Welshes II, goes live at 14:02hrs local time.