SS19 : Latvala takes the lead

Another combative performance has enabled Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala to take the overall lead of the Jordan Rally from Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier with one stage left to run.

Latvala posted a time of 14m09.1 in his Fiesta RS WRC on the day’s longest stage, 5.8 seconds ahead of Ogier.

“A really, really stressful stage,” said Latvala. “Ogier was good on this stage too. For sure I’m going to push as hard as I can on the next stage. Everything I’ve got I will give. This is a hard game.”

“There was a big rock on the road and I had to brake,” said Ogier. “I don’t know. It looked like somebody put something on the road.”

Ogier’s team-mate Sebastien Loeb dropped 9.1 seconds in the stage and admitted that he was struggling with his car.

“I didn’t push on this stage,” said Loeb. “There were lots of big stones on the road, some from the last time on this stage. There was no reason to take risks on this one. My car was oversteering a lot and I couldn’t keep it on the line. It’s really difficult to drive, especially on the slow corners.”

Loeb is in third place and 27.9 seconds off the lead going into the final stage, with Mikko Hirvonen over two minutes further back in fourth.

Kimi Raikkonen dropped to sixth place in the overall standings, behind Matthew Wilson, after running 15 kilometres with a puncture.

“There was a rock on the line and there was no way to avoid it,” said Raikkonen. “The next stage is too short to get the place back.”

Federico Villagra, lying seventh overall, extended his advantage over eighth-placed Khalid Al Qassimi by 4.6 seconds.

“It’s like solving a puzzle - which corners are hiding big rocks,” said Al Qassimi. “It was very tough and unpredictable. If you want to drive over the rocks you’re history. You have to back off a bit and go round them.”

Overall standings after SS19: