SS3: Latvala takes the lead

Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg moved the works Ford team into one-two formation at the head of the Rally Sweden order after stage three, Opaker.

World champion Sebastien Loeb was actually the quickest man on the stage in his Citroen DS3 WRC, but Ford Fiesta RS WRC duo Latvala and Solberg were just a few fractions of a second down on the Frenchman.

Latvala felt he could have done better: "There was one place we were heavily in the snow bank and also near the end of the stage. What it looks like is you have to have a totally clean run, if you touch the snow banks you lose so much time."

Team-mate Solberg was pleased to have done such a quick time given he was one of the earliest frontrunners in the start order.

"Of course it’s cleaning behind me, you can see that on some of the splits, but I’m very happy with my performance in the position that I’m in. Everything is absolutely fantastic," said Solberg.

Loeb beat Latvala by 0.2s and Solberg by 0.7s, leaving him 12.4s off Latvala’s overall lead in fifth place.

"I’ve seen Jari-Matti and Petter’s times, and it’s difficult to be a lot faster than that," Loeb mused. "We are behind and it’s not easy at the moment."

Erstwhile leader Ostberg is now back to fourth overall in the Adapta Ford, just behind Mikko Hirvonen’s Citroen DS3 WRC.

"Not a good stage for me, very tricky conditons," the Norwegian admitted after going sixth quickest. "I couldn’t push, there was a lot of loose snow on the outside."

MINI’s Dani Sordo has fallen behind Loeb to sixth, ahead Ford trio Evgeny Novikov, Henning Solberg, and Eyvind Brynildsen, with MINI man Patrik Sandell at completing the current top 10.