SS5-6: Latvala hits top gear

Jari-Matti Latvala won Friday afternoon’s opening two speed tests at Coates Hire Rally Australia to charge up the leaderboard from fifth to second.

The Finn won the second pass through Utungun by 1.6sec in his Volkswagen Polo R to demote Andreas Mikkelsen. He then went fastest though Bakers Creek to move ahead of Hayden Paddon and tied with the Kiwi’s Hyundai team-mate, Dani Sordo, in second.

Latvala reduced the gap to leader Kris Meeke to 6.1sec with two stages remaining in the opening leg of this 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Meeke was second in Utungun and third in Bakers Creek in Citroën’s DS 3.

Second for Mikkelsen in SS6 pushed the Norwegian ahead of Paddon, who dropped from third to fifth.

Championship leader Sébastien Ogier remained sixth and the Frenchman, who is opening the road all day, reckoned the gravel-covered roads were no less slippery than they were during this morning’s first pass. Less than nine seconds covered the five cars from Latvala to Ogier in the overall standings.

Ott Tänak spun his Ford Fiesta RS in Bakers Creek but retained seventh from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 0.4sec.