SS7: Loeb quickest on Friday’s final stage

Sebastien Loeb underlined his determination to recover the ground lost following his one-minute time penalty by going fastest on Friday’s final stage, the repeat of the mixed-surface El Condor test.

Loeb was 2.0s quicker than overall leader Jari-Matti Latvala through the stage in his Citroen DS3 WRC. However, he is more than 1m30s adrift of first place heading into the second day of the South American spectacular.

Ford driver Latvala reported losing a handful of seconds when he braked too late for a junction and momentarily stalled the engine in his Fiesta RS WRC. Nevertheless he still managed the second fastest time.

Petter Solberg was third quickest in his privateer DS3 WRC to cement second in the overall classification.

Mikko Hirvonen was 15.5s slower than Loeb, which he put down to his tyres losing grip and a less than ideal set-up on his Fiesta.

Standings after SS7: