SS9: Fords win the tyre war

The final full-length stage of the first full day of Rally Sweden proved a happy hunting ground for Ford, as Jari-Matti Latvala charged into a 17.2-second lead and Petter Solberg won the stage to move into a clear third.

Tyres were the main talking point, as the less-than-snowy conditions left drivers struggling to hang on to their studs through the second loop.

Latvala ended the stage convinced his tyres were "too finished" - but he fared far better than Citroen rival Mikko Hirvonen, who was 22s slower than his sparring partner and fell 17.2s behind in the overall standings.

"It’s just the tyres are completely finished," said the disappointed Hirvonen.

Solberg was a further 7.4s quicker than Latvala, having saved his fresh tyres for later in the loop - a tactic he initially feared might have backfired.

"Unfortunately with losing 15 seconds with the spin [earlier today] and losing five or six for not putting on new tyres before the short stage, there were a couple of mistakes," he said, before realising he had closed to within 20s of the lead and 2.8s of Hirvonen’s second place - as well as pulling 11.6s clear of Mads Ostberg to take over third place.

"There are two long days to go anyway. I enjoyed today very much. I’m getting used to the car and will get faster and faster through the weekend, for sure."

The brake problems that had disrupted Ostberg’s previous stage were gone for Torsby, but still the Adapta Ford driver wondered where his morning pace had gone as he fell away from Solberg.

Evgeny Novikov (M-Sport Ford) remains fifth, but was unhappy to lose a lot of time to tyre wear. With Henning Solberg (Go Fast Ford) taking 23s out of the Russian’s lead and closing to within 35s, and the flying Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) getting up to seventh as he set the third fastest time, Novikov is wise to be looking in the mirror even though his position currently seems secure.

Sebastien Ogier again starred on stage nine, settling the sixth fastest time overall in his Super 2000 Skoda - entered by Volkswagen - and inching to the brink of a place in the outright top 10.