SS9 : Latvala flies on Saturday restart

Jari-Matti Latvala has made an immediate impact on his return to Rally d’Italia Sardegna action by going fastest through Saturday’s first stage in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

The Finn went off on Friday’s first test and retired on the next run with steering and suspension damage, slipping to 45th in the overall standings. But starting eighth on the road on day two he was able to take advantage of a cleaner road surface to go fastest by five seconds.

“It was surprisingly good,” said Latvala. “I had a good feeling but took it a bit careful in some places. I was really disappointed yesterday but this is a good start.”

Sebastien Loeb maintained his overall advantage out front, although his margin on Petter Solberg, in a similar Citroen DS3 WRC, now stands at 26 seconds.

“That was difficult, it was a long stage and I have no line,” said the seven-time world champion, who was running first on the road. “Yesterday there were some good lines on the road but here it is nothing and I’m always slipping, slipping. I tried hard but I am losing time for sure. I knew it would be a tough morning.”

Solberg said he dropped a few precious seconds midway through the stage: “The car got a little too soft so I need to do a little adjustment to get more precision. But overall it was a good time and I’m pushing.”

Sebastien Ogier set the second fastest time and moved ahead of Mikko Hirvonen into third place as a result: “The feeling is better today and that was a good time,” said the Citroen driver. “But it will be a long day, nothing is done and we are still far from the lead.”

Hirvonen, meanwhile, admitted he could have posted a faster time in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC: “I was hesitating in the fast sections, I can do better.”

MINI John Cooper Works WRC driver Kris Meeke reported a recurrence of the sticking throttle problem that caused his retirement on day one.

Standings after SS9: