Miami GP || May 5 || 16h00 (Local time)

SS18: Latvala flies into second

As Ogier plays it cautious

By Franck Drui

30 July 2011 - 15:28

Jari-Matti Latvala has moved into second position on Neste Oil Rally Finland after going faster than Sebastien Ogier through stage 18, Surkee 2.

The Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver is now 13.0s behind leader Sebastien Loeb with four stages remaining.

“This is first time in the rally that I really enjoy driving,” said stage winner Latvala. “I will keep going on like this.”

With no spare tyre available following his puncture on stage 17, Ogier said it was proving difficult to push.

“It’s not good now,” said Citroen star Ogier. “As I have no spare I had to drive more carefully to save the tyres.”

Latvala’s factory Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen has also made progress, moving ahead of Mads Ostberg into fifth position. The Finn is now 7.5s behind fourth-placed Petter Solberg.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	S. LOEB / D. ELENA	Citroën DS3 WRC	2h21m21.9s
02	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+13.0s
03	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+17.2s
04	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+1m15.7s
05	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m23.2s
06	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m26.0s
07	D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO	MINI WRC	+3m03.5s
08	H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+3m19.7s
09	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+3m41.1s
10	K. RAIKKONEN / K. LINDSTRÖM	Citroën DS3 WRC	+3m41.8s
11	J. HANNINEN / M. MARKKULA	Skoda Fabia S2000	+4m32.2s
12	M. PROKOP / J. TOMÁNEK	FORD Fiesta S2000	+6m47.6s
13	D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+6m53.7s
14	O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK	FORD Fiesta S2000	+8m04.9s
15	K. MEEKE / P. NAGLE	MINI WRC	+8m12.7s