Saturday midday wrap: Latvala leads in Wales

Jari-Matti Latvala continues to lead Wales Rally GB following a thrilling start to day two with three different drivers claiming stage wins on the FIA World Rally Championship qualifier.

Mads Ostberg set the pace on the fog-hit stage seven in his Adapta-run Fiesta, Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb went quickest on stage eight with Latvala going fastest on stage nine. Loeb’s resurgence means he is now 3.9s behind second-placed Petter Solberg, albeit 26.1s adrift of the flying Latvala.

“We haven’t changed so much but we’ve changed the balance of the car at the rear and it’s going well,” said the factory Ford pilot, chasing his first win in the world championship since Rally Sweden back in February.

Ostberg, whose stage best was his first on gravel since the Acropolis Rally in 2009, remains in the podium fight in fourth with Mikko Hirvonen a frustrated fifth in his Citroen after reporting a lack of grip. Ott Tanak is sixth with M-Sport team-mate Evgeny Novikov seventh after reporting a lack of confidence. Thierry Neuville is eighth despite a build up of mud in his Citroen DS3 WRC. Matthew Wilson and Martin Prokop complete the top 10 in their Fiestas.

Chris Atkinson is 11th for WRC Team MINI Portugal with Sebastien Ogier 12th in his Volkswagen Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000. Team-mate Kevin Abbring was in 14th when he reportedly hit a rock and retired on stage nine.

Behind 13th-placed Nasser Al-Attiyah, Craig Breen’s Super 2000 World Rally Championship lead could be in doubt after he discovered an oil leak at the finish of stage nine. Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi could be poised to take advantage, despite a persistent damper problem. Young Welsh driver Tom Cave is currently third in the lead PROTON Satria-Neo. P-G Andersson, Alastair Fisher and Hayden Paddon all restarted under Rally 2 rules after they all retired on Friday.

Jan Habig was an early casualty, going off the road on today’s first stage in his M-Sport Fiesta and getting stuck.