Sebastien Loeb’s lead on Wales Rally GB has been slashed to just 1.1s after Jari-Matti Latvala recorded his third fastest stage time of the day.
Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Latvala was 7.5s quicker than Citroen ace Loeb through Friday’s final stage, held in foggy and wet conditions.
“I pushed a lot in the fog and there was one big moment but it came well in the end,” said Latvala.
Petter Solberg and Mads Ostberg continued their battle for the final podium spot with Solberg beating his fellow Norwegian through the stage. However, Ostberg still occupies third place in the overall standings.
Kris Meeke completed an encouraging afternoon with the sixth quickest time in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC, one place behind Loeb’s Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier.
Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg reported suffering substantial delay when fog descended just before they started the stage in their M-Sport Stobart Fiestas.
Kimi Raikkonen set the seventh-best time despite fearing he’d picked up a puncture during the run in his ICE 1 Racing Citroen.
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. LOEB / D. ELENA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 1h23m18.3s |
| 02 | J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1.1s |
| 03 | M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m13.5s |
| 04 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +1m21.3s |
| 05 | H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +2m51.7s |
| 06 | O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK | FORD Fiesta RS WRC | +3m46.0s |
| 07 | K. RÄIKKÖNEN / K. LINDSTRÖM | Citroën DS3 WRC | +3m47.0s |
| 08 | K. MEEKE / P. NAGLE | MINI WRC | +3m51.3s |
| 09 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +3m59.4s |
| 10 | D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +4m23.2s |
| 11 | E. NOVIKOV / D. GIRAUDET | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +5m20.2s |
| 12 | K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +7m08.0s |
| 13 | H. PADDON / J. KENNARD | SUBARU Impreza R4 | +7m39.6s |
| 14 | A. ARAÚJO / M. RAMALHO | MINI WRC | +7m46.5s |
| 15 | K. ABBRING / L. VANNESTE | SKODA Fabia S2000 | +7m46.7s |