WRC – Latvala dominates, Solberg resists Loeb

The second passage of the special stages on the program for the second stage of Wales Rally GB will not have changed the positions. The crews opted for soft tires even though the courses were drying out and the gaps remained very close. After having managed their lead in the morning, the Ford drivers drove home the point by winning all the specials in the afternoon. Jari-Matti Latvala is heading towards a second victory this season with a good lead over his pursuers. Petter Solberg resisted pressure from Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) and even regained a little lead by beating the eight-time world champion by 6”4 before tackling the last stage of the rally.

Mads Ostberg (Ford) is still far from hoping for a podium since the first private driver is 19 seconds behind the Championship leader. The Norwegian still enjoys a good lead over Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) who will be threatened tomorrow by Ott Tänak (Ford) came back 12 seconds behind the Finn. Evgeny Novikov (Ford) is still fighting with the Estonian, 16 seconds behind. Thierry Neuville (Citroën) maintains its eighth place. Sébastien Ogier (Skoda) is almost 30 seconds behind Chris Atkinson (Mini) in eleventh position. The wrestling is superb in S-WRC since Yazeed Al-Rajhi regains the lead of the category in the last special with a tenth ahead of Craig Breen, who lost time at service by changing the gearbox of his Fiesta S2000.

The crews will still have to compete in 83km of timed tests which will be spread over three special stages covered twice. Departure from Port Talbot will be at 8:18 a.m. French time.