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WRC Rally of Spain: Sebastien Ogier takes 27s lead into final day

Sebastien Ogier will take a lead of 27 seconds into the final day of the Rally of Spain after stemming the advances of title rival Jari-Matti Latvala on Saturday afternoon

After seeing his advantage narrowed by eight seconds during the morning loop, Ogier appeared more combative during the afternoon re-run, laying down a marker on SS11 with a time 4.6s quicker than Volkswagen team-mate Latvala.

The Finn responded on the next stage, a repeat of the Colldejou test on which he gained a chunk of time during his earlier run, cutting Ogier's advantage by five seconds before finding a further 0.6s in the Salou superspecial.

Latvala nonetheless still has 27.3 seconds to make up with only four stages remaining, meaning his World Rally Championship title hopes now rest on misfortune for Ogier on the final day of the event.

Mikko Hirvonen gained yet more ground in the battle for the final podium position as closest rival Andreas Mikkelsen dropped to seventh after becoming the latest driver to pick up a puncture on SS11.

Mikkelsen's misfortune promoted Mads Ostberg's Citroen into fourth, albeit almost 30 seconds down on Hirvonen, with the Hyundai duo of Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville now fifth and sixth.

His troublesome differential fixed, Robert Kubica's day came to an abrupt end on SS11 as his M-Sport Ford shed a wheel, though the ex-Formula 1 star could yet rejoin the event on Sunday under Rally 2 rules.

LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS13:

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