WRC Rally GB: Ogier still under pressure from Latvala
Sebastien Ogier remains under pressure from Volkswagen team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala for the Rally GB lead at the end of Friday's stages
Latvala was quickest on three of the four stages that made up the Friday afternoon loop of the 2014 World Rally Championship finale.
His initial pace on the opening Gartheiniog stage more than halved the nine-second lead that Ogier had established in the morning, but the champion pulled away again on the following Dyfi stage.
Although Latvala could not make quite the same progress on Hafren Sweet Lamb or Maesnant, only beating Ogier by a few tenths each time, he did end the day within 6.6s of the leader.
The VW pair are now over a minute clear of the rest of the field, with Mikko Hirvonen up to third in his WRC swansong.
Mads Ostberg was less happy with his Citroen's set-up in the afternoon and lost confidence and ground, falling to fifth behind Hirvonen's M-Sport Ford and the second DS3 of Kris Meeke - who was flying as he recovered from a morning jump-start penalty.
Just 8.4s cover Hirvonen and the Citroens in the podium battle, with Thierry Neuville 11.7s further back in the lead Hyundai.
Neuville is the only i20 driver on the pace at present, with Juho Hanninen's morning crash followed by power steering and differential issues that left Hayden Paddon four minutes off the lead pace in 12th.
Robert Kubica reached the end of day one in a lonely 11th place.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS8:
-COMPREHENSIVE RALLY GB COVERAGE
This week's issues of AUTOSPORT (available online) and our sister magazine Motorsport News are both packed with exclusive Rally GB preview content, interviews, spectator guides and features about both the event's illustrious past and what its 2014 edition holds.
Through the weekend you can follow every stage of Rally GB as it happens withAUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's text commentary from 7.30am UK time every morning, plus WRC Live's radio commentary stream.
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