Latvala takes Argentina lead

Ford driver Latvala had held a narrow lead after this morning's first two stages, but it was his speed on El Condor - which this year ends with 20km of asphalt after the more traditional Argentinean gravel - that really stretched his advantage.

Latvala said he had been determined to improve his asphalt pace this year so was delighted with the result.

"It's something that I haven't been so good at, and I've been really trying to concentrate and improve in that area," he said.

Petter Solberg is second in his Citroen, and was the closest to Latvala on El Condor, but still 9.3s adrift.

"Jari really killed us all on the tarmac," Solberg admitted.

Factory Citroen drivers Sebastien Ogier and Sebastien Loeb are third and fourth, ahead of Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. All three were deeply unhappy with driving on the asphalt section with gravel tyres, which Loeb described as: "Terrible. It's undriveable, Really, really dangerous. It's too fast.

"Even on the straight, when you touch the brakes, the car is going everywhere. You just try to keep it on the road."

Hirvonen was in complete agreement with Loeb.

"It's completely stupid," said the Finn. "In some places we're in sixth gear, on the limiter all the time, and when you brake your tyres are moving all over the place."

Pos  Driver              Team/Car           Time/Gap
 1.  Jari-Matti Latvala  Ford               55m55.8s
 2.  Petter Solberg      Solberg Citroen     + 12.3s
 3.  Sebastien Ogier     Citroen             + 16.2s
 4.  Sebastien Loeb      Citroen             + 18.9s
 5.  Mikko Hirvonen      Ford                + 20.0s
 6.  Mads Ostberg        Stobart Ford      + 1m34.4s
 7.  Matthew Wilson      Stobart Ford      + 1m46.6s
 8.  Federico Villagra   Munchi's Ford     + 2m02.8s
 9.  Ken Block           Monster Ford      + 3m01.8s
10.  Patrik Flodin       Uspenskiy Subaru  + 5m30.0s