WRC Rally Mexico
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But the bad news for Latvala's (very, very slender) title hopes was that Ogier has stubbornly sat in second all weekend. No one else was able to take advantage of a nifty road position and get between them. Ogier didn't shunt pushing too hard to make up for his road position disadvantage. He's still going to get at least 18 points - and we all know how much the champion loves a powerstage bonus too.
As can often be the case on this gruelling event, the winner broke the opposition on Friday.
Having a terrible year so far did at least mean Latvala had a good road position for the dusty stages for the first two days, running seventh at first, and he made the most of that with a crushingly dominant performance once the field hit the full-length tests after Thursday's superspecials.
Having a terrible year so far did at least mean Latvala had a good road position for the dusty stages for the first two days, running seventh at first, and he made the most of that with a crushingly dominant performance once the field hit the full-length tests after Thursday's superspecials.
The man about to win - Latvala has dominated all weekend (McKlein)
Welcome back to Autosport Race Centre Live as we approach the end of our Rally Mexico weekend.
There's not a huge amount to play for here - though that hasn't stopped people shunting on powerstages before - and the title battle is already looking pretty one-sided, but instead Autosport Live has been getting excited about the fight over second in the championship to such an extent that a spreadsheet has been created. More of that later.
There's not a huge amount to play for here - though that hasn't stopped people shunting on powerstages before - and the title battle is already looking pretty one-sided, but instead Autosport Live has been getting excited about the fight over second in the championship to such an extent that a spreadsheet has been created. More of that later.
There's a two hour break between stages now, so we're going to take advantage of that and grab a spot of lunch, before the resumption of action at 1808 GMT.
We'll be back live about ten minutes before that for a bit of build up before the 10-mile test, so be sure to join us for the conclusion of Rally Mexico.
We'll be back live about ten minutes before that for a bit of build up before the 10-mile test, so be sure to join us for the conclusion of Rally Mexico.
Here's our report from the penultimate stage of the rally. Headline time from Ogier, but it's Latvala who is closing in on victory: 
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SS20 Summary:
* Ogier sets fastest stage time by 25.3s
* Second fastest time leaves Latvala with 1m10.4s lead
* Paddon third fastest for Hyundai
* Ogier sets fastest stage time by 25.3s
* Second fastest time leaves Latvala with 1m10.4s lead
* Paddon third fastest for Hyundai
Checkered flag
Leading times:
SS20 results:
1 Ogier 48m6.8s
2 Latvala +25.3s
3 Paddon +1m0.8s
4 Ostberg +1m4.4s
5 Sordo +1m10.8s
6 Tanak +2m7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala 4h15m54.9s
2 Ogier +1m10.4s
3 Sordo +3m25.9s
4 Ostberg +5m27.9s
5 Paddon +6m17.6a
6 Tanak +9m32.2s
7 Prokop +12m28.6s
8 Bertelli +13m41.8s
SS20 results:
1 Ogier 48m6.8s
2 Latvala +25.3s
3 Paddon +1m0.8s
4 Ostberg +1m4.4s
5 Sordo +1m10.8s
6 Tanak +2m7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala 4h15m54.9s
2 Ogier +1m10.4s
3 Sordo +3m25.9s
4 Ostberg +5m27.9s
5 Paddon +6m17.6a
6 Tanak +9m32.2s
7 Prokop +12m28.6s
8 Bertelli +13m41.8s
With the WRC cars all through, Suninen is the next man to complete the stage, 5m1.4s slower than Ogier. That will be of little concern to the Finn, though, who has looked like the nailed on winner of WRC2 honours since Friday afternoon.
A nice, consistent run from Jari-Matti there - who has just ten more miles to negotiate to secure his first win since the Tour de Corse last year.
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"I started with quite a good rhythm in the beginning and I pushed a bit," says Latvala, "but coming to the 60 [km] I started to lose the rear brakes and only had the front ones so I had to be really safe through the last bit - it was a smart move.
"This stage was easier than El Chocolate."
"This stage was easier than El Chocolate."
Stopwatch
Latvala is now in and drops 25.3s to Ogier at the finish - which leaves him with an advantage of 1m10.4s going into the final stage.
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The tyres on Ogier's Polo look pretty second-hand, but they're evenly worn.
"It was much better than yesterday," says Ogier. "I had some braking issue, over the last 25 kilometres I couldn't push anyway.
"I think all weekend the tyres have worked really well."
Interesting comment from the Frenchman about the weekend: "It's a real shame for everyone that this rally was really boring - there were no fights anywhere."
"It was much better than yesterday," says Ogier. "I had some braking issue, over the last 25 kilometres I couldn't push anyway.
"I think all weekend the tyres have worked really well."
Interesting comment from the Frenchman about the weekend: "It's a real shame for everyone that this rally was really boring - there were no fights anywhere."
Stopwatch
Ogier comes through and is indeed 1m0.8s faster than Paddon's previous stage best.
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"I lost the braking in the middle of the stage and lost rhythm," says Sordo. "[But] the time is good, I'm happy."
Stopwatch
Sordo is in now and slots into third on the stage leaderboard so far, 10s slower than team-mate Paddon.
Sordo will be next in, then we await Ogier and Latvala.
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"I just tried to have an even rhythm," says Ostberg.
Stopwatch
Ogier looks as though he'll take a minute out of these guys, though.
Ostberg is in and reaches the finish 3.6s down on Paddon's time.
Paddon is now through as well, and goes a minute faster of Tanak in his Hyundai.
Latvala has clawed some time back from Ogier through the sixth split, but is still 11.6s slower than his team-mate with a quarter of the stage to run.
Stopwatch
Tanak comes in, and sure enough is 1m2.4s faster than Camilli.
Prokop is next up, 21s slower than Camilli. Tanak will be through after him, and should be the first man to go quicker than M-Sport's Camilli.
Bertelli comes in, marginally quicker than Guerra on that stage. He's on course for four points this afternoon.
A couple of cars further up the road, Paddon and Ostberg continue to be well matched. They're 1m30.8s and 1m30.1s up on Camilli respectively - with Sordo expected to come through the sixth split shortly as well.
Ogier is almost two minutes quicker than Camilli through the fifth split.
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Here's Guerra: "It was OK, not that long. The time is not good because we had a lot of mistakes in the pace notes. I was not confident, and at the end the tyres went off. the brakes and the tyres were overheating and in the last junction I missed the braking point."
By the fourth split Ogier has taken 12s from Latvala.
Stopwatch
Guerra is also in, and completes the stage 40s slower than Camilli managed.
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"It's very slippery in some parts but we are here without problems, the car worked very well," says Camilli. "We just tried to just finish to be honest because I broke something yesterday."
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Ogier looks as though he's going to storm to the stage win, with Latvala second - but there's a nice battle shaping up between Paddon, Ostberg and Sordo for the best of the rest, who are all well matched the fourth and fifth splits.
Stopwatch
Camilli completes the stage, and his time is 51m16.2s.
WRC2 leader Suninen is on the stage - although we're yet to see any split times from the Finn so far.
Latvala is now 9.3s slower than Ogier at the third split. It's nothing that will trouble the Finn, but does give you an indication of just how good a job Ogier had been doing as the lead car on the previous days.
Stopwatch
Latvala is abour 5s slower than Ogier through the second split, while the latter has now come through split three where he is more than a minute faster than Camilli.
OK, some more splits through. Guerra is slower again through the sixth split - by 33.2s to Camilli, who has now come through the final split and has just over five miles to run.
As we're still waiting for cars to come through the final splits, there's just enough time to bring you a full report from the Mid Wales Stages as Elfyn Evans clinched victory in a triumphant return for the British Rally Championship: 
Huge chunk of time now for Ogier at the second split. He's 48.2s up on Camilli, which is 16.5s quicker than the next fastest man, Sordo.
Camilli is into the final stages of the rally now. He comes through the sixth split in 38m22.6s.
By: Matt Beer
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