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Latvala moves into Rally GB lead

Jari-Matti Latvala now heads the field in the Rally GB after early leader Sebastien Ogier hit problems in SS6

In his first event in a World Rally Car, Junior champion Ogier managed to hold on to the lead through the first four stages run today (both passes through Hafren being cancelled due to the icy conditions).

Latvala's stage win in SS6 Myherin 2 then looked set to edge him ahead of Ogier, but that proved academic when an apparent electrical issue delayed Ogier's Citroen near the end of the stage, dropping him to eighth place, 37 seconds behind new leader Latvala.

"We had a problem just at the end," Ogier said. "We stopped, and now we have a problem with the gearbox."

Adapta Subaru driver Mads Ostberg had been the other star of the morning stages and remained second, just 0.3 seconds behind Ogier, going into SS6. But the young Norwegian also hit trouble in Myherin, dropping back to fourth as he struggled for visibility.

"The front screen just fogged completely," said Ostberg. "The heated screen didn't catch the fog, so we struggled a lot in the first half of the stage, and then we had a spin on the ice.

"I was just so frustrated about the screen. It's happened before and now it's happening again just when we don't need it."

The two young stars' problems mean that Latvala now leads the rally for Ford, with an 11.4-second advantage over Sebastien Loeb's Citroen. The world champion had briefly moved past Latvala thanks to a stage win in Sweet Lamb 2, before the Finn's excellent time through the extremely wet Myherin vaulted him from fourth to first.

"It was a good stage, but these are difficult conditions," said Latvala.

"At the start I had a problem with the windscreen because the blower broke, but luckily we have another element in the window. Then it was raining so heavily that the wipers could not go fast enough. Unbelievable conditions."

Suzuki's Per-Gunnar Andersson now runs an excellent third, by far the team's best performance since moving up to the WRC class, and is only seven seconds behind Loeb.

Petter Solberg is fifth, but felt he would have been battling for the lead had a fogged windscreen not hampered him in Myherin.

"That would have been a very good time, because I was in touch (with the leaders)," said the extremely frustrated Subaru driver. "But I could see nothing."

He is less than a second ahead of his teammate Chris Atkinson, with Dani Sordo now up to seventh in the second Citroen. Francois Duval (Stobart Ford) is ninth following a spin in SS6.

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen is nearly five minutes behind his rally-leading teammate Latvala in 32nd place after his SS5 roll, having lost more time as his battered and muddy car limped through Myherin.

"It's a big job now, but I have to keep on trying," said Hirvonen.

"The engine is not pulling at all like it should, so I'm surprised we didn't lose more. I think the air intake or something is just full of mud. There's no power, but we'll get to service, no problem."

Valentino Rossi remains three minutes behind the front-runners in his Stobart Ford, but has improved his times significantly during the repeat run through the stages and is now 26th overall.

"The conditions of the stages are very bad because there's a lot of fog and rain, but less ice than before," he said.

"We have to be very careful, but we improved our stage time a lot."

The field is now embarking on a long road section prior to this evening's superspecial stages at the Walters Arena, which will conclude the opening day.

Leading positions after SS6:

Pos  Driver                Car      Time
 1.  Jari-Matti Latvala    Ford     27:50.1
 2.  Sebastien Loeb        Citroen   + 11.4
 3.  Per-Gunnar Andersson  Suzuki    + 18.7
 4.  Mads Ostberg          Subaru    + 19.1
 5.  Petter Solberg        Subaru    + 24.9
 6.  Chris Atkinson        Subaru    + 25.8
 7.  Dani Sordo            Citroen   + 29.5
 8.  Sebastien Ogier       Citroen   + 40.5
 9.  Francois Duval        Ford      + 45.8
10.  Henning Solberg       Ford      + 45.8

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