Latvala moves into Finland lead

With Ford's hopes now resting on Latvala - following Mikko Hirvonen's huge accident this morning - the younger Finn gradually gained on Solberg's leading Citroen before hitting the front of SS7. He is 7.9 seconds ahead at the end of SS8.

Sebastien Ogier picked up his pace this afternoon to move into third place for Citroen, overcoming Citroen Junior's Dani Sordo - with whom he swapped seats for this event - as the Spaniard started struggling for speed and had some issue with pace notes.

Sordo is now equal fifth with his former team-mate Sebastien Loeb. The world champion has had a tough day, losing time on the first loop when he damaged the aerodynamic parts on the front of his car. He ended up frustrated as he initially failed to regain the lost ground in the first stages after service.

"We lost a lot of time in the first one because of the gravel, in the second one I was driving like s*** and in this one I tried harder," said Loeb.

He fell right back to sixth behind a revitalised Henning Solberg, but the Stobart Ford rolled out on SS8.

With the attrition ahead, returning legend Juha Kankkunen has moved up to an incredible seventh for Stobart Ford, taking the place from Citroen Junior's Kimi Raikkonen on the most recent stage.

Pos Driver               Car          Time/Gap
 1. Jari-Matti Latvala   Ford         57m51.8s
 2. Petter Solberg       Citroen          +7.9
 3. Sebastien Ogier      Citroen         +20.7
 4. Sebastien Loeb       Citroen         +31.8
 5. Dani Sordo           Citroen         +31.8
 6. Matthew Wilson       Ford          +2:06.5
 7. Juha Kankkunen       Ford          +2:39.8
 8. Kimi Raikkonen       Citroen       +2:46.3
 9. Juho Hanninen        Skoda         +2:57.5
10. Matti Rantanen       Skoda         +3:32.3