Hirvonen back ahead in Turkey

Latvala had already charged back from 14th to second this morning following an SS2 puncture that had cost him half a minute to Hirvonen.

He continued to close on his teammate after service and moved ahead in SS6, only to sustain another puncture on a rock in the next stage. This time he only lost 15 seconds to Hirvonen, so completed the loop in second place, just nine seconds adrift.

"It seems to be our day for punctures, but it's okay, there's still a long way to go," said Latvala. "But you don't want to be in the lead today anyway because it's difficult tomorrow to be the first car on the road."

Hirvonen is also anxious about the prospect of leading through the very dusty roads on day two, and had been quite happy to see Latvala in first place.

"Everything is under control, it's quite good how things stand at the moment," he said shortly before learning that he was back in the lead after all.

Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) has advanced to third as most of the drivers around him lost time after various incidents. Despite running first on the road, he has remained within 13 seconds of Hirvonen.

"At the moment I'm trying hard and I cannot do much better," Loeb said. "I've been pushing hard all day, now I've just got the next two stages to clean and then we'll see."

Gigi Galli damaged his co-driver's side of the car, causing their Stobart Ford Focus to fill with dust, yet has stayed in fourth place, just two seconds behind Loeb.

Others lost more time, with Galli's teammate Henning Solberg breaking two wheels and dropping half a minute, Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo losing over a minute with suspension damage, and Subaru's Chris Atkinson having to retire from ninth with broken suspension following SS6.

Those incidents have left Solberg in fifth ahead of his younger brother Petter Solberg (Subaru), with the consistent Matthew Wilson up to seventh for Stobart Ford, ahead of the delayed Sordo.

Behind ninth-placed Munchi's Ford driver Federico Villagra, the two Suzukis are 10th and 11th. Per-Gunnar Andersson holds 10th despite a puncture in SS7, while teammate Toni Gardemeister is in extreme discomfort from a shoulder injury sustained while negotiating the rough roads.

Leading positions after SS7:

Pos  Driver        Car       Time
 1.  Hirvonen      Ford      1h31:50.8
 2.  Latvala       Ford       +    9.3
 3.  Loeb          Citroen    +   13.5
 4.  Galli         Ford       +   15.1
 5.  H Solberg     Ford       +   34.5
 6.  P Solberg     Subaru     +   58.1
 7.  Wilson        Ford       + 1:14.1
 8.  Sordo         Citroen    + 1:20.6
 9.  Villagra      Ford       + 1:49.8
10.  Andersson     Suzuki     + 2:00.2