Latvala leads Rally Argentina as Paddon takes second from Ogier
Jari-Matti Latvala continued to hold the Rally Argentina lead after this morning's loop, holding off the advances of Hyundai's Hayden Paddon
Paddon surged to second after finally ending the long-running battle with Sebastien Ogier for the position, and he did so comprehensively.
The New Zealander started the day in blistering form, comfortably winning the opening two stages and closing on Latvala's lead.
Latvala admitted to running too conservatively on the long run of SS11, finishing second to Paddon, before responding with victory on the final stage of the morning to take a lead of 13.3s into the afternoon.
Ogier now remains a distant third, 32.3s behind Paddon. The Frenchman was never in contention for stage wins, and a lowly seventh in SS11 meant he lost over 20 seconds to the New Zealander.
Ogier's difficulties allowed the third Volkswagen of Andreas Mikkelsen to close in on him from fourth.
Mikkelsen's strong morning running allowed him to pull away from fifth-placed Dani Sordo.
Mads Ostberg was a distant sixth as his conservative approach ensured he finished the loop ahead of Henning Solberg.
Marcos Sebastien Ligato was able to overcome the struggling M-Sport's Eric Camilli for eighth in his home event.
A recovering Thierry Neuville was able to make small inroads on ninth place.
The Belgian was much improved in the morning loop, regularly running in the top six of the three stages, and remains 10th behind Camilli.
In WRC2, Argentina's attrition is aiding the charge of Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who leads Nicolas Fuchs by almost two minutes.
Elfyn Evans retired yesterday, falling out of class win contention, but he was fastest through SS12 after a puncture on the previous stage.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS12
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