Latvala wary of fighting Loeb

The Finn moved to just seven seconds behind the reigning world champion with a good run through SS3, but Latvala says that he is worried about getting drawn into a battle for a podium finish.

"I'm pushing 95 per cent at the moment, so there is a little bit more to come," Latvala told autosport.com. "I need to tidy up my driving though.

"I try to avoid getting into a competition with Loeb though. If it start trying to fight with him, and then he speeds up, then I will end up going faster and I could go off."

Latvala started the rally cautiously, but he made up ground on those in front of him as his confidence increased during the morning.

"It was ok in the first stages," he added. "In the first stage it was difficult to get a good feeling, but SS2 was better.

"SS3 was much better. It was very good, but I need to drive clean. I don't want to take too many risks."