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Solberg back in lead as rivals slow

Petter Solberg will lead into the final day of Rally Japan - in part due to his rivals slowing to ensure the Norwegian cleans the road for them tomorrow morning

Solberg had fallen from first to third behind Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala and Citroen's Sebastien Ogier when he incurred a jump-start penalty this morning.

One of those places was regained in standard fashion as Latvala suffered a broken driveshaft near the end of Kamuycep 2 and had to limp through the following Kina stage plus two runs through the Sapporo superspecial with drive to only three wheels, dropping him to fifth.

Ogier then slowed on Kina to ensure he dropped behind Solberg, and Mikko Hirvonen - who had been right behind Solberg in the standings - did likewise, both suspecting that running first on the road on Sunday would be costly if the stages are dusty.

Their tactics mean that Solberg will start Sunday 3.7 seconds ahead of Hirvonen, with Ogier a further 1.7s back in third. Solberg remained bullish though, confident that road conditions in the morning would be manageable.

"I'm pleased with the speed having been first on the road all day," he said. "I don't care if I start first tomorrow. We have been there many times. Anything is possible."

Some quick times this afternoon from Dani Sordo have kept the Citroen Junior driver in contention too. He holds fourth and is only 15.3s behind Solberg.

Citroen team leader Sebastien Loeb has been unable to make much progress today and is still sixth.

Henning Solberg remains a lonely seventh for Stobart Ford, while Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen Junior) has pulled clear of Federico Villagra (Munchi's Ford) in eighth but needs attrition ahead to get any higher as he now faces a five-minute gulf to Solberg.

Outside the WRC class, Jari Ketomaa and Patrik Flodin are dominating S2000 and Production respectively.

Pos  Driver              Car        Time/Gap
 1.  Petter Solberg      Citroen  2h28m46.1s
 2.  Mikko Hirvonen      Ford         + 3.7s
 3.  Sebastien Ogier     Citroen      + 5.4s
 4.  Dani Sordo          Citroen     + 15.3s
 5.  Jari-Matti Latvala  Ford        + 30.7s
 6.  Sebastien Loeb      Citroen     + 37.9s
 7.  Henning Solberg     Ford      + 2m07.2s
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen      Citroen   + 7m01.3s
 9.  Federico Villagra   Ford      + 7m42.1s
10.  Jari Ketomaa        Ford     + 11m33.3s

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