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WRC Rally GB: Sebastien Ogier pulls away from Kris Meeke

World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier extended his comfortable Rally GB lead over Citroen's Kris Meeke to 19.3 seconds on Saturday's morning loop

Meeke took 1.4s out of Ogier on the first run through Gartheiniog but the Frenchman hit back on the 16-mile Dyfi stage, finishing 3s clear of Meeke to extend his lead to 15.1s.

The British driver brought that gap down by 1.4s again on Gartheiniog but Ogier was dominant on the final run of the morning loop, finishing 5.6s clear of Meeke to take a commanding lead of 19.3s into the afternoon stages.

Ogier's Volkswagen team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen remained comfortably third and topped SS9.

Mads Ostberg lost fourth place to Hyundai's Dani Sordo on SS8 after hitting a rut in the road, which he believed caused a puncture.

Further inspection revealed there was no puncture damage and he was able to continue.

Despite having to deal with water in the footwell of his Citroen, Ostberg was able to reclaim fourth place from Sordo on SS10 after the Spaniard stalled and clipped a barrier as a result of gearbox problems.

Ott Tanak in the M-Sport Ford had been putting intense pressure on Ostberg and was within 3.4s of the Citroen driver before he spun on one of the fast sections of SS10.

Tanak lost a bit of time but was still able to head into the afternoon loop 1.7s clear of Sordo in sixth.

Hayden Paddon and Elfyn Evans both struggled to adapt to the wet and muddy surface and remain in seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of Citroen junior Stephane Lefebvre - who has been suffering with the flu.

Robert Kubica continued his recovery drive after a difficult Friday and is now back in the top 10.

Under-pressure Thierry Neuville, who has been demoted from Hyundai's main team for this weekend, rejoined under Rally2 this morning after losing a wheel on the Myherin stage on Friday and topped the opening two stages of the day.

He is way down the order though and almost 30 minutes off the leader.

The third VW of Jari-Matti Latvala also rejoined under Rally2 after ending up in a ditch on Friday, but was forced to retire before SS8 with a broken driveshaft.

LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS10:

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