Latvala has Citroens in his sights

Having moved from sixth to fourth place on Saturday morning’s three stages, BP-Ford team driver Jari-Matti Latvala says he’s aiming to make up more places on the afternoon's repeat loop.

The Finn enjoyed a trouble-free morning in his Ford Focus RS WRC, and narrowed the gap on the lead position from 1min 18.9sec overnight to 47.4sec by the end of SS10. A similar performance on the repeat loop would put him firmly in the battle for victory on Sunday’s final day.

“For sure I’ll try and catch them, I need to move up the order again, but this afternoon will be very tough so I must be careful,” said Latvala. “It was a good morning and I can be happy looking at the results. We’re getting closer to Petter and the Citroens and that’s encouraging. I felt confident with the whole package this morning - me, the car and the tyres. Before the start I was a little bit concerned about the first pass, but actually it wasn’t too bad.

“But catching the guys ahead isn’t as simple as just driving faster. Once you start to push harder that means bigger impacts with the rocks and that damages the car. So if I’m to push I need to find a balance,” he added.