Loeb takes the lead

World champion Sebastien Loeb has moved into the lead of Rally Mexico after another fastest stage time on SS10 moved him ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala.

Latvala was third fastest through the 23km Duarte test but almost five seconds slower than Loeb, which allowed the Frenchman to take his place with a lead of 4.6sec.

Petter Solberg also changed position, dropping from fourth to seventh because of a transmission problem. His Impreza suffered a front-left drive shaft failure 11km into the stage and this cost him almost four minutes over the remainder of the test.

Solberg attempted roadside repairs after the stage but was unable to continue and retired from the day.

Solberg’s retirement promoted Mikko Hirvonen into fourth, 45 seconds adrift of Chris Atkinson in third.