SS6: Latvala hits problems

BP-Ford's Mikko Hirvonen completed the last test of day one of Wales Rally GB with the best time, winning his fifth stage of the leg. He goes into day two of competition with an overall lead of 39.6 seconds over his team-mate Marcus Gronholm.

The two-time world rally champion was second fastest, 16.4 seconds slower than Hirvonen and 1.4 seconds faster than Petter Solberg who completed the 27.91km test with the third quickest time.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb was fourth, 14.0 seconds behind third place. The Frenchman goes into day two, third overall, 18.3 seconds behind championship rival Gronholm and 57.9 seconds behind the rally leader.

Team-mate Dani Sordo completed the last test of the day fifth quickest, 28.1 seconds slower than fourth. The Spaniard holds the same position in the overall classification, one minute 03.9 seconds behind the fourth position now occupied by Petter Solberg after Jari-Matti Latvala lost time on the stage with broken wipers, unable to see anything on the test.

Subaru's Chris Atkinson was sixth fastest, 47.3 seconds behind Sordo, while Matthew Wilson completed the test seventh, 23.1 seconds slower than the Australian. Atkinson is seventh overall, only one second behind Wilson in the general classification.

The third Subaru Impreza of Xevi Pons scored his first top eight stage time of the rally, finishing 24 seconds behind Wilson. Manfred Stohl was ninth fastest and goes into leg two eighth overall, 35.6 seconds behind seventh place.