KRIS MEEKE AND PAUL NAGLE IN THIRD PLACE WITH ONE DAY TO GO IN RALLY OF FINLAND, LATVALA LEADS FROM TEAMMATE OGIER. A DEFIANT JARI-MATTI LATVALA ENDED SATURDAY’S PENULTIMATE LEG OF RALLY FINLAND WITH A SLENDER 3.4SEC LEAD OVER TEAM-MATE SÉBASTIEN OGIER FOLLOWING A DRAMATIC FINALE TO THE DAY. Five wins from six stages enabled Latvala to stretch his overnight lead from 19.7sec to a comfortable 31.1sec. But the Finn hit a hole across the road in the rutted second pass through Jukojärvi (SS20) and broke the front right brake caliper on his Polo R. Latvala and Ogier - head to head on Sunday He drove the final three tests with just three brakes and championship leader Ogier, who earlier indicated it would be ‘stupid’ to try to catch Latvala, seized his chance. He was fastest through the final four stages to set up a thrilling sprint to the finish tomorrow. “I had to hold on,” said Latvala. “I’ve worked so hard and I didn’t come here to lose this rally. We’ll get the car fixed in service and tomorrow we’re in the fight for victory. I don’t care so much about the world championship right now, this is about Rally Finland.” Ironically both Ogier and third-placed Kris Meeke hit the same hole as Latvala but escaped unscathed. Meeke started the day in second ahead of Ogier but refused to be drawn into a battle and ended 29.0sec behind after a troublefree day in his Citroen DS3.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 19:46:40 +0000