Sweden - day 2: Latvala homes in on debut win.

Saturday, 9th February 2008

Swedish Rally - Day 2 report: Jari-Matti Latvala still in P1 as the BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT heads for a one-two.

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Henning dropped to fourth in the first test of the day when he picked up a puncture. The Norwegian then put himself right out of contention in SS11 when he ran into a safety barrier and retired. It is not yet known if he will be able to re-start on Sunday under the SupeRally.

Henning's misfortune also benefited his brother, Petter and 'Hollywood' now lies in fourth, albeit a good minute off Galli.

Further down the order, Matthew Wilson completes the top five, potentially in line to open his account for the year. Matt reported no major problems and said he had settled into a comfortable pace in the 'third' Stobart Ford entry.

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Fellow Ford runner Andreas Mikkelsen trails Wilson in sixth, just 10.5 seconds adrift, while Dani Sordo is now seventh. Dani won two stages today en-route to hauling himself up the order having started with a 5 minute penalty as a result of an engine change.

Toni Gardemeister is on course to pick up the final drivers' point, despite a problem in the final stage this morning, when he hit a snowbank and lost over 3.5 minutes.

In the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship category Juho Hanninen now leads, over a minute up on Jari Ketomaa.

Hanninen inherited the lead in the final stage of the day when Patrik Sandell spun and lost quite a bit of time, dropping to fourth in the PWRC and twelfth overall.

Martin Prokop currently holds the final place on the PWRC podium, 16.4 seconds in front of Sandell.

Of the rest, Chris Atkinson is still running in the #2 SWRT entered Impreza WRC, although he is right out of contention after a spin in SS3 on Friday cost him around 15 minutes.

In terms of retirees, Sebastien Loeb was the biggest name to go out on Saturday. The Frenchman re-started under the SupeRally this morning, after his off in SS4, but he was forced out again following the mid-day service due to engine problems.