Sweden WRC: Latvala stays ahead as Neuville drops time
Jari-Matti Latvala leads Rally Sweden after Friday's morning action, putting his Toyota ahead of Thierry Neuville with a stunning time through the final stage of the loop.
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Latvala had led after the super special opener, but after the first full stage, Hyundai man Neuville, pacesetter in the WRC opener in Monte Carlo, was into the lead.
However, he clipped a rock on SS4, the final stage of the morning, and he backed off accordingly.
That, coupled with a big push from Latvala, swapped the pair in the lead order, and Neuville now trails the Finn by 3.9s.
Kris Meeke holds third, driving “to his own rhythm” in the new Citroen C3 WRC. He was second-quickest on the third stage of the day, recovering from offs in Monte Carlo and in his Sweden pre-event test.
The top nine had been separated by just 14s going into the longest and final stage of the morning, but the order underwent a huge shakeup.
On SS4, Sebastien Ogier moved from ninth to fourth. The Monte Carlo winner suffered from using his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC to sweep the road, but in a brilliant display of damage limitation, he trails Latvala by 19.1s.
Ogier’s teammate Ott Tanak rounds out the top five after gearbox issues under braking plagued his morning.
Making it a trio of Fiestas in a row, Mads Ostberg – making his 2017 debut in a current-spec Fiesta – sits in sixth after an uneventful morning, ahead of Dani Sordo (Hyundai), Craig Breen (Citroen) and Juho Hanninen (Toyota). The third Hyundai of Hayden Paddon completes the top 10.
Skoda works driver Pontus Tidemand leads WRC2 after taking the lead from Ole Christian Veiby (Skoda) on the final stage of the morning.
Standings after SS4:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
| 1 |  Jari-Matti Latvala |
Toyota | 34m19.2s |
| 2 |  Thierry Neuville |
Hyundai | +3.9s |
| 3 |
|
Citroen | +18.8s |
| 4 |
|
Ford | +19.1s |
| 5 |  Ott Tanak |
Ford | +20.0s |
| 6 |  Mads Ostberg |
Ford | +20.9s |
| 7 |  Dani Sordo |
Hyundai | +36.0s |
| 8 |  Craig Breen |
Citroen | +36.9s |
| 9 | Juho Hanninen |
Toyota | +39.4s |
| 10 |  Hayden Paddon |
Hyundai | +41.4s |
Kris Meeke
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