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Sweden WRC: Neuville extends lead, Tanak closes on Latvala

Thierry Neuville extended his Rally Sweden lead during the Saturday morning loop, while Ott Tanak closed on taking second from Jari-Matti Latvala.

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

Sarah Vessely / Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai Motorsport, signing autographs
Ott Tänak, M-Sport
Lazer lamps on the car of Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota Racing

Hyundai driver Neuville managed the morning effectively, taking a second and two third-fastest stage times to stretch his advantage to north of half a minute.

His closest rival on Friday, Toyota’s Latvala, took an extra tyre than his WRC compatriots for the morning loop, and suffered with the extra weight.

M-Sport Ford driver Tanak was fastest on all of Saturday’s morning stages in a clean sweep, cutting Latvala’s cushion from 21.6s to 9.2s. The Estonian credited running further back on the road for his turn of pace.

Tanak's teammate Sebastien Ogier sits 14.2s behind Tanak in a subdued morning. After cleaning the road yesterday, he’s just under a minute behind Neuville.

Rounding out the top five was Kris Meeke, who was happy with his rhythm in the stage but reckoned he was just "too slow". The Citroen man made no mistakes in the morning, but couldn’t match Tanak or Ogier, and fell 14.1s behind the reigning champion.

Dani Sordo, Craig Breen, Elfyn Evans and Stephane Lefebvre all ended the morning a place further up after Hayden Paddon suffered a power steering failure on the first test.

He claimed driving his Hyundai i20 was like “wrestling a 400lb lion". He ended the day 10th having started it sixth.

Taking Paddon’s spot was his teammate Sordo, who was more consistent after a mistake-ridden Friday.

Breen was struggling with confidence after his mistakes on Friday which included a trip into a snow bank. He confirmed he would be slower this morning but the pace was more manageable.

Elfyn Evans (DMACK Ford) sits in eighth behind Breen after a puncture yesterday, while Lefebvre lies ninth in his 2016-spec Citroen DS3.

Works Skoda Fabia R5 driver Pontus Tidemand continues to lead WRC2 by over a minute.

Standings after SS11:

Pos. Driver Car Time/Gap
1  Thierry Neuville Hyundai 1h46m41.6s
2  Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota +32.8s
3

 Ott Tanak

Ford +42.0s
4

 Sebastien Ogier

Ford +56.2s
5  Kris Meeke Citroen +1m10.3s
6

 Dani Sordo

Hyundai +1m57.1s
7  Craig Breen Citroen +2m26.1s
8  Elfyn Evans Ford +3m47.1s
9  Stephane Lefebvre Citroen +5m02.0s
10  Hayden Paddon Hyundai +5m12.4s

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