Jari-Matti Latvala continues to lead Rally Argentina at the halfway point of day two, despite Sebastien Ogier and Petter Solberg's best efforts.
Citroen driver Ogier took 13.8 seconds out of the gap between him and Latvala (Ford) on today's first two stages, and in the process moved up to second place – helped by Solberg (Solberg Citroen) having a minor spin on SS8. But Latvala only dropped 0.7sec to Ogier on SS10 and went 4sec faster on SS11 Santa Rosa. That means the Finn heads for service 17.8sec ahead of Ogier, who has a 3s lead over Solberg in third.
Mikko Hirvonen has lost touch with he lead fight in fourth in the second Ford, and could soon come under pressure from Sebastien Loeb's Citroen. The World Champion won three of this morning's four stages as he pushed to recovery after yesterday's penalty and is now within 26sec of fourth place.
While Mads Ostberg remains best of the rest in sixth, his Stobart Ford team-mate Matthew Wilson has fallen behind Federico Villagra (Munchi's Ford) to eighth after picking up a puncture. Ken Block's Monster Ford stopped when ninth on SS11.
Leading positions after SS11:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford 2h34m45.1s
2. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 17.8s
3. Petter Solberg Solberg Citroen + 20.8s
4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 40.5s
5. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 1m06.7s
6. Mads Ostberg Stobart Ford + 3m54.2s
7. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford + 4m42.0s
8. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford + 5m31.8s
9. Hayden Paddon Symtech Subaru + 16m55.5s
10. Patrik Flodin Uspenskiy Subaru + 25m27.3s