WRC Rally Sweden: Toyota's Latvala grabs early lead
Jari-Matti Latvala leads Rally Sweden after Friday morning's action, steering his Toyota ahead of Thierry Neuville with a stunning time through the final stage of the loop
Latvala led after the superspecial opener on Thursday, but Hyundai man Neuville grabbed the lead on the first full stage, having been the pacesetter in the World Rally Championship's opener in Monte Carlo in January.
However, he clipped a rock on SS4, the final stage of the morning, and backed off accordingly.
That, coupled with a big push from Latvala, swapped the pair in the lead order and Neuville trails by 3.9 seconds.
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 and 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 received a huge shakeup, including Sebastien Ogier's move from ninth to fourth.
The Monte Carlo winner for M-Sport suffered from sweeping the road, but engaged in a brilliant display of damage limitation and trails Latvala by 19.1s.
Ogier's team-mate 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.
Skoda works driver Pontus Tideland leads WRC2 after taking the lead from Ole Christian Veiby (Skoda) on the final stage of the morning.
At times, Veiby was driving in forests owned by his family, but the familiarity couldn't help halt Tidemand's rise.
Follow WRC Rally Sweden on Autosport Race Centre Live from 12:15pm (GMT) Friday.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS4:
| Pos | Driver | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota | 34m19.2s |
| 2 | Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul | Hyundai | 3.9s |
| 3 | Kris Meeke, P.Nagle | Citroen | 18.8s |
| 4 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | Ford | 19.1s |
| 5 | Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja | Ford | 20.0s |
| 6 | Mads Ostberg, O.Floene | Ford | 20.9s |
| 7 | Dani Sordo, M.Marti | Hyundai | 36.0s |
| 8 | Craig Breen, S.Martin | Citroen | 36.9s |
| 9 | Juho Hanninen, K.Lindstrom | Toyota | 39.4s |
| 10 | Hayden Paddon, J.Kennard | Hyundai | 41.1s |
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