28 May 2011

Finn Latvala leads in Argentina with four stage wins

12:24 pm on 28 May 2011

Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala leads the Rally of Argentina ahead of Norwegian Petter Solberg with world champion Sebastien Loeb in fifth place, one and a half minutes adrift after a time penalty.

Latvala had a brilliant start to the day for Ford with wins on stages two to five while Frenchman Loeb, who had won the opening special stage at Villa Carlos Paz, fought to keep in touch in his Citroen.

By the end of El Condor 1, the fourth special stage, the 26-year-old Finn had opened a 12.3 second lead over former world champion Solberg which increased to 18.2 by the end of the day.

Finn Mikko Hirvonen, seven points behind Loeb in second place in the championship standings, is fourth in his Ford.