Latvala in control in Rally of Great Britain

Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala had strengthened his lead over Ford team-mate Petter Solberg and Citroen's Sebastien Loeb by the half-way stage of the Rally of Great Britain on Saturday. The morning's three stages did not greatly affect the standings but Latvala nonetheless managed to increase his lead over Norway's Solberg from 12sec to 22.2sec, after comprehensively winning stage nine. Eight-time champion Loeb, meanwhile, began to show his teeth, closing on Solberg after taking the honours in the eighth stage. Norway's Mads Ostberg of Ford won the day's first stage and trailed Latvala by 38.3sec.