Latvala sets best time in qualifying

Jari-Matti Latvala will be first to choose his start position for day one of Rally Sweden after posting best time in the first ever WRC qualifying session.

After completing the 3.99 kilometre qualifying stage Latvala stopped the clock at 1:53.5s, edging Mikko Hirvonen in the DS3 WRC by 0.5 seconds. Ott Tanak in the Go Fast Ford Focus was third quick just ahead of Evgeny Novikov. Latvala’s factory Ford team-mate, Petter Solberg rounded out the top five.

Latvala said weather will be the determining factor when selecting his starting position. If there is overnight and early morning snowfall it would be better to start further down the order. If it stays mild then he prefers to start earlier. Petter Solberg and Mads Ostbreg both said the best starting position for day one will be between 7th and 12th on the road, due to the 8am Friday morning start time and still dark conditions.

Championship leader, Sébastien Loeb was first in the stage and managed to set sixth best time ahead of 2011 Rally Sweden runner-up Mads Ostberg. Local driver, Patrick Sandell was best of the Minis with eighth best time. Norway’s Eyvind Brynildsen followed with the Czech Republic’s Martin Prokop completing the top ten.

QUALIFYING TIMES
1 Latvala Ford Fiesta RS WRC1:53.5s
2 Hirvonen Citroen DS3 WRC+0.5s.
3 Tanak Ford FiestaRS WRC +0.5s
4 Novikov Ford Fiesta RS WRC +0.6s
5 P. Solberg Ford Fiesta RS WRC +0.8s
6 Loeb Citroen DS3 WRC +1.2s
7 Ostberg Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1.3s
8 Sandell Mini JCW WRC +2.8s
9 Brynildsen Ford Fiesta RS WRC +2.2s
10 Prokop Ford Fiesta RS WRC+3.2s