Intro:

Local driver Jari-Matti Latvala maintained his lead after ten stages of the WRC Rally Finland on Friday (1 August).

Script:

Finland's Latvala managed to hold on to top place in the Rally Finland despite recording only one win between the seventh and tenth stages.

The local driver was helped by some fairly inconsistent driving from team mate and reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier.

He emerged victorious in stages eight and nine but finished a disappointing sixth and fourth in stages seven and ten respectively.

In contrast, Latvala stayed within the top three throughout.

His lead now stands at 9.3 seconds over Ogier, with Meeke 3.7 seconds further behind.

Stage seven marked Meeke's first-ever stage win on Finnish soil, having already gone close in the previous stage.

Belgium's Thierry Neuville was forced to retire for mechanical reasons during stage nine while fellow Hyundai driver Juho Hanninen suffered a set-back in the following stage, rolling the car after spinning out of a corner.