Latvala leads into final day of Rally Finland

Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland held a 9.1-second lead Friday over Norway's Petter Solberg in the Rally Finland going into the final day.

Latvala took over the lead from Solberg on the seventh stage, after front-runner Mikko Hirvonen of Finland suffered a spectacular crash on the fourth leg.

Hirvonen held a 5-second lead when he crashed at a speed of 140 kph (87 mph), rolling his car five times but escaping unhurt.

"The dream is over and it's just disappointing, but at least we were on the pace before it happened," said Hirvonen, Latvala's teammate at Ford.

Defending world champion and overall leader Sebastian Loeb is fourth behind Citroen teammate and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, 32 seconds behind Latvala.

Behind the leaders, former Finnish great Juha Kankkunen - a four-time rally world champion who is making a one-race comeback - was more than three minutes back in seventh place. The 51-year-old Kankkunen was 7.5 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, the Finnish former Formula One champion who is competing in his first season on the rally circuit.

The rally, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, ends with another eight stages on Saturday.

- AP