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Rally Portugal: Kris Meeke closes gap to leader Jari-Matti Latvala

Jari-Matti Latvala hung on in the Rally of Portugal lead as a pair of stage wins from Kris Meeke closed the Citroen to within six seconds of the Volkswagen

Latvala cost himself a little time with mistakes - overshooting a junction on the day's opener and backing off after hitting a rock hard near the end of the long Fridao stage - but Meeke's pace was sufficient to pull him clear of Andreas Mikkelsen and gain on the leader even when all was well for Latvala.

Mikkelsen had made the best start. The only driver to take all soft tyres for the loop, he claimed second from Meeke by going quickest on the opening Baiao stage.

But that was Mikkelsen's high point, and as his tyres faded he fell behind 9.2s behind Meeke heading to midday service, while Meeke completed the loop only 6.1s off Latvala.

Sebastien Ogier quickly moved up from sixth to fourth and is now within 3.8s of Mikkelsen.

The champion benefited from having three Rally2 runners sweeping the road ahead of him at the start of the day, but with Elfyn Evans and Lorenzo Bertelli both crashing he struggled more with stage conditions later on and is sceptical about his afternoon chances.

Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo lost touch with the podium battle through the morning after strong Fridays.

Tanak initially felt his choice of hard tyres was a mistake, but a better time on Fridao cemented his fifth place.

Sixth-placed Sordo is just 0.3s ahead of Mads Ostberg, with Hayden Paddon not far behind them.

Sordo lost time when his Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville's poor weekend ended with a roll on the day's first stage, temporarily blocking the stage and delaying the sister i20.

Robert Kubica continues to have a trouble-free run in ninth.

Our live coverage of Rally Portugal resumes at 2.30pm in AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live

LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS10:

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