Reigning World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb's hopes of extending his early-season advantage at the top of the standings were ended after he crashed out of the Swedish Rally.
The Frenchman, whose hopes of claiming a fifth world title began with victory in the season-opener in Monte Carlo two weeks ago, rolled his Citroen three kilometres before the end of the 22km special stage four and was eventually forced to retire with a clutch problem.
"I was on a left-hand corner and tucked the front wheel a little too much into the snow bank," said Loeb who was competing in his 100th WRC.
"That pulled the car sideways and we rolled over."
Although the external damage to his car consisted of a missing rear spoiler and a dented roof, a broken clutch meant he had to be pushed into the Citroen service area where mechanics spent their allotted 15 minutes trying and repair the damage.
However, their efforts proved in vain as Loeb was forced to park his car on the roadside soon after leaving the service area.
Loeb's misfortune has opened the way for Jari-Matti Latvala to claim his first ever WRC victory after he opened a commanding 48-second lead over fellow Finn and Ford team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen.
Latvala claimed all six of the stages on the first full day to undermine Ford lead driver Hirvonen's pre-rally favouritism.
And Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson promised not to let team orders prevent Latvala from claiming his initial success at a rally that has been dominated by Nordic drivers - with Loeb's 2004 success the only occasion a non-Scandinavian has won the rally in its 57-year history.
"I don't see why Jari-Matti can't win this rally," he told the official FIA World Rally Championship website.
"There won't be any orders from the team. It's really no different to the situation when Mikko won Norway ahead of Marcus Gronholm last year."
He added: "At the first re-group I got Jari and Miikka [Anttila] together. I told Jari to keep his concentration, make sure he doesn't cut the corners and to stay out of trouble - and he's done exactly that. I can't ask for anything more."
Wilson also reserved praise for Hirvonen despite trailing his team-mate, adding: "I know what Mikko's game plan will be for this rally, so I'm not concerned.
"With Loeb out of the picture he has a good chance to take some valuable championship points. He's also had a difficult run as first car on the road, so I'm delighted with what he's done."
Henning Solberg finished the day in third position 56.3 seconds behind the lead while team-mate Gigi Galli was a further six seconds behind in fourth.
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