BP Abu Dhabi Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala is targeting a second World Rally Championship victory in a row when the series heads to Greece for the Acropolis Rally this weekend.
The Finn took his second career win last time out in Italy, maintaining the lead he established at the end of the first day.
Sebastien Loeb, the defending world champion, was looking to extend his record run of six straight wins, but saw his challenge stymied by a puncture and a penalty for co-driver Daniel Elena breaking seat belt rules when changing a tyre.
The Greek rally is of a similar nature to the Italian event in Sardinia, run on narrow, twisting, dusty roads and Latvala, 24, feels he can carry his winning form into the seventh round of the 12-event season.
"This is the toughest and roughest round of the WRC," he said. "After winning in Sardinia, I want to fight for another win in Greece. But the most important thing is to start steadily, rather than at full attack, and monitor the pace of the others.
"That's the clever way to do it. It will also be interesting to see what advantage might be gained from road position.
"I have a good start position on Friday but I won't know until the recce just how much gravel there is on Saturday's new stages."
Championship leader Loeb suggests tyre management could hold the key to victory this weekend as the Acropolis has a reputation for causing punctures. That reputation may not be improved by the addition of some longer stages to the route which have not been used since the 1980s.
The Frenchman said: "Sometimes you really must not hesitate to lift over the rougher parts to make sure you don't damage anything or puncture.
"Our C4 WRC and our Pirelli Scorpion tyres are very strong, but you're talking here about very extreme conditions, especially when the weather is hot."
Five-time world champion Loeb is desperate to bounce back from his Sardinian disappointment by extending his 17-point lead over Ford's Mikko Hirvonen in the drivers' championship.
"As we saw in Sardinia, nothing can ever be taken for granted and we can't afford to ease up in any way," Loeb said.
"I'm expecting it to be a difficult event, especially since our rivals have a habit of going well in Greece."
*PA Sport
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TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Crime%20Wave
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
