Meeke in control, Tänak at fault

Last night, all eyes were on the Abu Dhabi Racing clan. Chris Meeke had consolidated its position as leader of the Rally of Finland ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, while Craig Breen was in third position against Ott Tänak, who remained largely in contention to threaten the Irishman this Sunday.

If the first rankings published yesterday put the Estonian from Team Dmack at 11″5, at the start this morning, the corrected times placed Tänak 9″1 behind Breen. Enough to offer an intense fight on the four special stages on the program today.

From SS21, Tänak set the best time, gaining 4″3 on Breen. With a gap reduced to 4″8 before SS22, Breen’s position was weakened, but Tänak finally made a mistake in a ditch and abandoned all hope of a podium.

Before the second pass, including that in the Power Stage, Kris Meeke remains leader with a 34″ lead over Latvala (Volkswagen). Craig Breen is still third at 5'1″45 but must now be wary of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), best time in the twenty-second special, and which is only 6″6 behind the Irishman’s DS3.

Paddon did not give up all hope of a podium by being 2″2 behind his teammate at Hyundai. Ostberg and Mikkelsen follow in the standings ahead of the Skoda Fabia R5 of Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen, dominating in WRC-2. In the Junior WRC, Ole Christian Veiby maintains a 9″8 lead over Simone Tempestini.

After SS23, Breen increased his lead over Neuville.

Ranking Rally Finland