Ogier battles Latvala at Wales Rally GB

Ott Tänak's retirement in SS16 has completely changed the face of Wales Rally GB. Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) est en lutte pour sa première victoire depuis le Tour de Corse avec l’objectif d’un 6e titre en vue, tandis que Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) cherche encore son premier succès de la saison.

On the evening of the second stage, Sébastien Ogier only has a lead of 4''4 over his former Finnish teammate who used the same choice of tyres, a mix of medium and soft tyres.

Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) completes the provisional podium, but the second Finn in the team is struggling to keep up with the furious pace of the leaders and is more than 7 seconds behind his teammate. The Nordic pilot is threatened by Craig Breen (Citroën) which is less than 2 seconds behind the top three.

Mads Ostberg (Citroën) complète le Top 5, mais le Norvégien est à l’inverse sur la défensive puisque son compatriote Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), bien placé avec sa position d’ouvreur sur la route, est revenu à moins de 3 secondes de la seconde C3 WRC. The Norwegian from the Korean team is ahead of his teammates Hayden Paddon and Thierry Neuville. The championship leader is no longer on the pace following his morning outing.

Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) continues to dominate WRC 2, occupying 9th place in the general classification, one minute ahead of Pontus Tidemand (Skoda). Gus Greensmith (Ford) still completes the provisional podium in the category ahead of Jari Huttunen (Hyundai) and the French Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) and Pierre-Louis Loubet (Hyundai).

The final stage of Wales Rally GB will feature 5 stages. The 14,76km Gwydir Power Stage will be covered exceptionally during its first pass.