Tänak stays on course at Rally Germany

Si Ott Tänak (Toyota) a brièvement cédé la tête du Rally of Germany against Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) dans la première spéciale du jour, le dernier vainqueur en Finlande a repris son bien par la suite en alignant deux autres scratchs venant s’ajouter à sa victoire de la super spéciale disputée la veille.

The Estonian returned to service with a lead of more than 7 seconds over Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) who seems more focused on the fight with his rival for the title Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Malgré une fuite d’huile inquiétante qui a pu être réparée par l’équipage, le Belge complète le podium provisoire à moins de 4 secondes du quintuple champion du WRC.

Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) and Dani Sordo (Hyundai) complete the Top 5, separated by 2 seconds. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) moved up to 6th position even if the Finn is quite frustrated at not yet being able to catch up with his teammates. Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) follows the Nordic driver a second behind.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), a good second last year in the Citroën C3 WRC, has more difficulty this year on the asphalt at the wheel of the i20 WRC. The Norwegian is only in 8th place, being under direct threat from the C3 WRCs of Craig Breen and Mads Ostberg and recognizes that his driving is in question. The Irishman was slowed down by a downpour in SS3. Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) still has to find his rhythm, the Finn is almost 15 seconds behind the Top 10.

In WRC 2, Jan Kopecky (Skoda) leads the category with a 5-second lead over Yoann Bonato (Citroën).

The second pass of the first stage of Rally Germany is scheduled to resume at 15:39 p.m.