WRC – Wales Rally GB: Ogier stays the course, Hirvonen resists

Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen) maintains a one-minute lead on the evening of the second stage of Wales Rally GB after simply managing the gap on its pursuers without taking any risks on roads that remain very slippery. “This step was not easy. The roads were quite slippery in the second loop. I'm glad it's over. We have a good lead”, declared the double world champion.

The show is always focused on the fight for second place. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) maintains the advantage over the Citroëns by fighting by tenths. “I'm happy to be in such a fight. I have nothing to lose and I will stay put on the floor for the last day”, warned the future retiree of WRC who is less than four seconds ahead of Kris Meeke.

On the other hand, Mads Ostberg has lost the thread. The Norwegian, who initially received a ten-second penalty for an early start in Dyfnant (SS12), was slowed down by a puncture and now finds himself under threat of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). The Belgian, slowed down in the last kilometers after damaging his headlights following a slight off-road trip in Aberhinant (SS16), is only three seconds behind the DS3 WRC and must continue to set a solid pace to resist Elfyn Evans (Ford) following just eight seconds behind.

Ott Tänak (Ford) maintains seventh place with almost a minute ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen). The Finn, who scored the last scratch of the day in Dyfnant (SS17), moved up to eighth place ahead of Henning Solberg (Ford) and Martin Prokop (Ford).

Jari Ketomaa (Fiesta R5) retains the lead of WRC2 but Bernardo Sousa (Fiesta RRC) went off the road and leaves second place to Lorenzo Bertelli (Fiesta R5), while Matthew Wilson (Fiesta RRC) finds himself on the provisional podium for less than two seconds ahead of Tor Cave (Fiesta R5). Nasser Al-Attiyah (Fiesta RRC) remains well established in seventh place. Quentin Gilbert (Fiesta R5) lost time with a puncture in the last special.

The final stage of Wales Rally GB begins tomorrow from 9:33am. The videos of the event can be viewed on this link.