Rally of Catalonia 2019
10h
Tänak has already launched into the 19km Horta-Bot special.
09h
Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) won the first special of the Rally de Catalunya by completing the 7km of Gandesa in 4'16''8 with 7 tenths ahead of Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and a second over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
Ott Tänak (Toyota) was almost 2 seconds behind by placing himself between his teammate Kris Meeke and the Fords of Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen. Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) finished more than 4 seconds behind his teammate, ahead of his compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) failed 5 seconds behind, but the nine-time WRC champion was the only one to rely solely on hard tires.
09h
Katsuta finished 7″4 behind the reference and 2″4 behind Loeb. The Japanese is still learning on the Toyota Yaris WRC. “I was expecting better conditions because it was quite slippery. I will try to progress. »
09h
Loeb is the furthest behind with 5 seconds behind the provisional reference. The Alsatian is the only one to have focused solely on hard tires. “Our tires were too hard for this SS. The road was really slippery for these tires, but it should be better in the next one. »
09h
Nice time from Sordo at home who is closest to Ogier with 7 tenths behind. “My car runs great. I lost a little time in some places but the time is not bad. »
09h
Suninen sets the 6th time, 3″6 behind Ogier, a little over a second behind his teammate Evans.
09h
Lappi ranks 4″3 behind his teammate Ogier and is only ahead of Latvala with a 2 tenths lead. “The car is good but it was slipping too much. The brakes only seemed to work intermittently. The sensations were horrible. »
09h
Latvala is behind with 4″5 behind the provisional reference. The Finn is 2s behind Evans. “I didn't have any grip but I didn't drive very well. I hesitated too much but I hope to do better later. »
09h
Evans is the slowest at the finish, 2″5 behind Ogier’s provisional scratch. “I was a little wide on some corners with the lack of grip, but otherwise it was fine. »
09h
Meeke sets the 3rd time, 1″2 behind Ogier, 2 tenths behind Neuville and 6 tenths ahead of his teammate Tänak. “I had a hot moment on a jump, it surprised me. »
09h
Neuville ranks one second behind Ogier and is ahead of Täak by 8 tenths. “It was okay but I couldn't see very well in the special. The car still needs a little adjustment but nothing major. »
09h
Ogier improved Tänak’s time by 1″8 at the end of this first SS. “It's not often that we're faster than Ott. We made a risky choice in terms of tires but our direct rivals made the same choice. »
09h
Ogier is 2s ahead of Tänak in the first partial.
09h
Tänak sets a first time in 4'18″6. “It’s slippery in places but the sensations are good. We're used to it. »
09h
Täbak sets off in the first ES of the day. The Catalonia Rally is launched!
09h
The crews made varied choices regarding tires:
Latvala, Katsuta, Lappi, Evans, Suninen and Sordo took 3 hard and 2 medium.
Tänak, Ogier and Neuville opted for 1 hard and 4 medium.
Meeke took 3 hard and several medium tires (not specified by Michelin).
Loeb preferred to take 5 hard ones.
09h
Loeb will have a clear advantage starting in the later WRC cars and could set the best times. The WRCs will start every 3 minutes while a gap of 2 minutes will be applied for the rest of the peloton.
09h
The weather is good in Salou with clear skies and an ambient temperature of 15°C.
09h
The first stage of the Rally de Catalunya can be followed live with our live text. This day will be made up of 3 gravel specials contested twice and a super special. The crews will have to cover 129,7 km timed.
09h
The Rally of Catalonia could see Ott Tänak (Toyota) win his first WRC title. The Estonian must score more points than his direct rival Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) to achieve this.
