Rally Germany 2019
19h
The first stage of the Rally Germany will begin this Friday from 10:14 a.m.
19h
Ott Tänak (Toyota) took the scratch in the opening special of the Rally Germany, the 5,2km of St Wendeler Land which was also used for the shakedown. With a time of 2'39''4 (3 tenths better than Sébastien Ogier's time in practice), the championship leader was 8 tenths ahead of Dani Sordo (Hyundai).
Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) completes the provisional podium at 9 tenths, with a tenth lead over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Kris Meeke (Toyota) completes the Top 5 ahead of the Finns Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) and Teemu Suninen (M-Sport). Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) and Gus Greensmith (M-Sport) complete the Top 10 in the general classification ahead of Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) who is making his WRC debut.
Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) already has a one second lead in WRC 2 Pro over his teammate Jan Kopecky. Mads Ostberg (Citroën) follows at 2 seconds and Éric Camilli (Ford) at 3 seconds. Adrien Fourmaux (Ford) is 2 seconds behind Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Volkswagen) in WRC 2.
19h
And Tänak took the first scratch of the rally with an 8 tenths lead over Sordo. The championship leader reiterates his status and sends the right signal to the competition. “It will be very tight. We will aim for victory like on every rally. »
19h
Ogier misses the provisional scratch by a tenth at the wheel of his Citroën C3 WRC. “It’s a lot dirtier than I thought.” We're going to aim for victory, that's the plan. »
19h
Nice pace from Neuville who is closest to his teammate Sordo with 2 tenths behind. “The special went well, I knew it well. There was dust on the road. I'm happy with my time because maybe I had a dirtier road than Dani, but I expect the others to attack from behind. »
19h
This is the 6th time for Mikkelsen, who is 1”7 behind his teammate Sordo. “I had good feelings. I hit something and got a flat tire. I remained cautious afterward. It will be a long rally. »
19h
Suninen was on the pace by signing the 4th provisional time, tied with Lappi, 1″1 behind Sordo. “It was okay, nothing special to report. The tires were slipping a little. It will be a challenge this weekend but I hope to set some good times. »
19h
Meeke takes the 2nd provisional time on his Toyota, 6 tenths behind Sordo who still holds the provisional scratch. “We are going to be especially wary of Hyundais. The first ES looks like a Grand Prix. »
19h
Lappi sets the 3rd provisional time, 1” behind Sordo at the wheel of his Citroën C1 WRC.
19h
Latvala is the first not to improve the reference time. The Toyota driver failed 8 tenths behind Sordo's Hyundai. “We rode as best we could. The feelings are good. I wasn't the best on this course at shakedown, that doesn't worry me. »
19h
Sordo increases the pace again with a 2″ lead over Greensmith in his Hyundai i2 WRC. “I am satisfied with the car but we only did 20 miles. It will be complicated in the 5nd stage on Saturday and the serious things will start tomorrow. »
19h
Greensmith improves Katsuta's time by 2 seconds at the wheel of his Ford Fiesta WRC. “It was a good SS. We are making progress on the car and I hope to improve my times as the weekend goes on. »
19h
Katsuta sets the first reference time in 2'44"4, almost 5 seconds behind Ogier's time set in the shakedown. The Japanese is competing in his first event at the wheel of a WRC. “It’s incredible and very exciting. It will be a difficult weekend, but I am focusing on my work. It goes very fast on the asphalt, but I like it. »
19h
Rovanperä started well by improving the benchmark by a second against his teammate Kopecky.
19h
Ostberg signs the 2nd provisional time, 1″2 behind Kopecky in his Citroën C3 R5 with a 1″1 lead over Camilli’s Fiesta R5. “I tried to be cleaner on this passage which counts for the result. I need to understand the car more because it requires specific technical skills to drive it. It's not natural for me but I'm getting used to it. »
19h
Kopecky improved Camilli's time by 2″3 at the wheel of his Skoda Fabia R5.
19h
Camilli sets a time of 2'51″9. This is 1″5 more than his best shakedown time.
19h
It’s Camilli who gets the ball rolling on the new Fiesta R5.
19h
The Rally Germany begins this evening with the St Wendeler Land special stage. This 5,17km course also served as a shakedown this morning. Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) was the fastest there with a time of 2'39''7, a tenth ahead of Ott Tänak (Toyota) and 3 tenths over Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
