Quick tire change before the next two stages! @Michelin_Sport @MSportLtd #RallyDeutschland  #WRC pic.twitter.com/KH3GCaREH9

- Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) August 19

The next special, Freisen 1, will start at 11:12 a.m.

.@PontusTidemand ss10 @ADACRally pic.twitter.com/JhVPhUQJFP

— Emyr Penlan (@EmyrPenlan) August 19

In WRC-2, Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia R5) took the scratch in SS9, but it is Eric Camilli (Ford Fiesta R5) who is currently the fastest in the category in 26'02″0 , 13″4 ahead of Kopecky.

Less success for Pontus Tidemand (Skoda Fabia R5), who had a puncture in Panzerplatte, and lost 56″9 to Camilli. The Swede's Fabia R5 was damaged due to the puncture in the right rear wheel arch. The Frenchman returns to second position overall, 7″9 behind Kopecky.

Juho Hänninen (Toyota) took advantage of his hard tires on the Yaris WRC to set the best time on the first pass of Panzerplatte, an ES more than 41km long. The Finn completed the special in 24'39″7 and precedes Sébastien Ogier (Ford) by 2″4 and Ott Tänak (Ford) by 2″8. The Citroën C3s of Kris Meeke and Andreas Mikkelsen follow at 9″9 and 11″8.

In the general classification, Ott Tänak further increases his lead over Mikkelsen to 15″3, while Sébastien Ogier officially gets back on the podium after the setbacks of Thierry Neuville, 30″6 behind Tänak and 15″3 behind Mikkelsen.

Elfyn Evans (Ford) follows in fourth position at 1'07″3, ahead of Juho Hänninen at 1'13″4. Craig Breen (Citroën) is in sixth place at 1'40" and still ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). Hayden Paddon (Hyundai), who suffered a puncture in this timed sector, remains ninth, more than four minutes behind.

Dani Sordo (Hyundai) takes seventh time, 15″6 behind Hänninen.

Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) sets the eighth fastest time at 17″2 while Kris Meeke (Citroën) climbs to fourth place at 9″9.

Ott Tänak (Ford) sets the third provisional time, 2″8 behind Hänninen, who is heading for the scratch. “Very delicate. Six kilometers before the end we lost the rear tire. I thought we had a sting. » The rear rubber is delaminated, while the front left rim is slightly twisted.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Citroën) concedes 9″4 on Ogier and 11″8 on Hänninen’s best time. The Norwegian sees Ogier returning to 15″3 in the general classification for the fight for second place. “It was drier than expected. We should have put two hard tires. I did a smart ES. I didn't put too much strain on the rubbers. A little too careful perhaps. »

Second time for Sébastien Ogier (Ford) 2″4 behind Hänninen. “I was a little too careful,” confesses the world champion. After Thierry's stop, I think the gap with the first places is too big. In this one, I didn't push hard enough to reduce it. »

Fourth time for Elfyn Evans (Ford) at 16″9. “Very negative. I have some distractions in the car. » Could it be an open door that would be this distraction?

.@ElfynEvans driving with his passenger door open  #RallyDeutschland #Panzerplatte pic.twitter.com/kZ3hrV9sJQ

- Markus Ippach (@ma_ipp) August 19

Craig Breen (Citroën) fails 16″6 behind Hänninen. The Irishman saw his front right tire deteriorate significantly on this SS.

Juho Hänninen confirms his good partials by setting the best time with a 13″ lead over his teammate at Toyota Latvala. 2'24″39 for Hänninen. " Not bad. There are a lot of grip changes, but it's nice. »

Latvala (Toyota) arrived hot on the heels of Paddon and set the best time in 24'52"9, 1'13" ahead of Kremer and 1'36"8 ahead of Paddon. But the Finn rails against his choice of soft tires. “It’s not good,” confesses Latvala. I'm disappointed. With the tender ones, I had two heats. It was drier than expected. I almost spun twice. »

Kremer (Ford) finished in 26'05″9. “I didn't have the right tires with the softs. I wasted a lot of time. »

Hänninen continued to widen the gap with more than eight seconds ahead of Latvala in the third partial.