Rally of Catalonia 2018
14h
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) signed the scratch in the 14,12km of Savalla with a time of 7'47''1. Ott Tänak (Toyota) was the closest with a second delay, preceding his teammates Esapekka Lappi and Jari-Matti Latvala. Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) followed more than 4 seconds behind, preceding Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) and Craig Breen (Citroën) who had the luxury of ahead of his teammate Sébastien Loeb. Dani Sordo (Hyundai) lost almost 5 seconds on his direct rival Latvala.
Jari-Matti Latvala took the lead in the Rally of Spain with a 3”9 lead over Dani Sordo. Elfyn Evans remains 3rd with 3 seconds ahead of Sébastien Loeb who only has 2 tenths ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Thierry Neuville remains 6th with 8 seconds ahead of Esapekka Lappi. Ott Tänak moves up to 8th place at the expense of Craig Breen. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) remains 10th ahead of Teemu Suninen (M-Sport).
The crews are impatiently waiting to compete in the following special where the rain increases. Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Sébastien Loeb could be in difficulty after relying on soft tires.
In WRC 2, Éric Camilli (Volkswagen) fell after stopping with a gearbox problem while trying to regain the lead of the category against Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda).
14h
Al Qassimi has already started in the second passage of Querol. Tänak was the fastest there this morning, completing the 21,26km in 11'30″6.
14h
Tänak is the closest to Neuville with 1″2 behind. By gaining almost 5 seconds from Breen, the Toyota driver moved up to 8th place. “We don't have the easiest position because the road is getting dirty. We do our job. »
14h
Camilli is arrested in the special. The VW driver was fighting to regain the lead of WRC 2 against Rovanperä.
14h
Sordo leaves control of the rally to Latvala 3″9 behind after giving up more than 4s to the Finn. “I knew he was going to be fast. I focus on my performance. We don't have much information on the conditions. » The Spaniard chose to keep the soft tires for this passage.
14h
Sordo is more than 2s behind Latvala while the rain seems to intensify in the special. The Toyota driver could take the lead in the Rally of Spain.
14h
Evans finally ranks 5″6 behind Neuville and takes 7 tenths from Loeb to push the Alsatian back more than 3s. “I'm not very satisfied with the stage, but I could have pushed harder if I had more confidence with the tires. » The M-Sport driver relied on rain tires.
14h
Evans is now more than 6s behind Neuville in the 3rd split, just behind Loeb.
14h
Evans is 4s behind Neuville in the 2nd intermediate.
13h
Loeb finished 6″3 behind the reference. The Citroën driver should retain 4th position with only 2 tenths ahead of Ogier. “It was still very complicated. There was a lot of mud in the turns. I made a little mistake. But in any case it's a good fight. »
13h
Loeb is 6s behind Neuville in the 3rd intermediate. The Citroën driver remained on soft tires like this morning.
13h
Latvala finished 2″6 behind Neuville and 2 tenths behind his teammate Lappi. The Finn fighting for victory is on wet tires. “The tires were moving quite a bit towards the middle of the special. I think the choice of rubbers is the right one. »
13h
Mikkelsen is the slowest among the leading group with more than 16 seconds behind his teammate Neuville. The Norwegian remains isolated in 10th place. “If only I knew how to go faster, but I’m working on it.” I'm trying to get my bearings with the wet tires, I feel like I can be faster. I have to find the sensations behind the wheel. »
13h
Ogier drops 4″5 to his rival Neuville who is less than 15 seconds from his 5th position. “I think I need to get used to these rain tires. I wasn't aggressive enough. We need rain, but the tires are effective anyway when you see Lappi's time. »
13h
Ogier is 5s behind Neuville at the last intermediate.
13h
Breen sets the 3rd time, almost 6s behind Neuville. “I thought the road would be soggy. » The Citroën driver is more than 24 seconds behind Lappi in the general classification.
13h
Ogier is 2″5 behind Neuville at the 1st intermediate. The Frenchman preferred to take the rain (2 more wheels for Ogier).
13h
Breen is 4s behind Neuville in the 2nd intermediate. The Citroën driver relied on rain tires.
13h
Neuville finally improves Lappi's time by 2″4 and relegates the Toyota to more than 8s. “I'm surprised by Lappi's time because I felt like my tires were working. »
13h
Neuville is ahead of Lappi. The Belgian is 4 seconds ahead of the Toyota in the last sector.
