09h

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) set the scratch in the 28,52km Monti di Ala', the longest special stage of the Sardinia Rally, setting a time of 17'02''8. The Belgian thus took more than 4 seconds from his teammate Hayden Paddon. Ott Tänak (Ford) followed at 5 seconds, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) by 4 seconds. Sébastien Ogier (Ford) marks the break more than 7 seconds behind, even if he has taken more than 24 seconds from Juho Hänninen (Toyota).

Hayden Paddon only has an 8''9 lead over Thierry Neuville. Ott Tänak regains some air against Jari-Matti Latvala with a lead of almost 5 seconds. Behind Mads Ostberg (Ford), Sébastien Ogier took 6th place, 3 seconds ahead of Juho Hänninen.

09h

Paddon drops 4″2 against Neuville and has less than 9s lead in the general classification over the Belgian. “I'm having trouble with the front axle. »

09h

Neuville improves the benchmark with a time of 17'02″8, gaining more than 5 seconds from Tänak who finds himself 5″7 behind the Hyundai driver in the general classification. The Belgian protects his 2nd place well and puts pressure on the leader Paddon.

09h

Sordo set off on SS12, the last special of the morning, with the 28,11km Monte Lerno.

09h

Tänak is ahead of Latvala by 4″7, signing the new scratch with a time of 17’07″9. The Estonian who remains 3rd now has a 4″8 lead over the Toyota driver. “There wasn't much grip, but it went well. »

09h

Latvala takes the scratch with a time of 17'12″6. That’s 14″9 better than Ogier. “I attacked as much as I could, but Tänak is very fast. The special is complicated. » The Toyota driver is almost tied with Tänak in the fight for 3rd place.

09h

Ostberg is the closest to Ogier with 1″7 behind. The private driver remains 5th. “I put 3 hard and one soft on the car. »

09h

Hänninen ranks 3″2 behind Ogier, setting the same time as Lappi. “The level of grip was variable in this special. I hope the tires are still good for the next stage. » The Toyota driver was caught by Ogier and slipped to 7th place, 2″ behind the Frenchman.

09h

Ogier improves the benchmark with a time of 17'27″5, 3″2 better than Lappi. “I'm having trouble with traction. We'll have to try something else this afternoon. » The M-Sport driver is battling with Hänninen for 6th place.

09h

Lappi improves the provisional scratch with a time of 17'30″7 where he is ahead of Sordo by 14s. “It's so slippery that I'm not really comfortable. I'm not going to take all the risks. » The Toyota driver is in 8th place.

09h

Mikkelsen ranks 13″6 behind Sordo. “We are moving in the right direction…” The Citroën driver remains 9th.

08h

Sordo recorded a time of 17'44"7. “I encountered another problem with the paddleshift, a problem that I already had yesterday. I had to use the lever. »

08h

Lappi almost went off the road. The Toyota driver who occupies 8th place had 3s on Sordo in the 1st intermediate.

08h

Sordo set off in the special.

08h

The special includes rocky sections that are very rough for the cars, but other portions are less rigorous.

 

08h

The crews are now preparing for the Monti di Ala' special, the longest special of the event with 28,52km, which will be contested from 8:41 a.m.

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