The sixteenth SS of the Rally Finland, the second passage through Pihlajakoski, will begin at 14:08 p.m.

Despite a bruised Toyota Yaris after his puncture in SS14, Jari-Matti Latvala took the last scratch of the morning loop at the Rally Finland, by a tenth ahead of his teammate Ott Tänak, and 1″8 ahead of Esapekka Lappi ( Citroën).

No major changes in the overall hierarchy, since Tänak remains leader with 13″8 over Latvala, himself having a 2″3 margin over Esapekka Lappi. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) and Craig Breen (Hyundai) remain in the fight for fourth place, being separated by only 2″3.

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) is 17″ behind this group and is still ahead of the two Ford Fiestas – M-Sport Fords of Teemu Suninen and Gus Greensmith. In WRC2 Pro, Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) still leads the race ahead of Eric Camilli (Ford).  

For a tenth (5'27″2), Latvala takes the scratch in this SS15! The Finn remains 13″8 behind Tänak in the general classification. “In this situation, we have to concentrate on Lappi, because he is the biggest threat in the Constructors' Championship. » admits Latvala, however. Has he already given up on final victory?

5'29″0 for Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) who failed 1″7 behind Tänak. “In a few corners I was a little slow, but otherwise it was a good stage. » specifies the driver of the chevron brand.

“It's not as deep as before. We now have a little room to breathe. » declared Tänak after the special.

5’27″3 for Tänak, 2″1 better than Ogier.

Once again, Ott Tänak is the fastest in the sections of the special. The Toyota driver could well further widen the gap at the head of the race, depending on the result in Latvala.

The fight between Ogier, Mikkelsen and Breen remains intense. Breen failed 0″2 behind Ogier on this SS, and saw his delay increase to 0″8 on the Frenchman. 2″3 separate Mikkelsen, Ogier and Breen after this SS15.

Better off than Ogier in the first part, Mikkelsen however failed 1″ behind Ogier at the end of this special. The Norwegian sees the Frenchman come back to 1″5. “I stalled on braking and was lucky the car kept going. » admits the former Volkswagen driver.

Ogier was 2″4 faster than Neuville on this last SS of the morning. The Frenchman from Citroën has an 18″ margin over Neuville. “I'm going to try to sleep a little at the service,” jokes Ogier, who was ill last night. I have to force myself because these are not the best conditions. But I shouldn't focus on that. »

Neuville improves to 5’31″8. “The pace is there, but with the position on the road I can't do anything more. It's a good morning for us, but we can't do better. We must continue to fight. » explains the Hyundai driver.

5'33″0 for Suninen at the end of this SS, provisional best time.

Greensmith finished the first loop of the day in 5'42″1 after opening the track throughout the morning. “It's a good experience, quite disastrous in fact,” underlines the M-Sport driver. Nothing really worked. We will revert to the old settings. »

Suninen (M-Sport Ford) and Neuville (Hyundai) are in the special. Suninen is faster than Greensmith in the first partial.

Start of the 15th special stage of this 2019 Rally Finland. Gus Greensmith (M-Sport Ford) is the first in action.