Rally Australia 2017
22h
The crews are now heading to the 6,44km Wedding Bells which will be contested from 23:08 p.m. French time. The special will serve as a Power Stage in the second pass.
22h
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) lost nine seconds to Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) in SS18 of Rally Australia.
The leaders were slowed down by a heavy downpour that fell in the 31,9km of Bucca where Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) was the fastest with a time of 16'57''4. Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) was one of the closest, but the Welshman suffered from gearbox problems like his teammate Sébastien Ogier who finished 13 seconds from the scratch.
Craig Breen (Citroën) rolled over in the special while in fourth place. The team confirmed that the crew was fine. On the previous route, it was his teammate Stéphane Lefebvre who retired after tearing off the left rear wheel of his C3 WRC by hitting a tree while he was in seventh position.
Thierry Neuville only has a ten-second lead over Jari-Matti Latvala with three stages to go. Ott Tänak remains in third place, closing to 11 seconds behind the Finn. Hayden Paddon climbs to fourth place ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Elfyn Evans is sixth ahead of Esapekka Lappi.
22h
Neuville finished 9″1 behind Latvala and only has a 9″9 lead over Latvala in the general classification. " It's still OK. I couldn't do better anyway. The test is not over but I will manage my lead. »
22h
Neuville maintains his delay against Latvala at 9s at the last intermediate.
22h
Lataval fails almost 27s from the provisional scratch. “The road was very slippery with the rain. You have to know how to balance the risks. » By failing 12s behind Tänak, the Finn only has an 11s lead in the general classification.
22h
Ogier said he was still experiencing gear selector issues, a recurring problem this weekend.
22h
Tänak fails 14″5 behind Paddon. The M-Sport driver confirms that he was slowed down by the rain. The Estonian retains 3rd place with another 26 seconds ahead of the Hyundai driver.
22h
Latvala is 11″5 behind Lappi at the last intermediate.
22h
Neuville is more than 7s behind Latvala in the 2nd part. Around ten seconds now separate the two leading crews in the standings.
22h
Latvala is now almost 9s behind Tänak in the 2nd sector. The Finn had a 23s lead over the Estonian at the start of the special.
22h
Paddon takes the provisional scratch with a time of 16'57"4, 3"7 better than Lappi. The New Zealander is 4th.
22h
But Neuville is even slower than Latvala, falling 6s behind the Finn at the first intermediate! The weather could be a factor, with the sky being very threatening.
22h
Latvala is in trouble. The Toyota driver who was closest to Neuville was 12 seconds behind Lappi at the first intermediate.
22h
Paddon is ahead of Lappi in the special. The Hyundai driver will take 4th place with Breen's accident.
22h
The provisional classification after SS17:
22h
Ogier finished 9″3 behind Lappi. “It’s not dry everywhere. »
22h
Evans said he was suffering from gearbox problems.
22h
Evans ranked almost 5s behind Lappi. Now 7th, the Dmack driver must face electrical problems.
22h
Breen rolled over on SS18 while in 4th place.
22h
Lappi has already completed the 31,9km Bucca special with a time of 17'01"1.
