Rally Finland 2017
15h
The crews are preparing to compete in the second passage of Pihläjakoski, 14,85km long. Latvala took the scratch this morning in 6'53″9.
15h
Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) stopped on the second pass of Ouninpohja, SS19 of Rally Finland, following a problem which appears to be of electrical origin.
Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) signed the scratch with a time of 10'49''2 at the end of the 24,38km, ahead of his teammate Juho Hänninen by 2''8. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) follows at 5”5 ahead of Kris Meeke (Citroën) and Teemu Suninen (Ford). Elfyn Evans (Ford) only loses half a second to Suninen and is more than 2 seconds ahead of Craig Breen (Citroën) tied with Ott Tänak (Ford).
Esapekka Lappi regains the lead of Rally Finland with a 54s lead over his teammate Juho Hänninen. The provisional podium remains completed by another Finn with Teemu Suninen 4s from 2nd place but remains threatened by Elfyn Evans who is 6s behind. Craig Breen follows in 5th place at 12s and sees Thierry Neuville come back to 16s in his C3 WRC. Kris Meeke is now 7th with less than 12 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak. Mads Ostberg (Ford) returns to the top ten, 43 seconds behind Dani Sordo (Hyundai).
15h
Lappi takes the scratch with a time of 10'49″8, 2″8 ahead of Hänninen. The new leader of Rally Finland is 54 seconds ahead of his teammate. “I saw the number on the window and knew it was him. It's not good. I don't want to win a rally like this. »
15h
An electrical problem is suspected on Latvala's Toyota:
Wow! Drama as rally leader @JariMattiWRC is stopped in Ounipohja!! @EsapekkaLappi now leads #RallyFinland @OfficialWRC @TGR_WRC pic.twitter.com/jjVMGv9PQT
— Neil Wooding (@nellietellie) July 29, 2017
15h
Lappi should have a lead of almost a minute at the top of the Rally Finland at the end of this special. Latvala's Yaris WRC is parked on the side of the road.
15h
Suninen achieves the 4th provisional time, 3″9 behind Hänninen’s provisional scratch. The M-Sport driver is 4″3 from 2nd place occupied by the Toyota driver following Latvala’s problem.
15h
Latvala's Toyota is pushed by marshals and spectators who try to get it started again.
15h
Latvala is stopped at the 11th km. The Toyota driver tries to reach the finish, but the mechanical problems seem serious.
15h
Latvala is slowing down! The Toyota driver is losing the victory, probably the victim of a mechanical problem.
15h
Breen signs the 6th provisional time and sees his gap increase on Evans in 5th position.
15h
Hänninen improves the provisional scratch with a time of 10'52″6, or 2″7 better than Neuville. The Toyota driver looks to defend his 3rd place against Suninen.
15h
Ostberg failed 8″9 behind Neuville by setting the 5th provisional time. The Norwegian remains a good distance from Sordo's 10th place with 43s behind even if he takes 10s back from the Hyundai driver.
15h
Evans signs the 4th provisional time, 1″7 behind Neuville. The Dmack driver is still in the fight for a podium against Hänninen and Suninen.
15h
Neuville improves Meeke's time by 9 tenths with a time of 10'55″3. The Hyundai driver remains in 7th position. “We made some changes but the grip is much higher in this section. We've already wasted too much time. It really is the most beautiful special stage in the world. »
15h
Meeke improves Tänak's time by 8 tenths and maintains a lead of more than 11 seconds over the M-Sport driver in the general classification. “The sensations are not yet perfect but the special is really general. »
15h
Tänak achieved a time of 10'57, a tenth of Latvala's scratch achieved this morning, while the M-Sport driver lost a handful of seconds by missing a turn. The Estonian is fighting with Meeke for 0th place.
15h
Sordo sets a time of 11'14"1, clocking in at around 20s from the Latvala scratch achieved this morning. The Hyundai driver remains in 10th place.
15h
Al Qassimi set a first time of 12'01″2 after almost going off the road in the last corner. The Citroën driver is just over a minute behind the scratch achieved this morning by Latvala.
15h
Al Qassimi started from Ouninpohja. The Citroën driver moved up to 18th place.
15h
The second passage of Ouninpohja, the longest SS of the event with 24,38km, will be contested from 15:08 p.m. Latvala took the scratch this morning in 10’56”9. The special will be broadcast live on the L’Équipe channel.
