Rally Australia 2017
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This is the end of this live commentary for this first passage. See you tomorrow morning shortly after 7 a.m. for the complete summary of the first stage.
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The drivers are now heading towards mid-day service. The second half of the stage will begin at 2:37 a.m. with the second passage through the three stages already contested.
The Destination NSW super-special will finally be used twice to conclude the stage.
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Third special, and third scratch for Andreas Mikkelsen in Australia. The Hyundai driver once again distanced his rivals over the 26,68 km of the Sherwood ES with a best time set in 12'51″1, 6″3 ahead of Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën), 6″8 ahead of Craig Breen (Citroën) and 7″3 ahead of Ott Tänak (Ford).
In the general classification, Mikkelsen has a 16″6 margin over Kris Meeke (Citroën), victim of a scare with an off-road passage fortunately without any unfortunate consequences. Craig Breen took advantage of his excellent time in this SS3 to move up to third position at 17″7.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) is temporarily ejected from the podium and is in fourth position at 20″7 and ahead of Ott Tänak (Ford) by two tenths and Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) by four tenths. Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) is 7th ahead of Sébastien Ogier (Ford), eighth, 28″8 behind the leader. The Frenchman, however, seems to have resolved his gear selection concerns.
Stéphane Lefebvre and Elfyn Evans (Ford) remain in the top 10. Esapekka Lappi (Toyota), still plagued by power steering problems, loses more than 2′ in this special and is more than 3’15” behind overall.
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Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) stood out by setting the second time, 6″3 behind Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai).
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Without power steering, Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) finished in 14'52″9 and lost more than 2′ on Mikkelsen. The Finn admits that he only wants to keep his Yaris on the road.
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“It’s a good morning,” confesses the leader of the event. I'm happy with the car, it's as I want it. No scares, I enjoy these moments in the car. »
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Once again, Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) showed the most enthusiasm by achieving another solid performance. The leader of the event consolidates his position with a reference time established at 12'51″1, or 6″8 better than Breen.
Overall, Mikkelsen widens the gap to 16″6 over Meeke and 17″7 over Breen, who moves up to provisional third position.
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Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) signs the 3rd provisional time with the feeling of not having the real engine power of the block of his i20.
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Very good performance from Craig Breen (Citroën) who achieved the best provisional time in 12'57″9, half a second faster than Tänak over these 26,68 km.
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Kris Meeke (Citroën) is a little further behind on this SS3 than during the first two timed sectors. The Briton signs the 4th provisional time, 6″3 behind Tänak, after a big scare. “I knew I was going too fast into a corner. We went off the road and into the bushes. I had to stop, turn around, turn and start again. »
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Elfyn Evans (Ford) lost 7″7 in this SS3.
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Latvala cannot hide a little disappointment when seeing his time on this special. The Finn is four tenths behind Neuville overall but sees Tänak overtake him.
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Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) fails 3″2 behind Tänak on this SS3.
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Tänak believes he has made effective changes to his set-up following the loss of his rear diffuser.
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Thierry Neuville's words seem to be confirmed since Ott Tänak (Ford) takes the provisional best time in 12'58″4, 3″9 ahead of Neuville. Despite his missing rear diffuser, the Estonian is two tenths closer to the Belgian overall.
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Ogier must, however, cede the best provisional time to Neuville (Hyundai). The Belgian improves Ogier's time by 5″2 and takes an 8″1 lead over the Frenchman at the end of this SS3. The Hyundai driver believes, however, that he will lose time against the other drivers coming in the running order due to the significant sweep in this sector.
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Sébastien Ogier (Ford) sets a time of 13'07″5. Gear shifting issues have been resolved on the Fiesta WRC – M-Sport. “It was an electrical problem and we could fix it. This ES was like driving on a beach: no grip. »
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It's the turn of Ott Tänak (Ford) to get the best start in this SS3. The Estonian has a 7″4 lead over Ogier in the second part and 5″8 over Neuville.
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Neuville is three tenths ahead of Ogier after the first partial of this SS3.
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Sébastien Ogier (Ford) started SS3. Remember that the world champion encountered gearbox problems in SS2.
