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The crews are preparing for the 10,26km Aberhirnant special. Tänak is expected to start at 11:53 a.m.
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Paddon was stopped in the special while in 4th place in WRC 2 Pro ahead of Kopecky.
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Ott Tänak (Toyota) scored his second consecutive scratch at Wales Rally GB by winning the 16,19km Dyfnant special. The Estonian was ahead of his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala by a tenth. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) followed 3 tenths ahead of Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) and Craig Breen (Hyundai) all less than a second from the benchmark. Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) followed more than 2 seconds ahead of his teammate Esapekka Lappi. Kris Meeke (Toyota) lost almost 5 seconds to his Estonian teammate. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) followed at 6 seconds. The Fords of Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tidemand were furthest behind, the Finn having briefly left the road.
Kris Meeke retains the lead of Wales Rally GB with a 4s lead over Ott Tänak who overtook Sébastien Ogier by 8 seconds. Thierry Neuville is only 2 tenths behind the Frenchman. Craig Breen completes the Top 2 with a tenth ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala. Esapekka Lappi finds himself 5th ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen, while Teemu Suninen slipped to 7th ahead of teammate Elfyn Evans.
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Breen finished 9 tenths behind Tänak and 6 tenths behind his teammate Neuville. The Irishman suffered a big scare when he narrowly avoided leaving the road. “We came close, yes. » He is in 5th position, less than 4 seconds behind Neuville but only maintains a tenth lead over Latvala.
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Tidemand ranks more than 22s behind the benchmark and remains the slowest. The M-Sport driver is racing behind several WRC 2s. “It’s clearly slippery. We changed a few things on the car to make it more responsive and it feels a little better. »
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Evans is on the right pace with 7 tenths behind Tänak. “I try to stay on the right path even if it’s difficult. » The Finn is still more than 22 seconds behind his teammate Suninen.
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Lappi sets the 5th time, 4”1 behind Tänak. The Citroën driver finds himself 7th with 2″4 ahead of Mikkelsen. “It’s quite complicated. The grip changes really quickly. »
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Suninen ranks almost 16s behind the benchmark after his brief stoppage. The M-Sport driver finds himself more than 6s behind Mikkelsen. “I had to backtrack, but it’s okay. The conditions are very difficult. »
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Latvala ranks one tenth behind his teammate Tänak, ahead of Neuville by two tenths. The Finn is less than 2s behind the Belgian in the general classification. “I didn't expect it to be so slippery. The grip is constantly changing on the road. »
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Meeke ranks almost 5s behind his teammate Tänak. The Northern Irishman maintains the lead of the race by 4″8 over the Estonian. “I missed a hairpin and lost a handful of seconds. The special was very tough. Soft tires were not the best choice. »
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Mikkelsen ranks 6s behind Tänak. The Norwegian is 13s behind his teammate Neuville in the general classification. “The car even moves in a straight line, it’s really strong. »
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Suninen restarted the stage after stopping. The Finn seems to be moving at a normal pace.
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Nice performance from Neuville who ranks 3 tenths behind Tänak. The Belgian remains behind Ogier in the general classification, 2 tenths behind. “The car was performing well in the special. It takes energy to throw it through the turns with the high speed. It's complicated, the exit from the road is never far away. »
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Suninen is stopped after the first km of the special. The M-Sport driver was 7th ahead of Lappi and Mikkelsen.
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Ogier caught up well by limiting him to 2″3 on Tänak at the finish. “There’s a lot of aquaplaning. » The Estonian overtakes the Citroën driver by 2 seconds.
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Tänak finished with a time of 11'06″9. “The course was difficult. We have improved the car since the first SS and it is getting better. »
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Neuville leads Ogier by 2s in the 2nd split, being 2s behind Tänak.
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Ogier finds himself 4s behind Tänak in the 2nd sector. It seems complicated for the Citroën driver.
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Tänak currently has a 1″ lead over Ogier and Neuville in the first split.
10h
Ogier is evolving with a windshield that is cracking since the previous course. This does not hinder the pilot's visibility at the moment.
