Rally Argentina 2018

16h

Ott Tänak (Toyota) was once again the fastest in SS4 of the Rally Argentina, completing the 23,85km Santa Rosa – San Agustin in 13'42''6. Kris Meeke (Citroën) was the closest, finishing almost three seconds behind, two seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Crag Breen (Citroën) and Dani Sordo (Hyundai) are six seconds behind the benchmark, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen who gives the Estonian 8”5. Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) failed by around ten seconds, ahead of his teammate Elfyn Evans by one second. Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) followed at 14 seconds, preceding his compatriot Teemu Suninen (M-Sport).

Andreas Mikkelsen retains the lead in Rally Argentina, but he now only has a one-second lead over Ott Tänak. Kris Meeke climbs to third place, ahead of Sébastien Ogier by two tenths. Esapekka Lappi fell to eighth place by losing to Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Craig Breen, although he remains less than 16 seconds from the lead of the race. Elfyn Evans still occupies ninth position ahead of Teemu Suninen.

 

15h

Suninen is once again at the bottom of the ranking with more than 14 seconds behind. The M-Sport driver is still in 10th place, more than 11 seconds behind his teammate Evans.

15h

Evans did not improve his pace by only setting the 8th fastest time, more than 11 seconds behind Tänak. The M-Sport driver remains 9th, more than 11 seconds behind Lappi overall. “The sensations aren't really bad, but I'm definitely not fast enough. We're going to have to study at mid-stage assistance. »  

15h

Breen achieves a similar time to Sordo with a tenth advantage over the Hyundai driver. The Citroën driver also catches up with Lappi, 14″5 behind Mikkelsen in the general standings. “There’s something strange about the car. I have a lot of oversteer. »

15h

Sordo signs the 4th fastest time, 6s behind Tänak and is now ahead of Lappi in the general standings, 11s behind the race lead.

15h

Sordo is 4″3 behind Tänak at the last intermediate. This is the next driver expected to arrive.

15h

Lappi is the slowest with 14″2 behind. The Toyota driver is almost 16s behind the leader in the general classification.

15h

Meeke is the closest to Tänak with 2″9 behind. The Citroën driver is 5s behind Mikkelsen overall, now ahead of Ogier by 2 tenths.

15h

Mikkelsen drops 8″5 to Tänak and only retains the lead of the Rally Argentina by a second ahead of the Estonian.

15h
15h

Tänak takes the provisional scratch with 4″9 ahead of Neuville. “The car runs well. The road was very slippery, but we drove well. » The Toyota driver is now ahead of Ogier by more than 4 seconds overall and could take the lead of the race against Mikkelsen.

15h

Neuville improved Ogier’s time by 5″3. “The car is trailing quite a bit from the rear now. It changes quite a bit with the temperatures rising. » The Hyundai driver came back to within 3s of the Frenchman overall.

15h

Ogier set a first time of 13'52″8 while Neuville has just finished.

15h

Ogier finishes. His time is not yet known. “I was on the attack but I expect to lose time. I had already lost quite a bit here last year because it's dry and we sweep a lot. »

15h

Pedro Heller, 6th in WRC 2 in his Fiesta R5, rolled over in SS3 but was able to reach the finish of the special. Rovanperä is in 3rd place in the category.

15h

Neuville continues to reduce the gap on Ogier with a 2s lead in the 2nd split. Mikkelsen is 2s ahead of Ogier in the 1st intermediate.

15h

Neuville is one second ahead of Ogier in the 1st intermediate.

15h

Ogier started the special.

15h

From the start, the crews will have to cross a ford where Petter Solberg rolled over in 1999, before crossing another deeper one a km further on. The stage is fast, bordered by high embankments, but the road becomes bumpier towards the finish.

15h

The crews are now preparing to face the 23,85km of Santa Rosa – San Agustin. Ogier should start at 15:13 p.m.

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