Rally of Catalonia 2018
19h
The second stage of the Rally of Spain will begin this Saturday from 8:23 a.m. with 7 special stages on the program. The crews will now compete on the asphalt, but the teams are scanning the sky as showers are expected in the coming hours.
18h
Éric Camilli (Volkswagen) retains the lead in WRC 2 by occupying 12th place in the general classification. The Frenchman now leads Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) by a dozen seconds, while Petter Solberg (Volkswagen) has slipped to 3rd place, more than 8 seconds behind the young Finn. Pierre-Loubet (Hyundai) slipped to 10th in the category.
WRC 2 standings after SS7 – 1. Camilli 1h 38m 23.9sec2. Rovanperä +11.8sec3. P. Solberg +20.4sec4. Kopecký +21.1sec5. Solans +42.0sec6. Kajetanowicz +55.1sec #WRC
— WRC (@OfficialWRC) 26th October, 2018
18h
Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) took the scratch in the final special of the first stage of the Rally of Spain. The Finn completed the 38,85km of La Fatarella-Vilalba in 26'13''2, almost 3 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak (Toyota) and Sébastien Loeb (Citroën). Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) followed almost 8 seconds behind, ahead of Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport), Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai). Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) finished a dozen seconds behind, ahead of Craig Breen (Citroën) and Elfyn Evans (M-Sport). Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) still can't get into the rhythm and ranks 50 seconds behind.
Ott Tänak returns to service with a lead of almost 27 seconds over Dani Sordo who took 2nd place for 3 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans. Sébastien Loeb returned to half a second from the provisional podium while Jari-Matti Latvala gained 3 places to move back into the Top 5 with less than 8 seconds behind the nine-time WRC champion. Andreas Mikkelsen follows in 6th place with 3 tenths ahead of Sébastien Ogier, while Craig Breen has fallen to 8th place, now ahead of Thierry Neuville. Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen still follow the Belgian.
18h
Loeb sets the same time as Tänak, 2″9 behind Latvala but remains 4th, half a second behind Evans, now 3rd. “There I rode well,” said the Alsatian to his famous co-driver who was celebrating his birthday by the public. “It was hard at first but I gained confidence as the day went on. I was able to attack towards the end and we are now done with the dirt. It will be hard if it's wet on the asphalt tomorrow. »
18h
Evans also suffered, 18s behind Latvala. The M-Sport driver lost a place to Sordo by almost 3s. Loeb plays 2nd place in this ES. “I felt good on the attack but that didn't always translate into the times today. »
18h
Suninen is in disarray with more than 50 seconds late at the finish of the special.
18h
Loeb regains his rhythm in the next sector but he is now 4 tenths behind Latvala in the 6th split.
18h
Loeb reduced the pace a little in the 5th sector with a little less than 8 seconds ahead of Neuville.
17h
Breen had a harder time finishing it. The Citroën driver failed more than 16 seconds from the benchmark, being the slowest among those at the finish. His C3 WRC lost its rear wing after hitting a branch. “I saw him swinging, it disturbed me a little. »
17h
Sordo only set the 5th fastest time, around ten seconds behind Latvala's provisional scratch. “I'm not surprised by Seb (Loeb)'s pace but we're not just focusing on him. »
17h
Block is stopped in the special at the 9th km.
17h
Loeb has around 10s lead over Sordo in the 4th split. He should climb onto the provisional podium by continuing at this pace.
17h
Mikkelsen finished almost 11 seconds behind Latvala and gave up his 6th position to Latvala who came back very strongly at the end of the day. The Hyundai driver maintains the advantage over Ogier by 3 tenths.
17h
Latvala improves the benchmark by almost 3s against his teammate Tänak. The Toyota driver catches Ogier by a little more than a second. “The most important thing is to have regained confidence. It's been a long time since I've been in this situation. »
17h
Loeb is attacking very hard. The Citroën driver is 8″5 ahead of Neuville in the 2nd split and remains the fastest in the special.
17h
Lappi is the closest to Tänak with 5s delay. The Finn came back to less than 8 seconds from 9th position behind Neuville. “Yeah yeah, it could have been a lot better…” comments the Toyota driver who still likes to show his joy of driving in the WRC.
17h
Loeb is the fastest in the first split with 2″5 ahead of Tänak.
17h
Tänak once again takes the provisional scratch with a 5″ lead over Ogier. The Toyota driver fulfilled his mission today. “Nothing has been done yet, but it was a difficult day. I started to suffer in the second pass, but I continued to do my best. »
17h
Ogier finally finished 4″2 ahead of Neuville who was relegated to 20s behind the M-Sport driver. “It was very hard for those in front. I pushed as much as possible today but we still lost time on each stage. If it rains tomorrow, it will be difficult for everyone but I hope we will take advantage of it to take some time back. »
17h
Neuville finished with a time of 26'25″6. The crew wonders about a shock, even mentioning “a bird”. “It’s disappointing to suffer so much with these conditions. We try to keep the pressure on Ogier. » The Belgian is ranked 9th in the ranking.
