18h
Stage two of Wales Rally GB begins tomorrow from 8:55am. The day will be followed live with our live text.
17h
Pontus Tidemand (Skoda) retains the lead in WRC 2, standing in 13th place in the general classification. Éric Camilli (Ford) took second place in the category after taking advantage of the stop of Ole Veiby (Skoda). Tom Cave (Ford) completes the provisional podium. Pierre-Louis Loubet (Ford) is ranked sixth. Kalle Rovanperä (Ford) dismounted due to a damaged radiator while in 14th place in WRC 2. Yoann Bonato (DS 3) recovered to 13th position.
17h
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) ended the series of stage wins achieved by M-Sport drivers at Wales Rally GB by going fastest on SS7 at Hafren. The Belgian completed the 35,14km in 20'22''3, eight tenths ahead of Elfyn Evans (M-Sport). Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) followed more than seven seconds ahead of Ott Tänak (M-Sport) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) 12 seconds behind the benchmark.
While Craig Breen (Citroën) stopped following what appeared to be a road trip, his teammate Kris Meeke lost 17 seconds to the Belgian, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon (Hyundai). The Toyotas of Juho Hänninen and Esapekka Lappi failed with more than half a minute left.
Elfyn Evans concludes the first stage of Wales Rally GB with a lead of almost 25 seconds over Ott Tänak who sees his teammate Sébastien Ogier close to two seconds. Thierry Neuville gained three places and found himself fourth, almost five seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala. Kris Meeke slips to sixth place, one tenth behind the Finn, ten seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen. Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon and Huho Hänninen complete the top ten.
17h
Ostberg is still the slowest with almost 40 seconds behind Neuville's scratch. “”I don’t really know what to say. I did my best but we are far from the pace. I don't know what the problem is because I'm driving at the limit. It's very disappointing. I have no grip, I can't take turns correctly. »
17h
Mikkelsen sets the 7th provisional time, more than 18 seconds behind his teammate Neuville. The Norwegian fell to 7th place, 10 seconds behind Meeke.
17h
Lappi finished 4 tenths behind his teammate Hänninen. “I tried as much as possible to stay on the road. » The Finn remains on the outskirts of the top ten.
17h
Paddon set the 8th provisional time, almost 25 seconds behind Neuville and dropped more than 6 seconds to his teammate Sordo. The New Zealander remains 9th, 9 seconds behind the Spaniard.
17h
Meeke achieves the 6th provisional time, 17 seconds behind Neuville. The Citroën driver slipped behind Latvala for a tenth behind. “It appears that Breen has spun and is stuck in a ditch. »
17h
Hänninen is the slowest, 35 seconds behind Neuville's provisional scratch. “It’s hard to enjoy it when you’re not in the rhythm. We'll see for tomorrow. » The Toyota driver is fighting to stay in the top ten.
16h
Evans is closest to Neuville with 8 tenths behind. “The weather remains uncertain for tomorrow. We will see. » By taking back almost 9s from Tänak, the Dmack driver has more than 24s at the top of the general classification.
16h
Sordo is the slowest with 18 seconds behind Ogier. The Hyundai driver was in 8th place at the start of the special. “Thierry’s time is very impressive. I try to do my best. »
16h
Latvala lost almost 13 seconds on Neuville. The Finn slips almost 5s behind the Hyundai driver in the general classification. “I did what I could but it’s not enough. I can't brake enough. »
16h
Neuville takes the provisional scratch by gaining more than 9 seconds from Tänak with a time of 20'22″3. “I’m still not satisfied. We are fast, we have good settings, but the time lost will be difficult to make up for. » The Belgian comes back around ten seconds behind Ogier, whom he was ahead of by more than 7s on this course.
16h
Tänak drops 1″7 to Ogier at the end of SS7. The Frenchman is 2″2 behind his teammate in 2nd place in the general classification. “We lacked consistency on the brakes. »
16h
Ogier sets a first time in 20'29″9, 4 seconds behind Evans' scratch achieved this morning. “It's good to be at the front because I wasn't on the pace this morning because I was too careful. I was more on the limit in the second pass. We can't fight against Evans, we'll do our best with the Michelins. »
16h
Breen is stopped on SS7. The Citroën driver moved up to 12th place against Ostberg after his puncture in SS4.
16h
Tänak is further behind in the 3rd sector, almost 2 seconds behind Ogier. Neuville still has a 2″8 lead over the Frenchman. Evans has a 2″2 lead over the Championship leader at the first intermediate.
16h
The provisional classification after SS6:
16h
Neuville is currently the fastest in SS7 with more than 3 seconds ahead of Ogier in 2nd intermediate. Tänak points to the same place with 4 tenths ahead of the opener. Latvala is further behind with 2 seconds behind in the first sector.
16h
Ostberg is the slowest of the WRC crews with 6″6 behind Ogier’s scratch in SS6. The private driver slipped to 13th position, more than 4 seconds behind Breen.
