09h
The first passage will end with the 14,12km of Savalla. The departure was scheduled for 9:54 a.m. but the organization was a little late this morning.
09h
Juho Hänninen (Toyota) scored his first scratch at the Rally de Catalunya in SS8, the 21,29km El Pont d'Armentera special completed in 10'54''6 by the Finn. Kris Meeke (Citroën) was the closest, 1''3 behind, ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) by half a second and Ott Tänak (M-Sport) by almost three seconds. Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) finished more than five seconds behind the benchmark. Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) finished almost eight seconds behind, four seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai).
Kris Meeke extends his lead to more than 15 seconds. Dani Sordo climbs into second place with a tenth ahead of Sébastien Ogier and nine tenths over Ott Tänak. Thierry Neuville climbs into the top five with more than three seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen. Juho Hänninen climbs to seventh place ahead of Mads Ostberg. Esapekka Lappi took ninth place against Stéphane Lefebvre.
09h
Mikkelsen failed 4 seconds behind Ogier and a dozen seconds behind Hänninen. The Toyota driver fell to 6th place, 3″6 behind Neuville. “I tried to do my best. I need more time behind the wheel. The car reacted differently than I anticipated. »
09h
Ogier achieves the 7th provisional time, 6″4 behind Meeke and 7″7 behind Hänninen’s provisional scratch. The M-Sport driver finds himself one tenth behind Sordo in the general classification.
09h
Meeke sets the 2nd provisional time, 1″3 behind Hänninen. The Citroën driver is fighting against Ogier and Mikkelsen to maintain the lead in the RACC. “The car is phenomenal. We will try to keep them behind us. »
09h
Tänak set the 3rd provisional time, 4s behind Hänninen. The M-Sport driver comes back to 9 tenths behind Sordo and maintains his 5th place for a tenth ahead of Neuville. “The sensations were better behind the wheel. »
09h
Ostberg signs the 6th provisional time at 12″7 from the provisional scratch and slips to 8th place behind Hänninen. “I lack experience on asphalt with these types of cars but the new WRCs are really impressive on this surface and it's great to drive. »
09h
Sordo finished 3″5 behind his teammate Neuville. The Spaniard maintains the advantage over the Belgian in the general classification for a second.
09h
Neuville is the closest to Hänninen with 1″8 behind. The Hyundai driver is aiming for 5th place occupied by Tänak. “It was better but we must be able to do better. »
09h
Hänninen took the provisional scratch with a time of 10'54"6, 5"5 better than his teammate Lappi. “I was in trouble yesterday but I'm better today. » The Finn is aiming for 7th place in Ostberg.
09h
Lefebvre drops 8s to Lappi and slips to 10th place against the Finn who is now ahead of him by 6s. “It went well, better than in the previous special, but it's not yet perfect. »
09h
Lappi further improves the mark with a time of 11'00"1, 13 seconds better than Evans. The Toyota driver is battling with Lefebvre for 9th place. “The absence of the window does not bother me. »
09h
Evans improved by almost a minute with a time of 11'13″1. The Dmack driver is in 11th position. “We are progressing well. We'll just have to show what we can do. »
09h
Al Qassimi set a first time in 12'08"9. The weather should progress quickly. “The sky is holding for the moment. »
09h
Al Qassimi set off in the special.
09h
The time is holding up in SS8 which should start in 2 minutes.
09h
Most of the SS8 route is uphill. The first part is played on smooth asphalt, but the road becomes narrower and winding towards the end.
09h
The start of SS8, the 21,29km El Pont d'Armetera, was delayed by 8 minutes to start at 9:15 a.m.
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Hill climbs
