Rally of Catalonia 2018
18h
If the positions remained as they were, Sébastien Ogier would take the lead for one point ahead of Thierry Neuville. Ott Tänak would be at 28 points and would still mathematically have a chance of being crowned. These figures obviously do not take into account the bonus points of the Power Stage which will be contested this Sunday.
18h
Here are the general rankings at the end of the 2nd stage:
WRC standings after SS14 – Latvala leads going into the final day1. Latvala 2h 35m 01.8sec2. Ogier +4.7sec3. Loeb +8.0sec4. Evans +9.8sec5. Neuville +12.7sec6. Sordo +16.5sec #WRC
— WRC (@OfficialWRC) 27th October, 2018
WRC 2 standings after SS14 – 1. Rovanperä 2h 41m 51.1sec2. Kopecký +22.0sec3. Solans +22.3sec4. P.Solberg +1m 26.6sec5. Kajetanowicz +1m 31.5sec6. H.Solberg +3m 33.0sec #WRC
— WRC (@OfficialWRC) 27th October, 2018
18h
The final stage will include 2 special stages covered twice. Departure is scheduled for 7:35 a.m., an early wake-up call which will be mitigated by the change to winter time (at 3 a.m., it will be 2 a.m.).
17h
Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) retains the lead in WRC 2, but it is now Jan Kopecky (Skoda) who threatens the young Finn. Éric Camilli (Volkswagen) retired due to gearbox failure. His teammate Petter Solberg is at the foot of the provisional podium, a good distance from the Ford Fiesta R5 of Nil Solans.
17h
Loeb: “A little surprised by the conditions. I had also lost time in the first SS. I had trouble getting my bearings in the rain. With all these difficulties, it's surprising to be here. Some courses favored one type of tire and it was the opposite on the other. Everything is possible tomorrow with such small gaps. My advantage? I am the youngest. »
17h
Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) gave up part of his precious lead in the super special closing the second stage of the Rally of Spain. The Finn finished 3''4 behind his teammate Ott Tänak who took the scratch by completing the 2,24km Salou course in 2'41''9. Sébastien Ogier took more than 2 seconds from the leader of the event. Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) also took a second from the Finn. Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) stayed on the pace by following his compatriot 6 tenths behind. Note the performance of Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda), the leader of WRC 2, who finished one tenth of the scratch taking advantage of the drier conditions.
Jari-Matti Latvala finished the second stage with a lead of 4”7 over Sébastien Ogier. Sébastien Loeb follows the reigning champion a little over 3 seconds behind with less than 2 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans. The Welshman is followed at 3 seconds by Thierry Neuville who precedes his teammate Dani Sordo by less than 4 seconds. The Top 6 are grouped together in less than 17 seconds.
17h
And Tänak takes the scratch with 9 tenths ahead of Ogier. This remains insufficient to remove it from its 8th place.
17h
Sordo signs the 5th time, 1″4 behind Ogier’s provisional scratch. The Hyundai driver remains 6th, less than 4 seconds behind his teammate Neuville.
17h
Evans signs the 3rd fastest time, 1″1 behind Ogier and half a second behind Loeb. The Welshman remains 4th, less than 2 seconds behind the Alsatian.
17h
Loeb ranks 6 tenths behind Ogier, being closest to the reference. The Citroën driver retained his 3rd place before Evans passed, 3″ behind the reigning champion and just under 3s ahead of Neuville.
17h
Latvala failed 2″5 behind Ogier who was only 4″7 from the head of the race.
17h
Ogier improves the reference by ahead of Neuville by 1″2. The Belgian is 8s behind the M-Sport driver.
17h
Mikkelsen also stalled but the Norwegian still managed to finish 1″5 behind Ogier.
17h
Conditions seem to be improving in the special. Ogier improves Neuville’s time by 1”2. The M-Sport driver is in the group fighting for the lead of the race, occupying 5th place.
17h
Breen ranks 1″4 behind Neuville even though the Citroën driver also stalled in the special. The Irishman remains 9th.
17h
Neuville improves the benchmark by 6″2 on a particularly slippery and tricky course with a succession of hairpins to be crossed at very low speed. The Hyundai driver is in 6th position.
17h
Lappi improves Suninen's time by 4 tenths even though the Toyota driver also stalled towards the end of the course. The Finn is ranked 7th.
17h
Suninen only improves Al Qassimi's time by 11″5. The M-Sport driver is expected to finish the day in 11th place.
17h
Al Qassimi finished with a time of 3'02″1. The Citroën driver stalled in the special.
17h
Al Qassimi set off in the last time trial of the day, 2,24km long and traced through the streets of Salou.
