Monte Carlo Rally 2018
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The rally leader is in...six seconds slower than Tanak! So Tanak chips away again. But Ogier will take a lead of more than half a minute into the final day of the rally.
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"It's hard to say, in the dirty places the tyre was quite good but we had too much dry [surface] and it was overheating. Nice clean run, that's all we can do."
He's four seconds quicker than Ogier at the penultimate split...maybe it's not all over!
He's four seconds quicker than Ogier at the penultimate split...maybe it's not all over!
Tanak's in and he's the slowest of the three Toyotas. This could be the end of his charge, 10 seconds slower than Neuville, depending on whether Ogier struggles to the same degree.
Worth noting that Evans' strong run through that stage and Lappi jumping to fourth means just over 20 seconds between fourth and sixth now. That'll be a fun fight to end the rally tomorrow.
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Much quicker than Meeke, Esapekka!
"Good."
A man of few words. He's done the job.
"Good."
A man of few words. He's done the job.
Lappi's done enough: just! It's 14m37.0s, which is 7.8s faster than Meeke. The Toyota driver is back in fourth.
Latvala's in, so Lappi won't be far away. Latvala's three seconds faster than Meeke but some way of quickest – clearly this stage is not getting quicker as more cars throw up mud.
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Meeke: "It's getting more and more mud. I stalled at one hairpin. Only lost one or two [seconds]. Let's see how the others go, Lappi's the important one."
Meeke in, and it's not great – 12s slower than Neuville.
So, we've had one change – are we poised for another? Lappi's quicker than Meeke at the first split. If he finds another couple of seconds over the rest of the stage he'll reclaim fourth.
Yep, Bouffier well down on Neuville – 22s in fact. That's Neuville up to seventh.
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Evans: "It was OK, a lot of dirt pulled out already. A lot of the cuts were very difficult. It would have been easy to trip in some of those places."
Evans comes in a couple of seconds slower than Neuville. Now we wait for Bouffier.
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Neuville 2.2s quicker than Breen – question is, has Bouffier fallen further away from Neuville?
Neuville says: "I tried to do a good stage. I'm not sure about the tyres. I'm not sure it was a good choice. It's a compromise. We will see the times of the others."
Neuville says: "I tried to do a good stage. I'm not sure about the tyres. I'm not sure it was a good choice. It's a compromise. We will see the times of the others."
Breen says it's a stage for soft tyres so maybe that'll work for Ogier. He also jokes that he's made the stage as dirty as he could for those following!
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"It was nice to have a clean road," he says. "I really enjoyed it, the car was working really nice. Was not as committed as I would have liked in a couple of places."
That looked like Breen's best run of the day. 14m35.0s for the Citroen man.
Neuville poised to overhaul Bouffier on this stage – eight seconds quicker in the first split.
Got some split times for four drivers and Neuville is the fastest so far, quicker than Evans, Breen and Bouffier.
Frustrating not to have regular split times but we'll work with what we get. Bouffier, Meeke and Latvala on the stage.
Crucial info: Breen appears to have swapped out his orange-tinted glasses for a pair with regular clear lenses. More on this as we get it.
Evans has joined Breen and Neuville on the stage now.
Some stunning shots of the linking hairpins up the mountain on this stage. Really beautiful. The upgraded WRC+ offering might be a patchy service so far on its first event, but it is offering some fantastic imagery when it's working.
We are live on SS13.
Three minutes to the scheduled start of the stage. Breen first up, then Neuville.
Things to look out for in this one: Neuville trying to overhaul Bouffier for seventh; the three-car fight for fourth (Meeke vs Lappi vs Evans) and, of course, the fight for the win.
Things to look out for in this one: Neuville trying to overhaul Bouffier for seventh; the three-car fight for fourth (Meeke vs Lappi vs Evans) and, of course, the fight for the win.
So, Tanak has one more stage today to put a dent in Ogier's still-rather-handsome lead. Could tyres come into play?
Only M-Sport on the soft tyre, everybody else on the supersoft, so let's how this plays out.
Only M-Sport on the soft tyre, everybody else on the supersoft, so let's how this plays out.
How was your lunch? We're back and ready for the final stage of the day.
Autosport
Here's our latest report. We're off for some lunch – and suggest you do the same!
Join us in just under two hours' time, around 3pm UK time, for the final stage of the day:
Join us in just under two hours' time, around 3pm UK time, for the final stage of the day:
Information
Apologies, again, for the silence. Just sorting you some lovely reportage.
Here's how the sharp end of the overall classification looks now:
1 Ogier 3h15m42.1s
2 Tanak +39.5s
3 Latvala +1m39.6s
4 Meeke +4m44.1s
5 Lappi +4m50.3s
6 Evans +5m14.1s
Here's how the sharp end of the overall classification looks now:
1 Ogier 3h15m42.1s
2 Tanak +39.5s
3 Latvala +1m39.6s
4 Meeke +4m44.1s
5 Lappi +4m50.3s
6 Evans +5m14.1s
Mikkelsen's in, not a stunning time, 13 seconds or so slower than team-mate Neuville. Just heading to the end of the rally to try and get some powerstage points.
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"Try to stay in the lead," Ogier says of his approach. Composed.
Well, well, well...Ogier's not particularly rapid. He drops another eight seconds to Tanak.
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"Nothing special," Tanak says of that run. "Consistent run, not pushing."
Asked why he's not pushing, he says with a smile: "You should go out there and try to push!"
Asked why he's not pushing, he says with a smile: "You should go out there and try to push!"
Tanak nips in a fraction faster than Lappi, but can't do anything about Neuville, who stays quickest.
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Lappi comes through just under three seconds slower than Neuville. He's just 6s behind Meeke now for fourth!
"Good," he replies when told about that news. "I was trying!"
"Good," he replies when told about that news. "I was trying!"
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Latvala: "I don't know the times! It was very slippery at the end. Mud was the problem, not the ice."
Latvala finishes the stage 6.6s slower than Neuville. He's third, slower than Evans as well.
What that Meeke error has done already is allow Evans to get to half a minute behind the Citroen. M-Sport's Evans has slowly got himself back into contention for a good chunk of points on this rally.
We'll know in a couple of minutes whether or not Lappi's going to reclaim fourth from Meeke.
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Meeke searching for times at the stage end – no luck.
"Lappi's puncture promoted us to fourth, but he's only 20s behind. I touched a little snowbank and was 10 seconds stuck. The advantage I thought I would make I haven't made."
"Lappi's puncture promoted us to fourth, but he's only 20s behind. I touched a little snowbank and was 10 seconds stuck. The advantage I thought I would make I haven't made."
By: Matt Beer
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