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Rally GB and Sepang MotoGP

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Hold onto your horses, it's only a timing glitch. Ogier did lose time on the stage, but it was two seconds, not two minutes. Tanak makes it four stage wins from four, but Ogier does indeed still lead the rally, now by 23 seconds with two stages to go.
Crash
Drama in SS20 - Ogier has lost over two minutes and with it, the lead of the rally! We'll bring you more when we have it.
Stopwatch
Tanak duly completes the stage 2.1 seconds quicker than Meeke, with Ogier the only man still to go.
Stopwatch
Paddon was quicker than Neuville in SS19, but is unable to continue that momentum in the second run through Clocaenog as he drops another 1.1 seconds to his team-mate. Meeke is still the quickest man through so far, but that could be about to change with Ott Tanak now on the stage.
Stopwatch
Meeke leaps to the top with a 4m20.5s, almost a second and a half quicker than Latvala's previous best.
WRC
Ostberg has really struggled today and loses another 3.6 seconds to Latvala on SS20. Dani Sordo is next through - he's just cruising to the finish and drops 4.5 seconds, but still has over 30 seconds in hand over the Finn with two stages to go.
Stopwatch
Latvala is the new pacesetter with a 4m21.9s, over a second slower than his run through Clocaenog this morning.
Stopwatch
A few more drivers have come through in the meantime, with Eric Camilli the quickest so far ahead of Stephane Lefebvre. Latvala will be the next man through.
WRC
Mikkelsen is the next man into SS20, but is three tenths slower than Lorenzo Bertelli.
Stopwatch
Confirmation that Al Rajhi has retired with a gearbox problem as Gorban completes the stage in 4m32.5s.
Lights green
It appears Al Rajhi has not taken the start - but we do have a car on the stage, with Gorban up and running a minute after his scheduled start time of 10:37am.
Information
After a (very) brief respite, the final loop of the rally is about to start. Bit of a delay to proceedings by the looks of things - Al Rajhi's yet to enter the stage - so in the meantime, here's a stage guide from our main man on the ground, DAVID EVANS:

SS20 Clocaenog (4.78 miles)
Brings the crews right back to where the event started, with this stage running on parts of the shakedown stage – the final junction square right and the run down to the finish is identical. The nature of this stage is slightly different in to the roads in mid-Wales, but the surface in good condition and will provide an interesting start to the final day.
Checkered flag
SS19 Alwen leading times:
1 Tanak 5m42.1s
2 Ogier +3.8s
3 Paddon +3.8s
4 Meeke +4.7s
5 Neuville +5.5s
6 Mikkelsen +7.6s

Overall classification:
1 Ogier 2h58m57.4s
2 Tanak +25.9s
3 Neuville +1m39.9s
4 Paddon +1m52.2s
5 Meeke +2m37.3s
6 Sordo + 3m48.9s
7 Latvala +4m27.6s
8 Ostberg +4m30.6s
Information
Sunday morning SS17-19 summary:

- Tanak fastest on all three stages, Ogier's lead down to 25.9s
- Neuville and Paddon still evenly matched in fight for third
- Meeke thought he had a puncture but stays fifth
- Latvala snatches seventh from Ostberg and now 38.7s behind Sordo
- Lappi continues to lead WRC from Suninen and Tiedmand
Stopwatch
Ogier doesn't help his cause by dropping time again to Tanak - that's three stage wins in a row now for the Estonian at the end of the first loop. He's enjoying himself out there, as Ogier's lead is now down to 25.9s with three short stages to go.
WRC
Another good time from Tanak in SS19, he goes fastest again with a 5:42.1. That's 3.8s quicker than Paddon, but with just three short stages remaining, he looks to be running out of time to catch Ogier.
Stopwatch
Meeke reports that it was so slippery in that stage, he thought he had a puncture. His time is beaten again by the Hyundai of Hayden Paddon, while Neuville slips into third, which reduces the gap between the two team-mates to 12.3 seconds.
Stopwatch
Next through is Kris Meeke who is the quickest man so far, 2.9 seconds faster than the VWs. That will put a smile on his face.
WRC
Jari-Matti Latvala has just gone through Alwen and is currently joint-quickest with Mikkelsen. The Finn joins the bandwagon of drivers complaining about the slippery conditions and predicts that it will get worse through the second pass.
Checkered flag
Before we jump over to SS19, here are your leading times from the first run through Brenig:

1 Tanak 5m23.1s
2 Ogier +3.5s
3 Latvala +3.9s
4 Neuville +5.5s
5 Paddon +6.9s
6 Ostberg +7.2s

Overall classification:
1 Ogier 2h53m11.5
2 Tanak +29.7s
3 Neuville +1m38.2s
4 Paddon +1m52.2s
5 Meeke +2m36.4s
6 Sordo +3m44.4s
7 Latvala +4m23.8s
8 Ostberg +4m26.5s
Quote
It's a second stage win of the morning for the DMACK-shod Tanak as he shaves another 3.5 seconds off Ogier, bringing his margin down to 29.5 seconds with four stages to go. "We know that we don't have the advantage on the tyres, so we have to continue driving fast," says Ogier.
Stopwatch
Tanak is the next man through and snatches the top spot away from Latvala. He's 3.9s quicker than the Finn in just 4.9 stage miles, but needs a big drama for Ogier to have any chance of improving on his second place.
Haydon Paddon concedes that Neuville probably has third place in the bag and the Belgian duly goes quicker again in SS18, 1.6s behind Latvala.
Quote
Dani Sordo clipped a hay bale in that stage, but is still quicker than Kris Meeke, who is still struggling for grip and completes the stage 4.6s off Latvala's pace. He's very much looking forward to receiving the eagerly-anticipated 2017 Citroen. "We're in no man's land in fifth place, we're just cruising through."
Information
The longest stage of the day, and the last of this morning's loop - Alwen - is also underway. Here's a stage guide from DAVID EVANS:

SS19 Alwen (6.46 miles)
Quite a lot of harvesting has gone on in this stage in the last few months. There was a section where the cars came through a tunnel of trees – all of those have gone now opening up the road considerably. The surface is good and the road quick between the junctions.
Stopwatch
Ostberg loses another 3.3 seconds to Latvala in SS18, which means seventh place changes hands. "It doesn't look like it will be a battle to be honest, he is faster," reports the Norwegian.
Quote
Latvala sets the new benchmark on SS18 with a 5m27.0s. He admits to being surprised by how slippery the conditions were and has a lengthy discussion with co-driver Miika Antilla after the stage. "I wouldn't be surprised if people have a spin in there, there were a couple of very nasty places."
Stopwatch
Lefebvre goes through with the quickest time so far, 2.2s up on Camilli. Latvala is next to tackle the stage, with only 0.6s to make up on Ostberg.
WRC
A good time from Eric Camilli, who goes quickest through the stage so far, a second up on Mikkelsen. Next through is Stephane Lefebvre, who probably would have preferred to make his comeback in less treacherous conditions than these...
Quote
Back to Brenig now, where Andreas Mikkelsen completes the stage in the fastest time so far, 5m34.6s. "I was trying to test where the grip is and where it is not," he reported. "It was surprising how little grip there was, because it looked really good, but actually it was really bad."

Mikkelsen is only 0.6s faster than Lorenzo Bertelli through there.
Stopwatch
In WRC2, Pontus Tiedmand was quickest through SS17, taking more time out of second-placed Teemu Suninen. The gap between them is now down to 7.1 seconds, with leader Esapekka Lappi a further 55.8 seconds further up the road.
Checkered flag
A confirmation here of your leading times from SS17 Clocaenog 1, which did not lead to any positional changes to the overnight leaderboard:

1 Tanak 4m19.0s
2 Ogier +0.6s
3 Mikkelsen +0.8s
4 Latvala +1.8s
5 Paddon +2.3s
6 Neuville +2.3s
FV83.5
Deletraz takes his second pole position of the season, ahead of Renault Academy stable-mate Jack Aitken. Q2 results: 1 Deletraz; 2 Aitken; 3 Matevos Isaakyan; 4 Matthieu Vaxiviere; 5 Egor Orudzhev; 6 Beitske Visser.

By: Matt Beer

Published: