Rally Sweden
Live Text
Sort by
David Evans
Here's our man in the service park DAVID EVANS confirming a couple of changes at the last service:
"Ott Tanak’s car came in for the most work at the midday service, with a full gearbox change for the Estonian’s Ford. Craig Breen was grateful for a new set of dampers after the front-left corner of his Citroen copped it on a big, very big, fourth-stage stone."
"Ott Tanak’s car came in for the most work at the midday service, with a full gearbox change for the Estonian’s Ford. Craig Breen was grateful for a new set of dampers after the front-left corner of his Citroen copped it on a big, very big, fourth-stage stone."
Information
WRC2 frontrunner OC Veiby has been caught out at the end of the stage and he's lost 30s to Tidemand. The front of Veiby's car has disappeared and – possibly – so has his chances of winning the class.
David Evans
Perhaps the strangest of the incidents this morning was Dani Sordo and the net dropping down in his hair or eyes.
Here's our man DAVID EVANS to explain:
Dani Sordo provided an amusing explanation for his time loss aboard the #6 Hyundai. You might remember there was some talk of a net dropping down from the roof and into his eyes – that was only half of the problem.
“In my notes I had a hairpin left,” the Spaniard told Autosport. “But I didn’t remember it being a junction. I was slowing for the corner and looking: 'Where is it? Where is the corner?'. Then as I slid past it I said: 'Oh f**k, there it is back there!'.
"The net is something put there, somewhere to put the cap or hat when I have the helmet on. It wasn’t falling in my eyes directly, just to the side – but it was distracting.”
Here's our man DAVID EVANS to explain:
Dani Sordo provided an amusing explanation for his time loss aboard the #6 Hyundai. You might remember there was some talk of a net dropping down from the roof and into his eyes – that was only half of the problem.
“In my notes I had a hairpin left,” the Spaniard told Autosport. “But I didn’t remember it being a junction. I was slowing for the corner and looking: 'Where is it? Where is the corner?'. Then as I slid past it I said: 'Oh f**k, there it is back there!'.
"The net is something put there, somewhere to put the cap or hat when I have the helmet on. It wasn’t falling in my eyes directly, just to the side – but it was distracting.”
Information
Mads Ostberg reported a pretty hairy moment in the stage. The spoiler has come off the back off his Fiesta and he's had a major moment in sixth gear.
His time is well off the pace.
His time is well off the pace.
Twitter
Twitter
Twitter
Checkered flag
Here's your times for SS5 and overall, excluding Ostberg who will slot in. He was five minutes late leaving service so he's been shuffled down the order. It will also cost him 50s in penalties.
Times for SS5
1 Neuville 9m25.7s
2 Paddon +4.1s
3 Tanak +7.4s
4 Latvala +7.7s
5 Meeke +10.6s
6 Ogier +12.5s
After SS5 overall
1 Neuville 43m48.8s
2 Latvala +3.8s
3 Tanak +23.5s
4 Meeke +25.5s
5 Ogier +27.7s
6 Paddon+41.3s
Times for SS5
1 Neuville 9m25.7s
2 Paddon +4.1s
3 Tanak +7.4s
4 Latvala +7.7s
5 Meeke +10.6s
6 Ogier +12.5s
After SS5 overall
1 Neuville 43m48.8s
2 Latvala +3.8s
3 Tanak +23.5s
4 Meeke +25.5s
5 Ogier +27.7s
6 Paddon+41.3s
Quote
Paddon completes and that's the first sign of pace we've seen from the Kiwi this weekend. He was sensible this morning admitting he wasn't driving well and didn't want to push to hard to make up for it.
"That's better," he says. "We've made a change to the car which doesn't make it faster but makes it easier to drive and gives me confidence."
"That's better," he says. "We've made a change to the car which doesn't make it faster but makes it easier to drive and gives me confidence."
Quote
Meeke is the next to arrive and he's fourth quickest. The time looks normal but he's had an issue.
That drops him to fourth, 2s behind Tanak.
"I was off the road for 15s, I hit a massive bump and it really threw the car. We had to stop in a verge."
If he did lose 15s, he would have been comfortably quickest by around 5s on that stage.
That drops him to fourth, 2s behind Tanak.
"I was off the road for 15s, I hit a massive bump and it really threw the car. We had to stop in a verge."
If he did lose 15s, he would have been comfortably quickest by around 5s on that stage.
Information
Hanninen has had an issue, he's got damage on the front and has lost 28s. The end of this stage has proven tricky for the drivers.
Quote
LEAD CHANGE! NEUVILLE GOES QUICKEST AND RETAKES THE LEAD.
He's 7.4s quicker than Tanak on that stage alone, a brilliant time from the Belgian. He's 3.8s in the lead of the rally.
"The road is changing a bit," he says. "It's tricky, many lines, I'm trying to keep it smooth."
He's 7.4s quicker than Tanak on that stage alone, a brilliant time from the Belgian. He's 3.8s in the lead of the rally.
"The road is changing a bit," he says. "It's tricky, many lines, I'm trying to keep it smooth."
DAVID EVANS' NEWS FROM THE SERVICE PARK: If you weren't aware, Ott Tanak has had a new gearbox put in his Fiesta at service. He had issues while downshifting this morning, although only on random downshifts.
His time would say that's all sorted.
His time would say that's all sorted.
Evans has completed fourth quickest overall. He's out of the running for the front positions after a morning puncture.
Stopwatch
We need to keep an eye on Neuville here. He's second in the rally just under four seconds behind Latvala.
He's taken more than that out of Latvala over the first two splits of the stage! Game on.
He's taken more than that out of Latvala over the first two splits of the stage! Game on.
Quote
Bit of damage, it would seem, on the front of Breen's car. "About 200 metres from the finish, I got knocked into a bank. It's so, so tricky," says Breen, who's off to have a quick look at his car.
Stopwatch
Breen's in now. He was on for a decent time, but comes through slowest of all - 8s slower than Tanak.
A muffled Sordo says he had grip through the lines - which, since this morning, have been run over by historic cars - but little in that way outside of them.
Stopwatch
Sordo is in and that early promise really has faded. He's slowest of all, 6.8s slower than Tanak.
Stopwatch
Tanak goes fastest of all now, 0.3s up on Latvala's time.
Quote
"It's very slippery," says Latvala. "There's quite a lot of slow, have to be very careful not to open the throttle too early."
The timing screen is a sea of green at the moment. That is, at least, until Sordo - fastest man through the first split - registers the slowest time of all through split number two.
Stopwatch
Latvala is through and 4.8s faster than his former team-mate. Good start to the afternoon for the Finn.
Stopwatch
In comes Ogier, completing the stage in 9m38.2s.
Hello Dani Sordo! The Spaniard comes through the first split fastest of all, 0.7s up on Latvala's previous benchmark.
Latvala's lost a little time through the second split, but he's still 3.7s up on Ogier approaching the stage end.
Tanak, meanwhile, is through the first split and 2.1s slower than Latvala through there.
Tanak, meanwhile, is through the first split and 2.1s slower than Latvala through there.
Second - and final - split time for Ogier. He's through in 6m08.3s.
Latvala is a cool 4.9s up on Oiger through the first split.
Twitter
Ogier is through the first split in 3m00.7s. Latvala is also on the stage now.
Lights green
Go, go, go! Ogier is off and onto the stage.
Stopwatch
Here’s one last run through of the current order before the stage start:
Leading positions after SS4:l
1 Latvala 34m19.2s
2 Neuville +3.9s
3 Meeke +18.8s
4 Ogier +19.1s
5 Tanak +20s
6 Ostberg +20.9s
Leading positions after SS4:l
1 Latvala 34m19.2s
2 Neuville +3.9s
3 Meeke +18.8s
4 Ogier +19.1s
5 Tanak +20s
6 Ostberg +20.9s
Twitter
Information
Just in - here's some tyre info from Michelin...
DAVID EVANS is not a fan...
David Evans
Sweden’s the only round of the World Rally Championship which offers the chance to eat cars for its duration. The bilar originals are a firm favourite in the press office. Unlike Plopp, which is rubbish. No other motorsport publication offers such insight into Scandinavian confectionery.
Information
SS5 Rojden (11.47 miles)
"This is a really nice stage. It’s medium-width, car-and-a-bit wide for most of the time, but it’s quite fast and flowing with some yumpy crests in the first half.
"These places are quite technical, the line has to be just right through there. That style of road continues until about two-and-a-half miles from the finish when you slot through a gate – I think it’s one of the border gates going from Sweden to Norway – and then it goes really, really fast with some long corners before it gets really narrow uphill and. This is the place where I got wedged two years ago.
"It’s on this really twisty section to the finish where there’s the most snow and the biggest snowbanks. But I don’t think we’ll be using the banks that much, it looks a like you might be staying in there if you give them too much of a nudge."
"This is a really nice stage. It’s medium-width, car-and-a-bit wide for most of the time, but it’s quite fast and flowing with some yumpy crests in the first half.
"These places are quite technical, the line has to be just right through there. That style of road continues until about two-and-a-half miles from the finish when you slot through a gate – I think it’s one of the border gates going from Sweden to Norway – and then it goes really, really fast with some long corners before it gets really narrow uphill and. This is the place where I got wedged two years ago.
"It’s on this really twisty section to the finish where there’s the most snow and the biggest snowbanks. But I don’t think we’ll be using the banks that much, it looks a like you might be staying in there if you give them too much of a nudge."
Mr Ogier - championship leader and currently fourth-placed man on Rally Sweden - is corect, as there's not long before he gets the loop up and running over at the Rojden start. Before things get going, here’s a stage preview from ELFYN EVANS, who suffered a puncture on SS4.
Twitter
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Lap:
