WRC Italy
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"This morning hasn't gone to plan but we have to use this as an event to learn even more," Evans says.
Evans completes the stage but we have no time yet.
Evans has had a difficult start to the rally with a broken steering arm in SS2, but he's on Mikkelsen's pace in SS4.
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"We knew that this stage would suit the Toyota better," admits Mikkelsen. "We are in a really good rhythm which is nice, the car is doing what I'm saying so it's great to drive."
This is a more fast and flowing stage, and that looks to have helped Tanak and the Yaris WRC.
Mikkelsen's stage time is an 8m59.8s. That's 1.4s slower than Tanak but protects his rally lead at around 15s.
Mikkelsen has cleared the final split and is still slower than Tanak but quicker than team-mate Neuville.
It's a 9m03.9s for Lappi. That's the slowest through so far by 1.4s.
Mikkelsen has been in control this morning, but is slower than stage leader Tanak through the splits. The gaps aren't enough to threaten his rally lead however.
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"It was a good run, a faster road suits us better," says Tanak. "I don't think our issue is set-up related, it looks to be something with the diffs maybe."
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Tanak is through, and breaks the 9-minute barrier. He sets a time of 8m58.4s and moves ahead of Neuville into provisional second overall.
Lappi also appears to be more on the pace in here too. The Finn suffered a puncture in SS3 so is down in 10th.
Ott Tanak meanwhile looks set to smash Ogier's effort. He's 3.7s up at the final split.
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"Honestly I don't know why I was so slow on the previous one," Ogier says. "There are still small showers here and there so we will see."
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But his time is better. He beats Neuville but only by 0.2s. His time, a 9m02.3s.
Ogier had been going quicker than Neuville but is 0.1s slower through the final split.
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"We took the same attacking approach but there were more big stones in the road,"Neuville says. "We know we need to stay calm and have a good position tonight for a good road position tomorrow."
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And his benchmark is in. He sets a time of 9m02.5s. How will that compare to the rest?
Neuville is nearing the end of the stage.
Ogier is marginally quicker through the opening split however, 1s up on his rival.
Neuville is second with Ogier sixth, which could potentially be crucial in their championship tussle. Neuville is currently 19 points ahead of his rival.
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SS4 Tergu-Osilo (8.78 miles)
"Best stage of the rally. This one’s just beautiful. It’s double-width, up over a col then downhill for a stretch and it’s just a great, great place.
While the road is lovely, this stage is unbelievably hard on the tyres – I think this is where Pirelli used to do a lot of their tyre testing because the surface just works them so, so hard.
There’s very little loose on top, it’s just down to the bedrock. But, like I said, it just flows so nicely."
"Best stage of the rally. This one’s just beautiful. It’s double-width, up over a col then downhill for a stretch and it’s just a great, great place.
While the road is lovely, this stage is unbelievably hard on the tyres – I think this is where Pirelli used to do a lot of their tyre testing because the surface just works them so, so hard.
There’s very little loose on top, it’s just down to the bedrock. But, like I said, it just flows so nicely."
Seb Marshall gives us a lowdown as to what lies ahead of the drivers.
Out of the service park though, SS4 is now going live. Thierry Neuville has begun the test.
David Evans
If there’s one round of the World Rally Championship where you can pretty much bank on sartorial elegance, it’s Italy. Clearly this fella didn’t get that memo. It’s difficult to know what possessed him to walk around looking like a caveman. Or a furry cat standing on its back legs. Should that be hind legs? Probably.
Either way, all a bit odd. Not to mention that mask hanging around his neck.
Either way, all a bit odd. Not to mention that mask hanging around his neck.
David Evans has been busy experiencing the culture in the service park, where he has stumbled across a rather interesting sight..
Information
Two stage wins from two for Andreas Mikkelsen mean he is comfortably having his best morning so far in 2018. Here is your overall classification after SS3:
1 Mikkelsen 31m14.2.s
2 Neuville +15.5s
3 Tanak +15.6s
4 Suninen +18.6s
5 Ostberg 18.8s
6 Ogier +21.7s
7 Latvala +24.1s
8 Paddon +25.1s
9 Breen +26.1s
10 Lappi +31.2s
1 Mikkelsen 31m14.2.s
2 Neuville +15.5s
3 Tanak +15.6s
4 Suninen +18.6s
5 Ostberg 18.8s
6 Ogier +21.7s
7 Latvala +24.1s
8 Paddon +25.1s
9 Breen +26.1s
10 Lappi +31.2s
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"This was better than the first one, but I was hoping it could be drier so we could actually use these two spare tyres that we have. At the moment we are just carrying around unnecessary weight," said Paddon.
He sets a time of 10m49.7s, an improvement on his SS2 pace. He's 6.4s down on stage winner and rally leader Mikkelsen.
Hayden Paddon will be the final WRC driver to complete SS3.
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"I struggled with the balance of the car, it's moving quite a lot and I couldn't find a nice rhythm," Ostberg says. "This stage is completely different to the first so just couldn't find a good balance to be honest."
That drops Ostberg from second to fifth overall, now behind Neuville, Tanak and Suninen.
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Ostberg is now through, and sets a 10m51.2s.
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"It was a good run but we are still disappointed I can't drive in first and second gear," laments Suninen. "We just need to forget the previous stage and focus on the next one."
He is now up to fourth overall and ahead of his team-mate Ogier.
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Teemu Suninen completes with a great time! He goes second quickest with a 10m44.1s, just 0.8s slower than Mikkelsen.
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"We just tried to calm down through the junctions and be neat and tidy," Breen says. "I'm very happy with it, let's hope for more sun!"
His team-mate Craig Breen has completed the stage. He goes third quickest with a 10m46.6s.
Mads Ostberg was second overall at the start of this stage, but could be set to lose that in here. He's over 5s down on Mikkelsen in the opening splits.
By: Matt Beer
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