WRC Rally Finland
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All aboard the Ott Tanak express? He's 4.9s faster than everyone else at second split. Here we go!
Lappi takes Ogier here too - the reigning champion clocks an 11m57.9s, which puts him behind Evans as well.
That puts Lappi past Evans in the overall standings too. He was only 0.3s behind after Friday's stages so establishes a 6.2s advantage.
Elfyn Evans clocks an 11m54.1s, good enough for second fastest so far. That's 6.5s behind Lappi and only 0.8s faster than Breen.
Neuville mentions it's nice to have a car in front of him for once this weekend, though aside from the Sheikh himself, he's probably one of the few to be particularly disappointed by Al Qassimi's accident earlier. it gives him only one car sweeping stages clean instead of two.
Stopwatch
Indeed, Lappi smashes Breen's time with an 11m47.6s. It appears he might have the Yaris more to his liking this morning.
Breen sets an 11m54.9s to go quickest for now - but I suspect that won't last very long...
Stopwatch
All three M-Sport Ford Fiestas - Evans, Ogier and Suninen - have now started the stage. But none are as quick as Lappi so far - setting the pace at fifth split, 5.6s faster than Breen.
Neuville comes in with a 12m01.1s, 10.2s faster than Mikkelsen. Breen, Lappi and Evans are all faster at their most recent comparative splits, however.
Andreas Mikkelsen rocks up at stage end, setting a benchmark for those following with a 12m11.3s. As it stands everyone following is faster - not a big surprise considering the road sweeping effect from running first.
David Evans
Malcolm Wilson handed the reigns of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team over to Rich Millener this morning. Wilson is flying south to Spa for the Blancpain 24-hour race with Bentley.
Watching qualifying with Wilson last night, he admitted two major events on the same weekend weren’t ideal for the Cumbrian squad.
“We’ve got a good team here, they know what they’re doing and the race team’s not bad either!” The race team is, of course, headed by Wilson’s son Matthew.
It looks like M-Sport’s big team decision was taken last night, when Elfyn Evans was instructed to slow down to allow Sebastien Ogier past, giving him a further improved position on the road.
Ogier told Autosport: “You know that I don’t like this kind of thing, so I have to say thank you to Elfyn.”
Evans wasn’t exactly over the moon, but could see the thinking behind Ogier slotting into sixth. “It’s a team decision and I’m employed by the team,” he said.
Watching qualifying with Wilson last night, he admitted two major events on the same weekend weren’t ideal for the Cumbrian squad.
“We’ve got a good team here, they know what they’re doing and the race team’s not bad either!” The race team is, of course, headed by Wilson’s son Matthew.
It looks like M-Sport’s big team decision was taken last night, when Elfyn Evans was instructed to slow down to allow Sebastien Ogier past, giving him a further improved position on the road.
Ogier told Autosport: “You know that I don’t like this kind of thing, so I have to say thank you to Elfyn.”
Evans wasn’t exactly over the moon, but could see the thinking behind Ogier slotting into sixth. “It’s a team decision and I’m employed by the team,” he said.
Speaking of that team order decision, it'll be the last one M-Sport team principal Malcon Wilson takes this weekend, in Finland at least, as DAVID EVANS explains.
Breen's 1.4s up on Neuville at second split, while Elfyn Evans sets off from the startline. How motivated will he be feeling after being given team orders to slow down for Ogier on Friday's penultimate stage?
As Neuville increases his time advantage over Mikkelsen in this stage to 5.8s at third split, Esapekka Lappi becomes the first local favourite to begin his Saturday.
Craig Breen heads off onto the stage, as Neuville goes 1.3s faster than team-mate Mikkelsen at first split. Al Qassimi, with no time, doesn't look likely to set off again any time soon.
Hyundai has never been particularly strong at Finland, yet to even score a podium, but Neuville must be disappointed to be starting this early. He resumes his rally from 10th place, heading into Paijala third on the road.
Replays of the Al Qassimi incident shows he dropped his right rear wide and into a ditch which led to his accident. Last we've seen he's still parked up.
Information
SS12/18 Paijala (14.86 miles)
The start of this stage – the first 20 kilometres – are the same as last year. This is a great way to start the day with a nice wide road with plenty of yumps and jumps – the sort of road we would consider to be traditionally Finnish. But then we have quite a big rhythm change where the organisers have put a more narrow, twisty section at the finish. So, about five kilometres from the end, we turn off the big road and it’s into the slower section to the finish.
The start of this stage – the first 20 kilometres – are the same as last year. This is a great way to start the day with a nice wide road with plenty of yumps and jumps – the sort of road we would consider to be traditionally Finnish. But then we have quite a big rhythm change where the organisers have put a more narrow, twisty section at the finish. So, about five kilometres from the end, we turn off the big road and it’s into the slower section to the finish.
As Andreas Mikkelsen gets underway, a word on what to expect from this test from team-mate Hayden Paddon's co-driver Seb Marshall.
There's definitely damage - co-driver Chris Patterson directs his driver to a side-road to park up and assess the damage. His rear wheel took a hefty whack.
Crash
And he's crashed almost straight away! Less than a minute into the stage Al Qassimi tips his Citroen C3 WRC into a spin.
Green flag
Khalid Al Qassimi gets Saturday's action underway, heading into Paijala
Jari-Matti Latvala makes it two Toyotas in the podium places, 23.1s behind his team-mate.
In terms of championship contenders, Ogier is down in sixth, 58.9s off Tanak and Neuville is even further behind, 1m57.7s off the lead in 10th place. Only team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen - who went wide and crashed - and gentleman driver Khalid Al Qassimi are behind him when it comes to WRC-spec cars. Oh dear.
In terms of championship contenders, Ogier is down in sixth, 58.9s off Tanak and Neuville is even further behind, 1m57.7s off the lead in 10th place. Only team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen - who went wide and crashed - and gentleman driver Khalid Al Qassimi are behind him when it comes to WRC-spec cars. Oh dear.
Here's a quick refresher of how things stand before Paijala kicks off. Despite starting third on the road, and therefore feeling the effects of sweeping loose gravel away, Toyota's Ott Tanak leads by 5.8s over Mads Ostberg, who benefitted from being of the last cars to enter the stages on Friday.
Good morning rally fans! Welcome back to day three of Rally Finland. There's 88.77 miles of competitive action ahead for the next 12 or so hours
Keep an eye on Autosport for the latest from Finland through the weekend.
Autosport
Here's our report of Friday in Finland as Tanak edges clear of Ostberg: 
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So, for the last time today, your Rally Finland leaderboard
Stage result
1. Ogier 1m48.7s
2. Neuville +0.2s
3. Tanak + 0.2s
4. Paddon +1.3s
5. Lappi +1.4s
6. Latvala +1.4s
7. Mikkelsen +1.4s
8. Ostberg +1.7s
9. Evans +1.9s
10. Rovanpera +4.2s
Overall leaderboard
1. Tanak 1h4m14.9s
2. Ostberg +5.8s
3. Latvala +23.1s
4. Paddon +36.4s
5. Suninen +46.1s
6. Ogier +58.9s
7. Evans +1m1.1s
8. Lappi +1m1.4s
9. Breen +1m34.1s
10. Neuville 1m57.7s.
Stage result
1. Ogier 1m48.7s
2. Neuville +0.2s
3. Tanak + 0.2s
4. Paddon +1.3s
5. Lappi +1.4s
6. Latvala +1.4s
7. Mikkelsen +1.4s
8. Ostberg +1.7s
9. Evans +1.9s
10. Rovanpera +4.2s
Overall leaderboard
1. Tanak 1h4m14.9s
2. Ostberg +5.8s
3. Latvala +23.1s
4. Paddon +36.4s
5. Suninen +46.1s
6. Ogier +58.9s
7. Evans +1m1.1s
8. Lappi +1m1.4s
9. Breen +1m34.1s
10. Neuville 1m57.7s.
Checkered flag
Tanak goes second, meaning Ogier wins the stage!
The Toyota driver's lead grows to 5.8s over Ostberg heading into tomorrow.
The Toyota driver's lead grows to 5.8s over Ostberg heading into tomorrow.
Tanak is on the stage.
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Ostberg is asked about Citroen's woes in the final stage: "Yeah I was very nervous, but I had a longer break to cool down which helped. I didn't experience it but it seemed like the first car had the bigger problem, the second less and maybe my stay helped."
Stopwatch
Ostberg sets a time of 1m50.4s.
Now for Tanak, who holds a lead of 4.3s over Ostberg.
Now for Tanak, who holds a lead of 4.3s over Ostberg.
Ostberg is our penultimate runner.
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Latvala: "It's definitely good to be here [on a provisional podium]. Tomorrow will be a more difficult challenge and I'll try to focus on that."
Stopwatch
Latvala's 1m50.1s is 1.4s slower than Ogier's best, but he's an isolated third in the leaderboard anyway.
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Paddon: "I've really enjoyed it. We could take more risks, but I was comfortable. It's close, but we'll fight for the podium."
Latvala is next up, then Ostberg and Tanak will end the day.
Stopwatch
Paddon is 9.2s quicker than Suninen, so that gap is almost 10s now. Nice gift for the Hyundai man.
That will boost Paddon enormously, his gap of 0.5s is almost certainly going to grow.
By: Matt Beer
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