WRC Rally Finland
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Just the 2.31km's to run tonight on a mix of tarmac and gravel.
Tanak: "It's one of the nicer super special stages we do in the year, it's not too slow but also quite technical. You really need to focus."
Tanak: "It's one of the nicer super special stages we do in the year, it's not too slow but also quite technical. You really need to focus."
We should get underway any minute, keeping in mind the several minute delay from the late afternoon start.
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Neuville has arrived at the stage early, we're still around seven minutes from the start.
Autosport
You might have noticed that Sorodo's 2018 rally calendar does not include Finland.
However, he's lined up a cameo elsewhere:
However, he's lined up a cameo elsewhere:
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And we have returned once again, with 15 minutes to spare ahead of the final stage.
Harju takes place on the streets of Jyvaskyla - yes we checked the spelling - and the short run will round off Friday's action.
Harju takes place on the streets of Jyvaskyla - yes we checked the spelling - and the short run will round off Friday's action.
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The final stage takes place in 45 minutes, so we'll take another short break before bringing you Rally Finland's Friday conclusion.
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So after SS10, here's your latest leaderboard.
Stage times
1. Tanak 3m29.1s
2. Latvala +0.7s
3. Paddon +1.6s
4. Lappi +1.7s
5. Breen +2.7s
6. Ogier +3.2s
7. Ostberg +3.3s
8. Suninen +3.4s
9. Neuville +6.6s
10. Evans +7.3s
Overall leaderboard
1.Tanak 1h2m26s
2. Ostberg +4.3s
3. Latvala +21.9s
4. Paddon +35.3s
5. Suninen +35.8s
6. Ogier +59.1s
7. Evans +59.4s
8. Lappi +1m0.2s
9. Breen +1m7.3s
10. Neuville +1m57.7s
Stage times
1. Tanak 3m29.1s
2. Latvala +0.7s
3. Paddon +1.6s
4. Lappi +1.7s
5. Breen +2.7s
6. Ogier +3.2s
7. Ostberg +3.3s
8. Suninen +3.4s
9. Neuville +6.6s
10. Evans +7.3s
Overall leaderboard
1.Tanak 1h2m26s
2. Ostberg +4.3s
3. Latvala +21.9s
4. Paddon +35.3s
5. Suninen +35.8s
6. Ogier +59.1s
7. Evans +59.4s
8. Lappi +1m0.2s
9. Breen +1m7.3s
10. Neuville +1m57.7s
Stopwatch
Paddon finishes the stage third fastest and overtakes Suninen in the overall leaderboard. He's now fourth overall with a 0.5s advantage.
Stopwatch
Suninen continues to lose time to Latvala, with his stage time of 3m32.5s proving to be 2.7s slower than Latvala and good enough for seventh.
He is now 35.1s behind Latvala in fourth.
He is now 35.1s behind Latvala in fourth.
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"The afternoon has not been good," says Ostberg. "The tyre wear has been big and I've had to save the tyres. The driving has been good considering we've taken it slow and being clever to manage the last stages.
"We're not losing a lot of time which is good, because we had to get through the afternoon."
In his mind, that's the job largely done for Friday.
"We're not losing a lot of time which is good, because we had to get through the afternoon."
In his mind, that's the job largely done for Friday.
Stopwatch
Ostberg finishes the stage 3.3s down on Tanak, which allows the Estonian to grow his lead to 4.3s over the Citroen driver.
He's had to battle tyre wear, in fairness, and the Toyota's power suits this stage.
He's had to battle tyre wear, in fairness, and the Toyota's power suits this stage.
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Breen: "I'm losing the brakes at the end of the straight, a lot of travel in the pedal. It's a little bit strange.
"We'll keep the push on and see what we can do, it's a pity we couldn't climb for the road order tomorrow, but it is what it is."
"We'll keep the push on and see what we can do, it's a pity we couldn't climb for the road order tomorrow, but it is what it is."
Stopwatch
Breen is fourth fastest in the stage with a time of 3m31.8s, and he still trails Lappi in ninth overall.
Stopwatch
Mikkelsen the slowest of all so far with a 3m37.3s, considering its a 7km stage, that's a poor result - almost 1s behind the deliberately slow Evans.
"I made a mistake at the beginning of the day but we have not had the pace, the rear is all over the place and uncontrollable."
"I made a mistake at the beginning of the day but we have not had the pace, the rear is all over the place and uncontrollable."
Stopwatch
Meanwhile, Latvala finishes the stage and says a wide left corner cost him a lot of time.
He's finished at 3m29.8s and gains 0.7s on Tanak.
Latvala reckons he's still in the fight for the rally win, he's 21.9s behind Tanak now.
He's finished at 3m29.8s and gains 0.7s on Tanak.
Latvala reckons he's still in the fight for the rally win, he's 21.9s behind Tanak now.
Crash
Politics at play.
Evans has slowed right down at the stage end to allow Ogier to go past to sixth overall by completing the stage by almost 4s slower.
That gives the Frenchman the better starting position for tomorrow.
Evans: "We didn't have a very good stage."
He ignores the team order question and drives on.
Evans has slowed right down at the stage end to allow Ogier to go past to sixth overall by completing the stage by almost 4s slower.
That gives the Frenchman the better starting position for tomorrow.
Evans: "We didn't have a very good stage."
He ignores the team order question and drives on.
Stopwatch
Latvala isn't matching Tanak at the first split, and the overall gap is 20s, so don't expect a charge to second here.
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Lappi: "For sure, I would like to pass him [Ogier] already on this stage for a better starting position tomorrow, but it'll be a good fight tomorrow."
Stopwatch
Lappi finishes the stage 1.7s slower than Tanak, but crucially he's clawed 1.5s back to Ogier.
Ogier's seventh place overall is now 1.1s away from his grasp!
Ogier's seventh place overall is now 1.1s away from his grasp!
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Tanak: "We made some adjustments and the feeling was back OK. We are still in the fight and tomorrow we will be in the same position. Our day has been close to perfect."
My word, Tanak isn't playing his form down for once!
My word, Tanak isn't playing his form down for once!
Stopwatch
Tanak finishes the stage 3.2s quicker than Ogier and 6.6s quicker than Neuville.
His time is 3m29.1s, but we'll see how that compares to Ostberg, who will start the stage ninth on the road.
His time is 3m29.1s, but we'll see how that compares to Ostberg, who will start the stage ninth on the road.
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Ogier: "We did everything we could, Thierry had it worse, but we had it bad too."
Stopwatch
As we've said on multiple occasions, Tanak is faster than Neuville and Ogier at the first split, 3.2s and 1.8s respectively.
Stopwatch
Ogier finishes the stage 3.4s quicker than Neuville, considering the short length of the stage, it's clear even running second is a sizeable advantage.
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Neuville on tomorrow: "It's lots about road position, we struggle with the grip and the consistency of the car. Not much I can do [today]."
Stopwatch
Neuville finishes the stage in 3m35.7s as Ogier goes 1.4s quicker at the first split.
Stopwatch
Neuville hits the halfway point of the stage in 1m41.5s.
Information
Neuville will get this rally restarted in the next minute.
The Belgian has noted his starting position - first on the road - is a disaster, but Ogier has started right behind him.
Neuville's 27 point lead in the WRC title race looks set to take a hit as Ogier lies seventh overall and Neuville down in 10th.
Can the Hyundai man reverse the tide? Well, he's into the stage now.
The Belgian has noted his starting position - first on the road - is a disaster, but Ogier has started right behind him.
Neuville's 27 point lead in the WRC title race looks set to take a hit as Ogier lies seventh overall and Neuville down in 10th.
Can the Hyundai man reverse the tide? Well, he's into the stage now.
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In case you missed the earlier action, this rally is becoming increasingly a head-to-head fight between Ott Tanak and Mads Ostberg.
The revised Citroen has come into its own at Finland, while Tanak's led the Toyota contingent so far.
The lead has changed four times in this rally, and the lead gap is just one second in Tanak's favour.
Expect more twists as we head into the evening.
The revised Citroen has come into its own at Finland, while Tanak's led the Toyota contingent so far.
The lead has changed four times in this rally, and the lead gap is just one second in Tanak's favour.
Expect more twists as we head into the evening.
David Evans
David Evans explains why this year's Rally Finland takes on added difficultly.
Just before we dive into Jari-Matti Latvala’s analysis of the stages, it’s worth noting this year’s route is 65% new from last year with 40% of the roads not having been driven at competitive speeds by any of the factory crews competing this year. But what does that mean in terms of the recce?
Craig Breen’s co-driver Scott Martin explains: “We had notes for 54 kilometres (33 of the 197 competitive miles). The rest we had to start from scratch. It’s been a pretty busy recce with a fair bit of work into the night to get them tidied up and ready.”
Just before we dive into Jari-Matti Latvala’s analysis of the stages, it’s worth noting this year’s route is 65% new from last year with 40% of the roads not having been driven at competitive speeds by any of the factory crews competing this year. But what does that mean in terms of the recce?
Craig Breen’s co-driver Scott Martin explains: “We had notes for 54 kilometres (33 of the 197 competitive miles). The rest we had to start from scratch. It’s been a pretty busy recce with a fair bit of work into the night to get them tidied up and ready.”
As we type, the drivers are approaching the stage.
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Once again, Mr Latvala does the honours in outlining the stage ahead:
SS10 Aanekoski (4.79 miles)
There are only two stages this year that are on the traditional wide roads and this is one of them. Unlike the last stage, this won’t cut up at all – it’s a good strong surface. But it is going to be slippery, there’s lots of loose gravel here.
From the recce, one junction really stays in my mind on this stage. The place is a long left hand corner which is going uphill. There are some concrete stones put on the inside of the corner by the organisers to stop us cutting, so you have to really concentrate, the corner is coming, coming, coming and then it suddenly turns junction right – but the road goes straight ahead.
I am sure some people will overshoot this place. I have caution bad braking in my notes and I must stand on the brakes as soon as the long left stops. It’s going to be an exciting place.
SS10 Aanekoski (4.79 miles)
There are only two stages this year that are on the traditional wide roads and this is one of them. Unlike the last stage, this won’t cut up at all – it’s a good strong surface. But it is going to be slippery, there’s lots of loose gravel here.
From the recce, one junction really stays in my mind on this stage. The place is a long left hand corner which is going uphill. There are some concrete stones put on the inside of the corner by the organisers to stop us cutting, so you have to really concentrate, the corner is coming, coming, coming and then it suddenly turns junction right – but the road goes straight ahead.
I am sure some people will overshoot this place. I have caution bad braking in my notes and I must stand on the brakes as soon as the long left stops. It’s going to be an exciting place.
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Dramatic pause over, and we've got just under 15 minutes until some more rallying.
And we're back.
There's around 45 minutes until the next stage, so we'll take a quick break on Autosport Live.
Rejoin us in 30 minutes for the final two stages of Friday in Finland.
Rejoin us in 30 minutes for the final two stages of Friday in Finland.
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So after another lead change, here's the leaderboard.
Stage times after SS9
1. Tanak 5m.47s
2. Ostberg +1.8s
3. Latvala 2.6s
4. Ostberg +2.9s
5. Ogier +4s
6. Breen +4.5s
7. Paddon +5.5s
8. Evans +6.7s
9. Neuville +7.1s
10. Suninen +8.7s
Overall leaderboard
1. Tanak 58m56.9s
2. Ostberg +1s
3. Latvala +21.2s
4. Suninen +32.4s
5. Paddon +33.7s
6. Evans +52.1s
7. Ogier +55.9s
8. Lappi +58.5s
9. Breen +1m4.6s
10. Neuville +1m51.1s
Stage times after SS9
1. Tanak 5m.47s
2. Ostberg +1.8s
3. Latvala 2.6s
4. Ostberg +2.9s
5. Ogier +4s
6. Breen +4.5s
7. Paddon +5.5s
8. Evans +6.7s
9. Neuville +7.1s
10. Suninen +8.7s
Overall leaderboard
1. Tanak 58m56.9s
2. Ostberg +1s
3. Latvala +21.2s
4. Suninen +32.4s
5. Paddon +33.7s
6. Evans +52.1s
7. Ogier +55.9s
8. Lappi +58.5s
9. Breen +1m4.6s
10. Neuville +1m51.1s
By: Matt Beer
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