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WRC Rally Finland
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That also means Evans is slipping back from Lappi in fifth too.
He can't explain his time loss either, but that they "might need to put another edge on it".
Bit of red mist-fuelled driving on the next stage, then?
He can't explain his time loss either, but that they "might need to put another edge on it".
Bit of red mist-fuelled driving on the next stage, then?
Stopwatch
Evans is 1.7s slower than Ogier at the stage end, meaning the title contender is edging closer to sixth overall.
Stopwatch
It's a 6m7.1s stage time for Lappi, meaning he's the quickest so far.
Latvala is looking marginally slower through the opening split.
Latvala is looking marginally slower through the opening split.
Stopwatch
Lappi's looking rapid here through the first few splits, but his rivals are Latvala in third and Suninen in fifth, one second behind him.
Quote
"The engine stopped," says Tanak. He quickly closes the door and drives off.
Short and not that sweet.
Short and not that sweet.
Crash
Tanak stalls at the 90-degree left near the end of the stage! He completes the stage 2.3s slower than Ogier!
It's starting to give the whiff of an opportunity for Ostberg here, with just 0.1s splitting the two at the top of the overall rally lead.
It's starting to give the whiff of an opportunity for Ostberg here, with just 0.1s splitting the two at the top of the overall rally lead.
Good news for Ogier, Evans begins his stage by losing time at the first split, although it is marginal and under a second.
Stopwatch
Ogier is in and 4.3s up on Neuville, he's increasingly clear of his rival.
He lost some time by dropping a wheel in a rut at the run to the finish.
Ogier's attention will begin to turn to climbing the overall leaderboard and he has around 9s to make up on Evans in sixth.
He lost some time by dropping a wheel in a rut at the run to the finish.
Ogier's attention will begin to turn to climbing the overall leaderboard and he has around 9s to make up on Evans in sixth.
Quote
Neuville: "The situation is not so bad, as Ogier is only two positions ahead of us and we are not taking the big points, so the gap is not big."
Stopwatch
Neuville completes the stage in 6m14.2s, so there's your early benchmark.
Neuville is about to end the stage as Lappi begins his run.
Tanak's only 0.1s up on Ogier at the first split, yet to be seen as to whether the M-Sport driver is rapid or Tanak's not quite at the level he was earlier.
Ogier 1.9s quicker than Neuville at the halfway split point.
Tanak is in again, expect the pattern of the Toyota driver outpacing the two title protagonists here.
Can Tanak retake the rally lead? Ostberg won't take to the stage for a while yet.
Can Tanak retake the rally lead? Ostberg won't take to the stage for a while yet.
Stopwatch
Point proven there, as Ogier is one second quicker than Neuville at the first split, with a 1m17.6s time.
Ogier's back into the stage, he's looked much more comfortable in the dust and conditions than Neuville this afternoon.
He's outpaced his title rival in every one of the afternoon loop's stages.
He's outpaced his title rival in every one of the afternoon loop's stages.
Neuville gets the stage started, he's constantly losing time in his tactical driving, but in fairness, the road sweeping is costly in Finland.
Information
Confirmation that the next stage starts in two minutes.
The previous dark clouds have disappeared, the sun's out and the temperature's rising.
The previous dark clouds have disappeared, the sun's out and the temperature's rising.
Information
Here's Latvala's take on the next stage, which is scheduled to start in five minutes or so.
SS8 Urria (7.63 miles)
The first two kilometres are completely new and surprisingly technical then, after that, it’s more standard Urria, which means fast and wide. We have the massive jump and not long after this, there is the right-hander over a jump, which is where Mikko [Hirvonen] went off in 2010.
The road gets more narrow towards the end and it’s really important to keep the car on the line through this section – if you go to the grass on the inside then there’s the chance that you will find rocks buried in the grass.
SS8 Urria (7.63 miles)
The first two kilometres are completely new and surprisingly technical then, after that, it’s more standard Urria, which means fast and wide. We have the massive jump and not long after this, there is the right-hander over a jump, which is where Mikko [Hirvonen] went off in 2010.
The road gets more narrow towards the end and it’s really important to keep the car on the line through this section – if you go to the grass on the inside then there’s the chance that you will find rocks buried in the grass.
David Evans
Keeping with M-Sport's developments, the team has explained its thinking to David Evans.
M-Sport’s head of rally engineering Massimo Carriero says: “Working with Ford Performance, we had the chance to keep running analysis and investing more time in optimising these parts.
“The diffuser we had on the car was good and the new one doesn’t improve drag, but what it does is improve the mass flow on the back of the car and this creates more downforce and more overall grip.
“On gravel rallies, you have a high amount of pitch and roll in the car and what you want is a tool which gives consistent behaviour when the car is moving.”
The rear of Ogier’s Finland car features a bumper and diffuser as one piece.
“We could have made the changes independently,” continued Carriero, “but it was more efficient and offered more performance gains to design them together.
"The longer [rear wing] parts include more louvres which extract heat from the wheel arch – managing this again helps improve downforce. We have also moved the exhaust a little bit higher to fit into the new bumper.”
M-Sport’s head of rally engineering Massimo Carriero says: “Working with Ford Performance, we had the chance to keep running analysis and investing more time in optimising these parts.
“The diffuser we had on the car was good and the new one doesn’t improve drag, but what it does is improve the mass flow on the back of the car and this creates more downforce and more overall grip.
“On gravel rallies, you have a high amount of pitch and roll in the car and what you want is a tool which gives consistent behaviour when the car is moving.”
The rear of Ogier’s Finland car features a bumper and diffuser as one piece.
“We could have made the changes independently,” continued Carriero, “but it was more efficient and offered more performance gains to design them together.
"The longer [rear wing] parts include more louvres which extract heat from the wheel arch – managing this again helps improve downforce. We have also moved the exhaust a little bit higher to fit into the new bumper.”
Stopwatch
Rovanpera wasn't particularly quick in that latest stage, ninth quickest of the first 10 drivers to complete the stage.
But the rising star holds the overall lead by 44s now.
But the rising star holds the overall lead by 44s now.
David Evans
With a lull in action, now's a good time for David Evans to explain the development war taking place in Finland.
First up, M-Sport:
"You’ll have noticed it’s only Ogier’s Fiesta that’s carrying the new rear aero. The reason for that is two-fold. The FIA says once a car has new parts fitted, it must always use those new parts – Ogier cannot, for example, have the bumper from Elfyn Evans’ car fitted should he damage it during the event.
"The other reason is linked to the first: M-Sport needed five sets of new rear aero to get Ogier through Rally Finland. It’s highly unlikely he’ll use all five (he’s not likely to go off and damage the rear of the car on every loop), but because of the above regulation, the Cumbrian team had to be sure it had sufficient parts.
"M-Sport managed to get more than five made, but it couldn’t quite manage the magic number of 10 to get Evans’ Fiesta fitted with the new bits as well."
First up, M-Sport:
"You’ll have noticed it’s only Ogier’s Fiesta that’s carrying the new rear aero. The reason for that is two-fold. The FIA says once a car has new parts fitted, it must always use those new parts – Ogier cannot, for example, have the bumper from Elfyn Evans’ car fitted should he damage it during the event.
"The other reason is linked to the first: M-Sport needed five sets of new rear aero to get Ogier through Rally Finland. It’s highly unlikely he’ll use all five (he’s not likely to go off and damage the rear of the car on every loop), but because of the above regulation, the Cumbrian team had to be sure it had sufficient parts.
"M-Sport managed to get more than five made, but it couldn’t quite manage the magic number of 10 to get Evans’ Fiesta fitted with the new bits as well."
Rovanpera's in stage again, so we'll check in on the WRC2 leader's progress shortly.
Information
Another gap until the next stage, this time around 25 minutes. Give or take the few minutes delay we're running at.
Information
Here's the rundown after another incredible twist at the front of the field in SS7:
Stage times
1. Ostberg 9m49.3s
2 Tanak +0.1s
3. Latvala +2.2s
4. Lappi +4.2s
5. Suninen +5.4s
6. Breen +6.6s
7. Paddon +8.4s
8. Mikkelsen +9.7s
9. Evans +9.9s
10. Ogier +11.2s
Overall leaderboard
1. Ostberg 46m57.9s
2. Tanak +0.1s
3. Latvala +22.1s
4. Suninen +24.5s
5. Paddon + 28.7s
6. Evans +45.8s
7. Ogier +54s
8. Lappi +1m01.6s
9. Breen +1m05.1s
10. Neuville +1m41.8s.
Stage times
1. Ostberg 9m49.3s
2 Tanak +0.1s
3. Latvala +2.2s
4. Lappi +4.2s
5. Suninen +5.4s
6. Breen +6.6s
7. Paddon +8.4s
8. Mikkelsen +9.7s
9. Evans +9.9s
10. Ogier +11.2s
Overall leaderboard
1. Ostberg 46m57.9s
2. Tanak +0.1s
3. Latvala +22.1s
4. Suninen +24.5s
5. Paddon + 28.7s
6. Evans +45.8s
7. Ogier +54s
8. Lappi +1m01.6s
9. Breen +1m05.1s
10. Neuville +1m41.8s.
Information
Al Qassimi will again be the last WRC driver to cross the line.
Quote
Paddon: "I've always struggled with this stage, it's never been a favourite. It's behind us now.
"Today is only Friday, Sunday is a long way away, but what we're doing I think so [making a podium finish].
"Today is only Friday, Sunday is a long way away, but what we're doing I think so [making a podium finish].
Stopwatch
Paddon is in and is three seconds down on Suninen's time, so he's falling away from the battle for third.
He's remained at fifth overall.
He's remained at fifth overall.
Quote
No major issues reported by Suninen, describes the run as "not too bad".
Stopwatch
Suninen is 3.2s slower than Latvala at the stage's end, so that returns Latvala to third overall.
The gap had been 0.8s going into the stage.
Suninen lost a lot of time at the end of the stage...
The gap had been 0.8s going into the stage.
Suninen lost a lot of time at the end of the stage...
Quote
"I saw I was leading, so I played it safe," says Ostberg. "You can see I'm sweating, that's enough."
I think those experiencing the British heatwave can agree.
I think those experiencing the British heatwave can agree.
Stopwatch
Ostberg has perfectly matched Tanak! Dead level.
Ostberg keeps his 0.1s overall lead on Tanak, what a battle we're having this afternoon!
Ostberg keeps his 0.1s overall lead on Tanak, what a battle we're having this afternoon!
Information
Suninen and Paddon are closing on the stage end, so this is where the battle at the front will take its next twist.
Breen says he was more cautious on that run, citing a lack of experience on the stage.
Stopwatch
Not quite the strong pace of the last stage, but Breen's in.
He's lost 2.4s on Lappi, which pushes him back to 3.6s behind the Toyota driver in eighth overall.
He's lost 2.4s on Lappi, which pushes him back to 3.6s behind the Toyota driver in eighth overall.
Quote
The car sounds terrible at the stage ends.
"There's some progress there, the car is more predictable and nice, I like that."
I don't like that engine note.
"There's some progress there, the car is more predictable and nice, I like that."
I don't like that engine note.
Stopwatch
After Mikkelsen's roll, he's not really in contention.
He completes the stage in 9m59s, meaning he's the third slowest of the seven so far and is 7s slower than Tanak.
He completes the stage in 9m59s, meaning he's the third slowest of the seven so far and is 7s slower than Tanak.
Quote
Latvala: "I try, but I can't do any more. This is the speed I can do, let's see what happens."
Stopwatch
Latvala is in and is just two seconds slower than Tanak, but the last stage means that gain counts for little.
He was overhauled by Suninen earlier, so that's his main battle right now.
Suninen is yet to complete the stage.
He was overhauled by Suninen earlier, so that's his main battle right now.
Suninen is yet to complete the stage.
Quote
Evans is 1.3s quicker than Ogier in the stage, so that helps him consolidate sixth over the reigning champion.
"It's rough with a lot of holes out there, we did what we could," says Evans.
"It's rough with a lot of holes out there, we did what we could," says Evans.
By: Matt Beer
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