WRC Rally Finland
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Neuville shoots off the startline to begin Assamaki.
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Time for SS4, this is what Latvala thinks of it:
SS4 Assamaki (7.66 miles)
This is new for us. The first seven kilometres is from the last two years, but it's different because we are running in the opposite direction.
This section is a bit more sandy than anywhere else on the route and I'm sure you will see more rocks coming here than in any other stage on the rally. It's very soft. You have to be patient with the car here.
After that soft section there's a long straight with a couple of good jumps and then we're into a new five kilometre section to the finish which takes us through a pine forest and around a lake.
It's really nice in this last place, with lots of corners over crests; the rhythm is good and the feeling will be nice in the car.
SS4 Assamaki (7.66 miles)
This is new for us. The first seven kilometres is from the last two years, but it's different because we are running in the opposite direction.
This section is a bit more sandy than anywhere else on the route and I'm sure you will see more rocks coming here than in any other stage on the rally. It's very soft. You have to be patient with the car here.
After that soft section there's a long straight with a couple of good jumps and then we're into a new five kilometre section to the finish which takes us through a pine forest and around a lake.
It's really nice in this last place, with lots of corners over crests; the rhythm is good and the feeling will be nice in the car.
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SS3 summary:
* Tanak sneaks his overall lead up to 4.3s over Ostberg
* Latvala fastest and takes third from Suninen
* Ogier and Neuville - slowest of the frontrunners - stay seventh and ninth
* Breen second-quickest as he begins recovery drive
* Tanak sneaks his overall lead up to 4.3s over Ostberg
* Latvala fastest and takes third from Suninen
* Ogier and Neuville - slowest of the frontrunners - stay seventh and ninth
* Breen second-quickest as he begins recovery drive
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SS3 results:
Leading stage times:
1 Latvala 6m09.8s
2 Breen +0.8s
3 Tanak +1.1s
4 Paddon +1.6s
5 Ostberg +2.3s
6 Suninen +3.2s
Overall leaderboad:
1 Tanak
2 Ostberg +4.3s
3 Latvala +10.6s
4 Suninen +11.5s
5 Paddon +13.2s
6 Evans +18.8s
7 Ogier +20.9s
8 Mikkelsen +25.6s
9 Neuville +29.2s
10 Lappi +41.4s
11 Breen +49.3s
Leading stage times:
1 Latvala 6m09.8s
2 Breen +0.8s
3 Tanak +1.1s
4 Paddon +1.6s
5 Ostberg +2.3s
6 Suninen +3.2s
Overall leaderboad:
1 Tanak
2 Ostberg +4.3s
3 Latvala +10.6s
4 Suninen +11.5s
5 Paddon +13.2s
6 Evans +18.8s
7 Ogier +20.9s
8 Mikkelsen +25.6s
9 Neuville +29.2s
10 Lappi +41.4s
11 Breen +49.3s
Decent time from Paddon, who is 1.6s off Latvala and fourth fastest, which keeps him fifth overall, now 13.2s behind leader Tanak.
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"It was quite soft and quite rough, more than I expected, but it's the same for everybody," reports Suninen. "We'll raise the car for the rougher stages on the second pass."
Suninen comes in fifth fastest, 3.2s off Latvala's pace and within 0.9s of Ostberg.
That means Suninen loses a place to Latvala (no shame in that in Finland), so the lead pack currently looks like this:
1 Tanak
2 Ostberg +4.3s
3 Latvala +10.6s
4 Suninen +11.5s
That means Suninen loses a place to Latvala (no shame in that in Finland), so the lead pack currently looks like this:
1 Tanak
2 Ostberg +4.3s
3 Latvala +10.6s
4 Suninen +11.5s
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So while Tanak reported that running third on the road isn't great because his rivals have less dust, his lead combatant Ostberg argues that ninth on the road isn't great because everyone else is messing the stage up:
"It was quite rough in there. The cars in front are cutting and I didn't want to risk going over big ruts like the cars ahead of me. I lost quite some time in some places where I was trying to avoid punctures."
"It was quite rough in there. The cars in front are cutting and I didn't want to risk going over big ruts like the cars ahead of me. I lost quite some time in some places where I was trying to avoid punctures."
Suninen is on a very similar pace to Ostberg on the splits.
Ostberg comes in fourth fastest, 2.3s off Latvala but only 1.2s slower than Tanak.
So the lead gap is now 4.3s from Tanak to Ostberg, and 10.6s from Tanak to Latvala, with Suninen still to slot in there somewhere.
So the lead gap is now 4.3s from Tanak to Ostberg, and 10.6s from Tanak to Latvala, with Suninen still to slot in there somewhere.
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Ostberg's latest split puts him 2.4s slower than Tanak.
After his SS2 puncture, Breen is showing what he and the Citroen can do. He's teasing us by not transmitting splits back from his car, but he finishes this stage second fastest, just 0.8s off Latvala.
But his delay on the opener means Breen is still 50s off the lead overall.
But his delay on the opener means Breen is still 50s off the lead overall.
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"It was a lot better here now," says Latvala. "I've started to go. It was not easy on the first one for me. There was a lot of waiting and there's also pressure for me in Finland."
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Latvala comes in fastest so far, beating Tanak by 1.1s. He trims the gap to his rally-leading team-mate to 10.6s with that. And in a few cars' time we'll know where that places Latvala overall.
Only fourth fastest for Ostberg at split one, behind Latvala, Tanak and Mikkelsen, but not a lot in it there - it's further onto the stage where gaps have developed more.
Lead contender Ostberg has started the stage.
Latvala is still fastest as he comes through split three, but now by only 0.1s over Tanak.
Evans comes in second fastest so far, 4.2s off Tanak. He's 18.8s adrift overall and second in the rally for now, but with quite a few cars still to come in.
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Fourth fastest time for Mikkelsen keeps him sat between Ogier and Neuville. That was eighth place earlier.
"We still have some work to do to get a good feeling on this type of road," says Mikkelsen.
"We still have some work to do to get a good feeling on this type of road," says Mikkelsen.
Stopwatch
Latvala is 0.4s faster than Tanak at the next split. He began the stage fourth overall, 11.7s down on his rally-leading team-mate.
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Lappi says "everything is fine" then reconsiders: "well... not really fine. But that's how it is."
Asked if his shot at winning is already gone, he replies simply: "yes".
Asked if his shot at winning is already gone, he replies simply: "yes".
Stopwatch
Someone's outpacing Tanak - it's his other team-mate Latvala. Only by 0.2s at split one, though.
Lappi comes through third fastest, but he only trims 0.3s off Neuville and remains 41s off Tanak's lead. For those of you just joining us, last year's Finland winner stalled on the first stage of the morning and is already having to try a comeback drive.
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Interesting - Tanak says the level of dust on this road is such that even third on the road isn't great for him. Which means being ninth on the road (hello Ostberg) could be pretty good.
"It's very, very loose and slippy. We have no grip at all," says Tanak.
"It's very, very loose and slippy. We have no grip at all," says Tanak.
Tanak comes in fastest by 4.6s over Ogier, so he's now 20.9s of the champion overall. How many cars are going to slot in between them?
"It's very, very slippy for sure, a lot of loose gravel," reports Ogier. "It's very hard to fight with the guys behind [in the start order], but my target is in front..."
The title rivals' eyes very much on each other this weekend.
The title rivals' eyes very much on each other this weekend.
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Stopwatch
The championship contenders have reached the stage finish, and Ogier is 3.9s faster than Neuville. So the overall gap between them is already up to 8.3s.
Tanak's advantage over the people we're still calling his title rivals (Autosport Live put a metaphorical £5 on a Tanak/Toyota title during Monte Carlo comms six months ago...) is 3s by split two.
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By split two, Ogier's outpacing Neuville by 1.1s.
Rally leader Tanak is onto the stage too, and he's 1.6s faster than Neuville and 0.9s up on Ogier there.
But this is already one of those rallies where we have a tantalising gap to see how a lead battle will unfold - Tanak's challenger Ostberg's part-time 2018 status means he's only ninth in the start order.
Rally leader Tanak is onto the stage too, and he's 1.6s faster than Neuville and 0.9s up on Ogier there.
But this is already one of those rallies where we have a tantalising gap to see how a lead battle will unfold - Tanak's challenger Ostberg's part-time 2018 status means he's only ninth in the start order.
And at the first split Ogier is extending the gap slightly - he's seven tenths of a second faster than Neuville there.
Neuville made clear yesterday that he's not trying to win this rally, he's just looking at the gap to title rival Ogier. Well right now, that gap is a negative one - Ogier is seventh and 3.4s ahead of Neuville in ninth.
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Here we go for Urria, Neuville is on the startline.
So, that 2010 Hirvonen crash Latvala mentioned - this was it
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Onto SS3, Urria - here's Latvala to describe it for us:
SS3 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.
SS3 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.
There's about half an hour until the next stage, so we'll take a very quick pause before then. Get yourself some crumpets and we'll be back to see how Tanak versus Ostberg, Toyota versus Citroen unfolds on SS3 shortly.
By: Matt Beer
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