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WRC Rally Finland
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"This time I have a little bit of a feeling it might last," says Latvala when asked if he thinks he'll keep top spot in this stage, when Tanak beckons behind.
Latvala has taken fastest time from team-mate Lappi with a 4m32.1s.
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Paddon is the next car in Lappi's sights and it appears he's got no plans to get into a fight with him this afternoon.
"That's alright. We'll keep the pressure on. We don't have the pace for the podium. It's about keeping the Fords behind us," he says, targeting manufacturer points above all else. After a rocky start to his season finishing as lead Hyundai would be a nice morale boost.
"That's alright. We'll keep the pressure on. We don't have the pace for the podium. It's about keeping the Fords behind us," he says, targeting manufacturer points above all else. After a rocky start to his season finishing as lead Hyundai would be a nice morale boost.
Paddon's wrapped up his morning with a 4m36.5s stage time here, 3.6s slower than Lappi.
Lappi now has a 3.7s advantage over Suninen for fifth place heading to midday service. All three M-Sports caught and passed. That's a decent morning's work after a disappointing Friday.
Stopwatch
Lappi has taken fifth place from Suninen, as the latter puts in a 4m37.9s. Only Mikkelsen and Neuville have been slower.
Ogier mentioned earlier this morning he was feeling somewhat unsettled by the new rear aero package on his Fiesta WRC. But asked if he'd like to revert to the old spec aero instead, he responds with a shake of the head.
Ogier has arrived, but we don't have a time, unfortunately. Nor splits. But it's been a trick morning for the reigning champion and still in the thick of a battle with team-mate Evans.
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"Overall everything is working OK," says Evans. But it's been a disappointing morning, falling behind Lappi and falling away from his Finnish M-Sport team-mate Suninen.
Evans arrives with a 4m36.1s, 3.2s slower than current pacesetter Lappi.
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When asked if he thinks he's done enough to leapfrog Suninen for fifth place, whom he was only 1.3s behind heading into this stage, Lappi has his doubts.
"To be honest I don't think so. My pace notes were not precise enough so I was braking many times too early," he says
Does he think he'll get the job done this afternoon, then?
"Yeah, yeah yeah," he says quite nonchalantly.
"To be honest I don't think so. My pace notes were not precise enough so I was braking many times too early," he says
Does he think he'll get the job done this afternoon, then?
"Yeah, yeah yeah," he says quite nonchalantly.
Lappi has, yes, you guessed it, gone fastest so far. A 4m32.9s puts him 1.2s up on Breen here.
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"The jumps seemed to be smaller than when we did them in 2016 and we seemed to be flying quite high," says Breen. He's a bit surprised, but that's what you get with a front splitter and huge rear wing pushing the ar down.
Breen completes the stage 5.2s up on Neuville. He's bolted and the championship leader's got no chance of catching him now.
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"We knew that at some point being first on the road is going to be a disadvantage and this time that was a case. We can live with that," says Neuville.
Breen's already 3.5s up on Neuville at the second split, however.
Neuville goes 2.1s faster than Mikkelsen with a 4m39.3s.
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"We can go with these tyres in the afternoon," says Mikkelsen, indicating how little he can lean on them with how slippery these roads are as first car on the road.
And Mikkelsen has now finished, setting a 4m41.4s to finish his morning.
As Breen begins, Neuville goes 1.4s up on Mikkelsen at the second split.
Neuville is now underway too.
Green flag
Mikkelsen gets our last stage of this morning loop started.
Twitter
Andreas Mikkelsen is preparing to set off. He's starting first on the road after a disastrous Friday. This next quick clip should catch you up, in case you missed it.
Information
This upcoming stage is by far the shortest one today, but that doesn't mean it's in any way easy, as Hayden Paddon's co-driver Seb Marshall explains.
SS15/16 Tuohikotanen (5.56 miles)
This one mixes sections of the Leustu and Horkka stages. It’s generally a similar width throughout with the exception of one shorter section on a wide road. There are quite lot of corners over jumps in here. They’re not big jumps but they tend to pitch the car at a funny angles. A good stage.
SS15/16 Tuohikotanen (5.56 miles)
This one mixes sections of the Leustu and Horkka stages. It’s generally a similar width throughout with the exception of one shorter section on a wide road. There are quite lot of corners over jumps in here. They’re not big jumps but they tend to pitch the car at a funny angles. A good stage.
David Evans
The weather’s a bit cloudier than yesterday, but the temperatures are still rising into the mid to high 20s. Nobody’s going to be running the soft tyre, it’s the medium all around. Interestingly, nobody has taken two spares – something Ostberg regretted in yesterday afternoon’s loop.
We're back for our next stage, which is only a few minutes away.
There's been surprisingly little mentioned about tyre choice today and for good reason, as DAVID EVANS explains.
There's been surprisingly little mentioned about tyre choice today and for good reason, as DAVID EVANS explains.
We'll be back for Tuohikotanen, our last stage before midday service, in around 40 minutes time. See you soon!
Further back, Mikkelsen has passed compatriot Veiby for 14th, only 0.3s behind Huttunen in 13th. But in less powerful R5-specification WRC2 cars, both are easy pickings for a WRC driver.
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Now, quickly back to our overall standings. Lappi is homing in quickly on Suninen, to the point he might take fifth place away before midday service at this rate. Tanak is getting his skates on out front, while our title contenders Ogier and Neuville are all out at sea.
Overall classification after SS14 Kakaristo
1. Tanak 1h34m22.5s
2. Ostberg +22.7s
3. Latvala +44.0s
4. Paddon +1m11.5s
5. Suninen +1m27.4s
6. Lappi +1m28.7s
7. Ogier +1m47.8s
8. Evans +1m50.0s
9. Breen +2m22.2s
10. Neuville +3m01.4s
Overall classification after SS14 Kakaristo
1. Tanak 1h34m22.5s
2. Ostberg +22.7s
3. Latvala +44.0s
4. Paddon +1m11.5s
5. Suninen +1m27.4s
6. Lappi +1m28.7s
7. Ogier +1m47.8s
8. Evans +1m50.0s
9. Breen +2m22.2s
10. Neuville +3m01.4s
And speaking of WRC2 drivers, British driver Gus Greensmith reports something in his Ford Fiesta R5 breaking midway through the stage, making it hard to stay in control. He's still fifth in class, though.
After having his advantage cut into this morning, Huttunen has responded. He's 2.2s faster than Veiby, increasing his gap to 3.8s.
Before we look into the implications that has in our overall battle, our WRC2 support category drivers are coming through. That battle for third looks interesting, Hyundai protege Jari Huttunen with only 1.6s in hand over Ole Christian Veiby.
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Here's a recap of our top 10 stage times through Kakaristo.
SS14 Kakaristo
1. Tanak 6m50.8s
2. Ostberg +4.7s
3. Latvala +5.4s
4. Lappi +6.2s
5. Paddon +9.5s
6. Evans +10.2s
7. Breen +10.7s
8. Ogier +11.8s
9. Suninen +12.5s
10. Neuville +13.2s
SS14 Kakaristo
1. Tanak 6m50.8s
2. Ostberg +4.7s
3. Latvala +5.4s
4. Lappi +6.2s
5. Paddon +9.5s
6. Evans +10.2s
7. Breen +10.7s
8. Ogier +11.8s
9. Suninen +12.5s
10. Neuville +13.2s
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For once, Tanak concedes he was actually trying.
"This one I definitely had a better rhythm. The beginning was a bit so-so and a bit slippy, but the rhythm was quite nice"
"This one I definitely had a better rhythm. The beginning was a bit so-so and a bit slippy, but the rhythm was quite nice"
Checkered flag
It's three stage wins from three this morning for Ott Tanak. 11m40.4s. 3.7s up on Ostberg.
If this isn't pushing from Tanak, I don't know what is. He's using every millimetre of road available to him.
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"We tried to give it a go. Some mistakes quite early on the stage but the end was quite nice," says Ostberg.
Stopwatch
Both Ostberg and Tanak are quicker in the splits though, and....indeed, Ostberg is now fastest. 11m44.1s. 3.3s ahead of Latvala. So much for kicking back and watching what everyone else does.
Stopwatch
The second Toyota is in, and Latvala's gone quickest with an 11m47.4s. That's 2.9s up on Lappi.
By: Matt Beer
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