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WRC Rally Germany
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In WRC2, long-time leader Kopecky has dropped from first to eighth with a puncture on the last stage, so Camilli is now on top by just 13.8s over double European Rally champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
David Evans
The gearbox on Thierry Neuville’s car was changed last night after it suffered an oil leak in the Mittelmosel stage yesterday afternoon.
The new gearbox comes complete with a front differential which locks more under braking. Team principal and technical genius Michel Nandan offered a detailed explanation of what this meant, but the upshot is that is that the car’s less stable under braking and in places where the grip is compromised.
Testing had revealed this transmission set-up to be optimal in Baumholder, but not when the road’s as dirty as it is for the Belgian.
Basically, the car’s doing what it should, but the conditions are making it difficult for him to get the best out of it.
Sordo’s running the same transmission set-up as yesterday and is clearly enjoying more pull from the front of the car with more grip on offer.
Will things change for the second run through Panzerplatte for Neuville? Unlikely. The road conditions aren’t going to get any cleaner this afternoon and the team can’t open yesterday’s gearbox to inspect any potential damage after running with less oil than it should have done. So the preference is to keep the current box and front diff in there for the rest of the event.
The new gearbox comes complete with a front differential which locks more under braking. Team principal and technical genius Michel Nandan offered a detailed explanation of what this meant, but the upshot is that is that the car’s less stable under braking and in places where the grip is compromised.
Testing had revealed this transmission set-up to be optimal in Baumholder, but not when the road’s as dirty as it is for the Belgian.
Basically, the car’s doing what it should, but the conditions are making it difficult for him to get the best out of it.
Sordo’s running the same transmission set-up as yesterday and is clearly enjoying more pull from the front of the car with more grip on offer.
Will things change for the second run through Panzerplatte for Neuville? Unlikely. The road conditions aren’t going to get any cleaner this afternoon and the team can’t open yesterday’s gearbox to inspect any potential damage after running with less oil than it should have done. So the preference is to keep the current box and front diff in there for the rest of the event.
So that was a pain-free first run through Panzerplatte for the WRC field. Will it be as smooth this afternoon?
We've got two shorter stages to complete the loop still to come, but a break of around an hour before then, so we'll take a pause, update you on developments in WRC2 and be back soon.
We've got two shorter stages to complete the loop still to come, but a break of around an hour before then, so we'll take a pause, update you on developments in WRC2 and be back soon.
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SS9 summary
* Tanak builds his overall lead back up to 13.2s
* Sordo goes quickest and leaps from sixth to fourth
* Unhappy Neuville falling back towards Sordo
* Tanak builds his overall lead back up to 13.2s
* Sordo goes quickest and leaps from sixth to fourth
* Unhappy Neuville falling back towards Sordo
Information
SS9 results
Leading stage times
1 Sordo 21m55.7s
2 Tanak +0.6s
3 Ogier +3.2s
4 Breen +6.3s
5 Neuville +6.5s
Overall leaderboard
1 Tanak
2 Ogier +13.2s
3 Neuville +33.6s
4 Sordo +39.0s
5 Latvala +42.5s
6 Evans +47.5s
7 Lappi +53.1s
8 Breen +1m01.3s
9 Mikkelsen +1m14.2s
10 Suninen +1m38.2s
11 Ostberg +1m45.6s
Leading stage times
1 Sordo 21m55.7s
2 Tanak +0.6s
3 Ogier +3.2s
4 Breen +6.3s
5 Neuville +6.5s
Overall leaderboard
1 Tanak
2 Ogier +13.2s
3 Neuville +33.6s
4 Sordo +39.0s
5 Latvala +42.5s
6 Evans +47.5s
7 Lappi +53.1s
8 Breen +1m01.3s
9 Mikkelsen +1m14.2s
10 Suninen +1m38.2s
11 Ostberg +1m45.6s
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TV cameras picked up a big moment for Tanak near the end of the stage but he shrugs it off with an "I don't really know what you're talking about".
He is one of many drivers to report "quite a lot of understeer" there.
He is one of many drivers to report "quite a lot of understeer" there.
Tanak completes the stage second fastest to Sordo by 0.6s, which is 2.6s faster than Ogier. His lead is back up to 13.2s.
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"I didn't have so much confidence at the beginning, it was very slippery and I expected higher grip," says Ogier.
Ogier's pace has been getting closer to Tanak's through that stage, at the final split the Toyota is 2.3s faster.
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Neuville loses another 3.3s to title rival Ogier, so the gap between them from second to third overall is now 20.4s.
Neuville reckons there's not a lot he can do about that.
"There's nothing, to be honest, the car was not working at all," says Neuville. "With the diff I am using now, I can do nothing. I have only one choice left so I have to work with that to the end of the weekend."
Neuville reckons there's not a lot he can do about that.
"There's nothing, to be honest, the car was not working at all," says Neuville. "With the diff I am using now, I can do nothing. I have only one choice left so I have to work with that to the end of the weekend."
Neuville completes the stage third fastest, 6.5s behind team-mate Sordo.
That means Neuville is just 5.4s ahead of his team-mate for third overall now...
That means Neuville is just 5.4s ahead of his team-mate for third overall now...
Crash
Drama in WRC2 - class leader Jan Kopecky is reported to be stopped on the stage, which would move Eric Camilli into the lead there.
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Evans is bemused to be losing time and positions, saying it felt like a good run with no mistakes. He's gone from fourth to sixth already this morning. "Everything feels OK..." he says.
Neuville has got stronger through the stage but he's going to end up being hunted down by Sordo for third overall. Which is probably fine, isn't it, as Hyundai's not going to allow its part-timer to be ahead of its title contender come Sunday afternoon.
Evans is in and fourth fastest, so that group battling for fourth now looks like this:
4 Sordo
5 Latvala +3.5s
6 Evans +8.5s
7 Lappi +14.1s
4 Sordo
5 Latvala +3.5s
6 Evans +8.5s
7 Lappi +14.1s
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"We had too much understeer," says Latvala. "I don't know if I'm driving a bit too aggressively. I have to calm down with the driving and hopefully it will get better for the next time."
Latvala is only third fastest on the stage so far behind Sordo and Breen, and that means he does fall behind Sordo in the overall standings - he's now 3.5s behind and will be fifth or sixth overall depending on Evans's performance. Most likely fifth.
Tanak's next split is in and he's now 3.4s faster than Ogier just the mid-way point of the stage.
Stopwatch
Sordo is fastest so far at the stage end, a massive 6.3s ahead of Breen. That's comfortably pulled him away from Friday rival Lappi (that gap now 14.1s) - will it vault Sordo past Evans and Latvala into fourth? It looks that way so far.
Lappi is in, and he's lost 4.4s to Breen so the gap between them for seventh overall is down to 8.2s.
Ah, apologies, misread the timing screen - Tanak was faster at split one too, by 1.7s rather than the 1.7s we'd said. So after losing time to Ogier on the short Panzerplatte, Tanak has the edge on the longer one.
Oh hello Tanak! After that muted first split, Tanak steps it up massively in the following miles and is fastest so far at the next point by 0.4s over Sordo - which means he's 3.8s faster than Ogier there.
Stopwatch
Breen arrives faster so far by 6.9s over Suninen, and is now 12.9s clear of Mikkelsen for eighth having started the day just a second ahead of the Hyundai.
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Mikkelsen completes the stage faster than the unhappy Ostberg but slower than Suninen. All these tight junctions are not great for a man trying to completely change his driving style to get on top of this Hyundai.
"I really normally love this stage, we were really fast here last year and nearly won it," says Mikkelsen. "I'm trying the best I can. I'm really struggling in all the junctions to understand what to do."
"I really normally love this stage, we were really fast here last year and nearly won it," says Mikkelsen. "I'm trying the best I can. I'm really struggling in all the junctions to understand what to do."
Neuville isn't faring brilliantly either - the third-placed title-chasing Hyundai is slower than fourth, fifth and sixth placed Latvala, Evans and Sordo on the splits at present.
Sordo is starring on the splits in the middle of the stage. He definitely looks set to take fifth from Evans and has a shot at jumping Latvala for fourth too.
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Ostberg says the Citroen "was not nice" on that stage. "Loads, loads, loads of understeer everywhere, especially when I go on the throttle."
He's 3.1s slower than Suninen and now 7s behind the 10th-placed Ford.
He's 3.1s slower than Suninen and now 7s behind the 10th-placed Ford.
At the first split, Neuville has lost 0.9s to Latvala and 2s to Sordo behind. Neuville can just about afford to lose a couple of points to Ogier here, but finishing more than once place behind his title rival would be bad news.
Just past the stage's halfway point, Breen is 7s faster than Mikkelsen in what soon won't really be much of a battle over eighth.
Neuville and Ogier are now onto the stage too. Tanak is on the startline.
On the early splits, Evans has trimmed 0.2s back from Latvala after losing fourth to him on the previous stage, but Sordo is a clear second faster than both - which would be enough to take him ahead of Evans for fifth.
Breen continues to fly further down the stage and is looking good for both leaving ninth-placed Mikkelsen behind and getting a lot closer to seventh-placed Lappi.
Breen continues to fly further down the stage and is looking good for both leaving ninth-placed Mikkelsen behind and getting a lot closer to seventh-placed Lappi.
Suninen has maintained his advantage over Ostberg at split two, while back at split one Breen is continuing his strong start to the day with the fastest time so far there.
In fact at this pace, Breen won't just be pulling away from Mikkelsen for eighth, he'll also be catching Lappi for seventh.
In fact at this pace, Breen won't just be pulling away from Mikkelsen for eighth, he'll also be catching Lappi for seventh.
Twitter
Suninen has a better start to this stage than Ostberg - he's 1.1s quicker at the split. Maybe he won't be losing 10th this morning after all.
David Evans
Ott Tanak might have looked unbeatable at the top of the timesheets going into today, but Autosport can offer a glimmer of hope to those pursuing the runaway Estonian.
Asked if there was anything not perfect about his prep for the event, he offered: “No, all good. Actually, yes, we had a shit road in Panzerplatte for the test. In vineyards, it was good, but in Baumholder not so good.”
It’s time for Ogier, Neuville and co to start making some hay…
Talking of hay-making conditions, it’s sunny, sunny, sunny in Saarland this morning. For that reason, all the factory cars have gone out with five hard Michelins.
Asked if there was anything not perfect about his prep for the event, he offered: “No, all good. Actually, yes, we had a shit road in Panzerplatte for the test. In vineyards, it was good, but in Baumholder not so good.”
It’s time for Ogier, Neuville and co to start making some hay…
Talking of hay-making conditions, it’s sunny, sunny, sunny in Saarland this morning. For that reason, all the factory cars have gone out with five hard Michelins.
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Straight onto the big one, with Ostberg and Suninen already onto the 'real' Panzerplatte.
Here's Greensmith's co-driver Loudon's guide:
SS9 Panzerplatte (23.96 miles)
There are parts of Panzerplatte which is just like the Arena stage before, where we have lots of corners coming in very quick succession. But then there are some real fast places in there as well – not least the Gina Jump!
What makes this stage a real challenge is not just the length, speed and rhythm changes and constant focus, but the grip beneath the car.
You can’t believe how many times the surface changes from good Tarmac to broken concrete to what looks like gravel, then back to asphalt… it’s incredible!
This is definitely one of the most abrasive asphalt stages of the season, so again it’s going to be a case of looking after the tyres.
The feeling is a bit different in the car from the vineyards where you hang in the belts as the driver slows the car from top gear into a hairpin, but Panzerplatte is a legend of a stage. I can’t wait!
Here's Greensmith's co-driver Loudon's guide:
SS9 Panzerplatte (23.96 miles)
There are parts of Panzerplatte which is just like the Arena stage before, where we have lots of corners coming in very quick succession. But then there are some real fast places in there as well – not least the Gina Jump!
What makes this stage a real challenge is not just the length, speed and rhythm changes and constant focus, but the grip beneath the car.
You can’t believe how many times the surface changes from good Tarmac to broken concrete to what looks like gravel, then back to asphalt… it’s incredible!
This is definitely one of the most abrasive asphalt stages of the season, so again it’s going to be a case of looking after the tyres.
The feeling is a bit different in the car from the vineyards where you hang in the belts as the driver slows the car from top gear into a hairpin, but Panzerplatte is a legend of a stage. I can’t wait!
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SS8 summary:
* Ogier chips Tanak's rally lead down to 10.6s
* Latvala goes fastest, takes fourth from Evans and closes on Neuville for third
* Evans now just 0.2s ahead of Sordo for fifth
* Breen pulls away from Mikkelsen in battle over eighth
* Ogier chips Tanak's rally lead down to 10.6s
* Latvala goes fastest, takes fourth from Evans and closes on Neuville for third
* Evans now just 0.2s ahead of Sordo for fifth
* Breen pulls away from Mikkelsen in battle over eighth
Information
SS8 results
Leading stage times:
1 Latvala 5m26.4s
2 Sordo +0.1s
3 Breen +0.8s
4 Ogier +1.5s
5 Tanak +3.2s
6 Lappi +3.4s
7 Neuville +3.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Tanak
2 Ogier +10.6s
3 Neuville +27.7s
4 Latvala +35.6s
5 Evans +39.4s
6 Sordo +39.6s
7 Lappi +43.0s
8 Breen +55.6s
9 Mikkelsen +1m00.2s
10 Suninen +1m25.6s
11 Ostberg +1m29.9s
Leading stage times:
1 Latvala 5m26.4s
2 Sordo +0.1s
3 Breen +0.8s
4 Ogier +1.5s
5 Tanak +3.2s
6 Lappi +3.4s
7 Neuville +3.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Tanak
2 Ogier +10.6s
3 Neuville +27.7s
4 Latvala +35.6s
5 Evans +39.4s
6 Sordo +39.6s
7 Lappi +43.0s
8 Breen +55.6s
9 Mikkelsen +1m00.2s
10 Suninen +1m25.6s
11 Ostberg +1m29.9s
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"For sure it's dirty but also the rhythm was not great," Tanak admits. "We can improve on the next one."
By: Matt Beer
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