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WRC Rally Sweden 2019
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There will be a four minute gap after Gronholm for the rest of the day if Ogier keeps up his tactics. Latvala has plenty of time to wait at the startline, so takes the gloves off and gives his spectacles a last minute clean. It's the small luxuries in life that make the difference.
We're hearing that it was a puncture for Kristoffersson in that last stage, by the way.
Meanwhile, Marcus Gronholm kicks off the WRC action on our next stage, Hagfors.
Crash
Turning to WRC2, that battle over second place between Johan Kristoffersson and Jari Huttunen is over.
Kristoffersson has lost almost two minutes on Rammen, though we're not sure why yet. Once the rest of the field comes though he'll drop to roughly sixth or seventh place in class and Huttunen will have some breathing space in second.
Kristoffersson has lost almost two minutes on Rammen, though we're not sure why yet. Once the rest of the field comes though he'll drop to roughly sixth or seventh place in class and Huttunen will have some breathing space in second.
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That midfield battle has indeed been reshuffled after Rammen as anticipated. Lappi goes up two places and Suninen passes Loeb.
Overall classification after SS12 Rammen 2
1. Tanak 1h54m54.1s
2. Mikkelsen +40.4s
3. Lappi +54.9s
4. Evans +56.5s
5. Neuville +59.5s
6. Meeke +1m10.8s
7. Suninen +1m29.1s
8. Loeb +1m29.8s
9. Tidemand +2m38.7s
10. Veiby +4m28.0s
Overall classification after SS12 Rammen 2
1. Tanak 1h54m54.1s
2. Mikkelsen +40.4s
3. Lappi +54.9s
4. Evans +56.5s
5. Neuville +59.5s
6. Meeke +1m10.8s
7. Suninen +1m29.1s
8. Loeb +1m29.8s
9. Tidemand +2m38.7s
10. Veiby +4m28.0s
Right, that's our WRC contenders through Rammen safely. Here's how they fared through there;
SS12 Rammen 2 stage results
1. Tanak 11m24.1s
2. Lappi +2.1s
3. Suninen +5.0s
4. Evans +5.8s
5. Mikkelsen +6.6s
6. Neuville +7.7s
7. Ogier +9.0s
8. Meeke +12.0s
9. Loeb +14.7s
10. Latvala +17.2s
SS12 Rammen 2 stage results
1. Tanak 11m24.1s
2. Lappi +2.1s
3. Suninen +5.0s
4. Evans +5.8s
5. Mikkelsen +6.6s
6. Neuville +7.7s
7. Ogier +9.0s
8. Meeke +12.0s
9. Loeb +14.7s
10. Latvala +17.2s
Suninen is up to seventh place. He takes 9.7s out of Loeb through here and, with their gap pre-Rammen nine seconds dead, he demotes the nine-time champ to eighth.
That extends Tanak's lead over Mikkelsen to 40.4s.
Our rally leader is in. He beats Lappi's benchmark by 2.1s to go fastest.
"It's a big surprise. Compared to yesterday, being early on the road was a nightmare and now it's like being on a railway, so road position is making a massive difference."
"It's a big surprise. Compared to yesterday, being early on the road was a nightmare and now it's like being on a railway, so road position is making a massive difference."
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"We made some changes to the car which were good, so we just keep going I guess," says Mikkelsen.
This is much better from Mikkelsen overall. Many of his past performances have been blighted by dramas leading to lost results; this time he's keeping his head down, turning in some clean runs and solid times. I'm sure team boss Andrea Adamo will approve.
This is much better from Mikkelsen overall. Many of his past performances have been blighted by dramas leading to lost results; this time he's keeping his head down, turning in some clean runs and solid times. I'm sure team boss Andrea Adamo will approve.
Neuville might be Hyundai team leader but this weekend he's being outperformed by Andreas Mikkelsen. He's third fastest here and remains second.
Evans was faster than Neuville through there, however, so extends his gap over the Hyundai team leader to 4.6s.
And, as it transpires, it's a double swoop for Lappi. He's now third as Evans has lost a fair chunk of time relative to Lappi in the last split of that stage. Evans finishes 3.7s slower.
Lappi was over the moon with his time on Vargasen earlier but was obliterated by Neuville; this time, he's ambivalent about his pace but has taken 5.6s out of him here.
Lappi is now the fastest driver through, and takes fourth place from Neuville.
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So why did Ogier take a 15 minute penalty to start further down?
"Not being in the slush. That's it," says the man himself. Simple and to the point. Based on Latvala's time - who won the first stage this morning - it's probably helped him a little bit.
"Not being in the slush. That's it," says the man himself. Simple and to the point. Based on Latvala's time - who won the first stage this morning - it's probably helped him a little bit.
Neuville clearly had a very strong finish to this run. Ogier looked set for another stage win but Neuville's last few splits clawed all that time back. So Neuville has the fastest time for now, with Ogier second fastest, 1.3s down.
Loeb has arrived. He lost some ground to Neuville as the stage went on but is still faster than Meeke.
He claws back 2.7s against Meeke, reducing the gap to sixth place down to 13.6s.
He claws back 2.7s against Meeke, reducing the gap to sixth place down to 13.6s.
Lappi is 3.3s up on Neuville at the third split. That will move him up to fourth place as it stands.
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"I think the line is getting cleaner and cleaner," says Neuville.
"We have to take care of the tyres but we have to drive fast."
"We have to take care of the tyres but we have to drive fast."
Lappi is faster than Neuville and Meeke at the moment.
Neuville was 7.6s up the road at the penultimate split relative to Meeke but that falls back down to a 4.3s gain by the finish line.
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Meeke has finished. He's not happy.
"It's impossible. I can't do everything. That was hairy," says a somewhat exasperated Meeke.
"They're going to murder us behind, there's no chance with the road conditions."
"It's impossible. I can't do everything. That was hairy," says a somewhat exasperated Meeke.
"They're going to murder us behind, there's no chance with the road conditions."
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"The car is fantastic to drive and really nice stage," says Tidemand. Having fun is the best he can hope for now; he's almost a minute off the car in front of him, team-mate Teemu Suninen, heading into Rammen.
Tidemand is still ticking over in ninth place overall. He's 3.1s off Latvala's reference time, a decent effort.
Turning our attention to the midfield battle; Neuville and Meeke have clocked identical first splits, while Loeb is 0.4 faster than both of them.
Ogier's fastest at the first split. Of course.
He checked in 15 minutes late so will get a 2m30s penalty for it. Utterly inconsequential though. And a sign he might do the same thing on the Torsby power stage tomorrow, as he's done in the past.
And here he is. Rarely does a Rally2 returnee indulging in such shenanigans but it's Sebastien Ogier, after all. He's about to start now.
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Ogier has checked in at start time control, one minute before Lappi. He'll be heading off shortly, it seems.
Latvala sets an 11m38.6s as an early benchmark for Tidemand, Meeke et al to follow.
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Is Gronholm enjoying his return to the WRC?
"A bit more now but it's [a] difficult second loop now. [I was] a little bit in the snowbank, the car stalled for a while."
Not perfect but Gronholm's still smiling cheerfully regardless.
"A bit more now but it's [a] difficult second loop now. [I was] a little bit in the snowbank, the car stalled for a while."
Not perfect but Gronholm's still smiling cheerfully regardless.
Gronholm has finished the stage. As usual he's faster than Bertelli and Tuohino on the splits, but slower than Latvala.
Checking Ogier's GPS data, he's parked up alongside all the other cars waiting their turn to head off for Rammen's start control. He's just being sneaky. He'll get time penalties for this but they're irrelevant at this point. He wants the glory of some more stage wins!
Ogier reportedly did leave midday service after all. And might be taking part in this afternoon's stages. Maybe he doesn't want to run second on the road!
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Here's a reminder of what to expect from this stage, courtesy of this year's Rally Sweden Historic winner Petter Solberg.
SS12 Rammen (14.37 miles)
This one is a bit of a Rally Sweden history lesson. We didn’t come here for a couple of years – and we didn’t come here for a lot of years in this direction – but this stage has been used for a long time on this event. It’s a road which changes a lot in terms of rhythm: there are some really, really fast sections and then there are a lot of junctions and hairpins which slow the thing down quite a lot. One of the keys in here is being able to change the rhythm and keep the pace and tempo up.
SS12 Rammen (14.37 miles)
This one is a bit of a Rally Sweden history lesson. We didn’t come here for a couple of years – and we didn’t come here for a lot of years in this direction – but this stage has been used for a long time on this event. It’s a road which changes a lot in terms of rhythm: there are some really, really fast sections and then there are a lot of junctions and hairpins which slow the thing down quite a lot. One of the keys in here is being able to change the rhythm and keep the pace and tempo up.
That means our second car departs after a brief delay, with Jari-Matti Latvala setting off.
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Ogier has not shown up for this stage, and will retire and return tomorrow. He was very far down the order after his incident with a snowbank on Friday so no loss there. He won two stages this morning and proved his point.
Interesting little detail here; Loeb, who was struggling to keep up with the midfield pack this morning, has taken one less spare wheel than everyone else. That's 25kg saved and hopefully a bit of extra pace. He's down in 7th right now with Suninen closing quickly, so that might be a smart decision.
Anyway, our afternoon loop is underway, as Marcus Gronholm sets off into Rammen.
By: Matt Beer
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