WRC Rally Sweden 2019
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Ogier went off-line and through a shallow snowbank in that last test. It was likely just a lack of overall grip as first on the road that resulted in his cut through the slush. But thanks to DAVID EVANS, we can imagine a rather more humorous cause for his momentary mistake...
Some quick bits and pieces before we take a short break ahead of our next stages.
DAVID EVANS was wandering the rally's Torsby base for us during service, picking up some interesting nuggets of information. As Kris Meeke predicted, gravel coming through the stages made tyre management a hot issue.
“In some places you can see the gravel and the mud in the corner,” said the Toyota driver, “but you need to decide: is it going to be frozen? Or is it just mud. If you go in there and brake late and hard and it’s not frozen, the tyres give you good grip – but if it is frozen hard then you can soon start to snap the studs off.”
DAVID EVANS was wandering the rally's Torsby base for us during service, picking up some interesting nuggets of information. As Kris Meeke predicted, gravel coming through the stages made tyre management a hot issue.
“In some places you can see the gravel and the mud in the corner,” said the Toyota driver, “but you need to decide: is it going to be frozen? Or is it just mud. If you go in there and brake late and hard and it’s not frozen, the tyres give you good grip – but if it is frozen hard then you can soon start to snap the studs off.”
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That issue hands former Citroen WRC factory driver Mads Ostberg a comfortable lead in WRC2 Pro. M-Sport won the Ford-Citroen battle last time out on the Monte, this time it's Citroen in the box seat.
Greensmith's stoppage has set the battle for second alight, with Rovanpera nicking second place back. But not by much!
WRC2 classification after SS5 Hof-Finnskog
1. Ostberg 45m50.5s
2. Rovanpera +2m05.3s
3. Greensmith +2m16.3s
4. Pietarinen +5m39.1s
Greensmith's stoppage has set the battle for second alight, with Rovanpera nicking second place back. But not by much!
WRC2 classification after SS5 Hof-Finnskog
1. Ostberg 45m50.5s
2. Rovanpera +2m05.3s
3. Greensmith +2m16.3s
4. Pietarinen +5m39.1s
Crash
Speaking of things stopping, Gus Greensmith's M-Sport WRC2 Pro Fiesta reportedly ground to a halt around the 11 mile mark. He lost nearly two minutes to his fastest WRC2 Pro rival Rovanpera as a result.
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What an effect that stage has had on our overall! A new leader, Mikkelsen up to fourth from seventh, Neuville spinning twice and spiralling down to sixth. I need a rest!
Overall classification after SS5 Hof-Finnskog
1. Latvala 43m28.6s
2. Suninen +1.8s
3. Tanak +3.7s
4. Mikkelsen +21.9s
5. Meeke +31.8s
6. Neuvile +33.3s
7. Ogier +33.6s
8. Evans +35.8s
9. Lappi +41.4s
10. Loeb +48.8s
Overall classification after SS5 Hof-Finnskog
1. Latvala 43m28.6s
2. Suninen +1.8s
3. Tanak +3.7s
4. Mikkelsen +21.9s
5. Meeke +31.8s
6. Neuvile +33.3s
7. Ogier +33.6s
8. Evans +35.8s
9. Lappi +41.4s
10. Loeb +48.8s
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Here's the results from that stage. There's a WRC2 Pro interloper in amongst the WRC contingent – it would appear road sweeping (because this is apparently a gravel rally now) has harmed the early runners a fair bit.
SS5 Hof-Finnskog results
1. Evans 10m02.8s
2. Latvala +3.7s
3. Suninen +5.6s
4. Tidemand +9.3s
5. Meeke +11.3s
6. Tanak +13.0s
7. Mikkelsen +13.9s
8. Loeb +14.6s
9. Rovanpera +28.3s
10. Ogier +28.5s
SS5 Hof-Finnskog results
1. Evans 10m02.8s
2. Latvala +3.7s
3. Suninen +5.6s
4. Tidemand +9.3s
5. Meeke +11.3s
6. Tanak +13.0s
7. Mikkelsen +13.9s
8. Loeb +14.6s
9. Rovanpera +28.3s
10. Ogier +28.5s
Evans was 10th heading into this stage; he's now 8th, leapfrogging both Lappi and Loeb. He's also 4s off fifth place now. If he can keep up this pace, that spin in this morning's opening stage will be forgotten quickly.
Stopwatch
Where did that come from! Elfyn Evans flies in under the radar to set fastest time, 3.7s up on Latvala.
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"I got caught by a short right hander. I hit the bank because I completely lost the rear, and then the front, and we almost rolled," explains Lappi.
That's where those 15 seconds went, then.
That's where those 15 seconds went, then.
Lappi looked set to move into fifth place at the expense of Neuville and Ogier; instead, he's lost 7.4s to Ogier and drops to eighth, passed by Meeke.
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Mikkelsen is in. He leapfrogs both Neuville and Ogier into fourth place.
"It's a long loop. I tried to save my tyres and not lose too much time. Maybe I could have gone faster, maybe I could have saved less, I don't know."
"It's a long loop. I tried to save my tyres and not lose too much time. Maybe I could have gone faster, maybe I could have saved less, I don't know."
Ogier vs Mikkelsen vs Lappi resumes for fifth place. The latter pair both looked set to pass Ogier and Mikkelsen is still on course to. But Lappi's lost around 15s in a single split. We're not sure why.
Pontus Tidemand's over-revving engine this morning was caused by a throttle pedal sensor failure. It's fixed now and it has transformed his pace; he's third fastest through here.
But what that does mean overall is that Jari-Matti Latvala now leads! Suninen remains second as both leapfrog Tanak.
Suninen can't match Latvala's searing pace. He's second fastest, 1.9s down on his compatriot and subsequently falls behind.
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"This is interesting stage. Lots of gravel, very high grip in some places but slush in other places," says Latvala.
He's locked in a battle for second with Suninen, the pair separated by only 0.1s before this stage. This might get Latvala second place.
"Let's see what is the response from Teemu."
He's locked in a battle for second with Suninen, the pair separated by only 0.1s before this stage. This might get Latvala second place.
"Let's see what is the response from Teemu."
Stopwatch
And it's worked magnificently. Latvala is fastest here by a long way, 7.6s up on Meeke's previous benchmark.
Latvala gets very sideways exiting a medium right – he's pushing!
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"Afternoon conditions are terrible. As soon as you slide you lose completely the rear. I did my best but not perfect," says Loeb.
Loeb arrives only 3.3s down on Meeke's pace-setting time. That's better from the nine-time champ.
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"My style of driving didn't suit the conditions this morning. I needed to be more adaptable. Maybe my style worked better this afternoon," says Meeke.
Meeke contributes to the conditions debate with this gem:
"It's like Rally GB, isn't it?"
Meeke contributes to the conditions debate with this gem:
"It's like Rally GB, isn't it?"
Stopwatch
Meeke's mega opening split didn't stick, dropping most of that gain immediately thereafter. But he's still fastest through so far, 1.7s up on Tanak.
Latvala and Suninen behind are going faster still, though.
Latvala and Suninen behind are going faster still, though.
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"[The] line is bad, there is so much slush. It's far too difficult," comments Tanak after beating his two main title rivals from last season here.
Expect more complaints from those following this trio...
Expect more complaints from those following this trio...
Tanak finishes with a 10m15.8s. That's 15.5s up on Ogier and 23.6s ahead of the spinning Neuville.
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"It's a gravel rally now. I probably lost the studs, I hit the snowbank and the car spun," says Neuville. He's not happy with those road conditions.
There's a lot of damage to the front left corner of Neuville's car.
Crash
Neuville was quickly on his way after that spin, by the way. And there was a second one! He went from being 12s up on Ogier to finishing 8.1s down by the finish.
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Ogier has arrived at the finish.
"I just try to survive. it's a lot of gravel and some slush, so it's tricky."
"I just try to survive. it's a lot of gravel and some slush, so it's tricky."
Neuville is simply too fast, running wide into a snow bank that pitches him into a spin.
Crash
Neuviille has spun!
Sebastien Loeb is languishing down in ninth, having failed to find a solid rhythm this morning. He might just have found it; he's second fastest at the opening split, though still 4.8s off Meeke's blistering effort.
Stopwatch
Well hello there, Kris Meeke! After a quiet morning loop he's smashed everyone at the first split; 5.9s up on team-mate Tanak, 6.5s up on Neuville and 10s ahead of Ogier. That's more like it.
Ogier's minor niggles continue; it looks like his door isn't quite firmly shut. It's not opening but it's shoogling around a little bit.
We have some split times. And Ogier is struggling. He's 6.2s slower than Neuville after only two splits.
Tanak has 0.6s in hand over Neuville at the first split, meanwhile.
Tanak has 0.6s in hand over Neuville at the first split, meanwhile.
Twitter
The roads look like they're going to be more slippery this afternoon. This next pic gives you an idea of how dirty the road surface is becoming.
Green flag
Sebastien Ogier kicks us off for the afternoon. And almost immediately he goes a little bit off-line and through a small, slushy snowbank. No big drama but not ideal either.
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2003 world champion Petter Solberg is leading Rally Sweden Historic aboard his Ford Escort RS1800 after two stages. So who better to give us some insight into our next stage?
SS5 Hof-Finnskog (13.21 miles)
This one has been the fastest stage on the event in the last few years – and that’s despite a fairly technical section in the start and a few junctions along the way. The middle part of the stage is really, really fast through the countryside before we turn off onto a smaller and more twisty road to the finish. On the recce we had a good base of ice here, but it might get a bit more rutted on the second run through.
SS5 Hof-Finnskog (13.21 miles)
This one has been the fastest stage on the event in the last few years – and that’s despite a fairly technical section in the start and a few junctions along the way. The middle part of the stage is really, really fast through the countryside before we turn off onto a smaller and more twisty road to the finish. On the recce we had a good base of ice here, but it might get a bit more rutted on the second run through.
M-Sport service park conversion is now pretty much complete. The British squad outsourced its on-event catering and hospitality at the start of the season, which meant a new look and less trucks making the trip from Cockermouth – and now it’s brought a whole load of car tents. The thinking is still all about trimming the kit needed from rally to rally and this has worked a treat too. Instead of the team donning hard hats and high-vis to breakdown what was the previous garage structure, before stacking it laboriously into lots of lorries, the tents take 15 minutes to inflate themselves. And, come Sunday, presumably you pull the plug out, have a coffee and fold it up into a bag. - DAVID EVANS
M-Sport struggled to get its budget together to run its WRC campaign for this season, going through something of a last minute ordeal. Some cost saving was therefore in order for this year, as DAVID EVANS explains...
By: Matt Beer
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