Live text
WRC Rally Sweden 2019
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
Tanak's not fastest this time around. Ogier remains the benchmark. He's 4.7s off the Frenchman but his lead is still very safe.
Quote
"It's difficult to know what to do in here, try to go sideways or try to be neat and stay in the lines. But it looks like I was too neat and tidy."
The last two stages today are short superspecials but, such is the gap from Mikkelsen to Lappi now, he could conceivably lose second before the day is out.
The last two stages today are short superspecials but, such is the gap from Mikkelsen to Lappi now, he could conceivably lose second before the day is out.
Stopwatch
Mikkelsen loses 5.1s to Lappi and 5.7s to Neuville. This is very much a three-way battle for second now. Lappi is only 1.9s behind overall, and Neuville 4.5s in arrears.
That's some good air from Mikkelsen over Colin's Crest. And he does need to push on; Lappi has been gaining time over fist on him this afternoon in the battle for second.
Evans lost 0.4s to Neuville and gained 0.2s to Lappi, while also being faster than Loeb and Meeke. So he stays exactly where he is in fifth place.
With Ogier's theatrics we missed Loeb closing up to within a whisker of Meeke in the overall. Meeke's advantage for what should be a net sixth place is down to 0.5s.
Evans keeps it sensible over Colin's Crest but still dips his Ford Fiesta a little bit wide at the subsequent right hander.
Quote
Lappi is told of Neuville and Ogier's dramas at stage end.
"Well, I am on the road!" he retorts. "For sure I didn't push enough but if I push harder I will do mistakes, so this is my speed.
"Well, I am on the road!" he retorts. "For sure I didn't push enough but if I push harder I will do mistakes, so this is my speed.
Lappi recoups a tenth towards the end to finish 0.6s down on Neuville. That gap from third to fourth is now only 2.6s.
Lappi is 0.7s down on Neuville on the penultimate split. He'll keep third as it stands but his small advantage over Neuville will be slimmed down even further.
Quote
"I went a bit on the bank and it got very close. Just after the landing on the brakes I just lost the rear and I had to go on the inside," he explains.
He seems pretty calm about it. I'm not! And that's why Ogier is a six time champion and I'm sat here reporting on his amazing saves instead. Bravo.
He seems pretty calm about it. I'm not! And that's why Ogier is a six time champion and I'm sat here reporting on his amazing saves instead. Bravo.
Ogier is fastest through so far. You'd hope so after a moment like that. He was leaving nothing on the table there!
Ogier is scruffy on his run past Colin's Crest! He takes a huge leap and is off-line for the next right hander. He compensates by cutting massively on the inside through the snow and nearly clips a tree. But he holds onto it. Heart in mouth stuff!
Quote
Loeb lost time this morning with pace notes which had been written too conservatively. He made some changes with co-driver Daniel Elena this morning and they've helped his speed.
"The pacenotes are better but I have only five tyres. They are quite destroyed!" he says.
"It's not too bad. I tried to manage the tyres in the previous stage and this one, trying not to be too aggressive.
"The pacenotes are better but I have only five tyres. They are quite destroyed!" he says.
"It's not too bad. I tried to manage the tyres in the previous stage and this one, trying not to be too aggressive.
Also, it's still strange saying that Loeb is Neuville's Hyundai team-mate out loud. Will we ever get used to him not being in one of the red cars? Answers on a postcard.
And Loeb crosses the line 1.4 slower than Neuville.
Loeb was briefly up on Neuville at the second split, but is now 1.1s down on his Hyundai team-mate at split three.
Neuville was 6.3s faster than the next best driver so far Tidemand despite that spin. Incredible.
Quote
Neuville is fastest so far.
"To be honest I was pushing very hard. I got caught out of the line and got spun. I lost maybe four to five seconds but still I continue pushing after that."
"To be honest I was pushing very hard. I got caught out of the line and got spun. I lost maybe four to five seconds but still I continue pushing after that."
He'll have lost maybe five seconds there? But it's a miracle he didn't get stuck and drop minutes rather than seconds.
He effectively did a full 360 there. He hit the bank which spun him around, he was about to go in nose-first and get stuck but somehow found a lower gear and powered his way out and got on his way.
But what a recovery!
Crash
Neuville hits a snowbank and spins!
Quote
"We have to fight some other battles later in the year when the conditions are more consistent," says Meeke.
He knows this rally is going away from him.
He knows this rally is going away from him.
Meeke managed 48 metres over that jump. Mega!
Meeke might not be fast but he is pushing! A big leap over Colin's Crest lands him on the right edge of the road, almost in the snowbank. The crowd roars. He's a crowd pleaser no matter what's going on!
Tidemand's jump over Colin's Crest is decent, with a little bit of front right kicking up in the air. I'd give that landing a solid 8/10. His stage time is OK too, though Neuville is already 2.3s faster than his benchmark time at the first split.
Meeke's troubles clearly aren't exclusively down to road order. He's 1.6s down on Pontus Tidemand at the first split, who started ahead of him on the road.
Quote
"I have nothing to lose really, so I was planning to push this stage to see how much road order is affecting my speed," said Latvala.
He went off less barely a minute into that stage, so the dataset from that experiment is a bust unfortunately.
He went off less barely a minute into that stage, so the dataset from that experiment is a bust unfortunately.
Bertelli gives it plenty of welly again over Colin's Crest. You know a jump is full commitment in this era of WRC when a car lands tail first, thanks to the aero effect of the massive rear wings.
Latvala is indeed on his way again. That trip to a snowbank lost him around four minutes. That won't matter given he retired yesterday when he got stuck in a different snowbank on Torsby and is well down the order. But he'll be frustrated nonetheless.
Quote
"I have no brakes at all. Look!" says Gronholm.
How long was the problem there for?
"From the beginning, nearly. It start to go down, down, down, and now it was dangerous."
Those rear brakes will probably be bright red from riding the handbrake to slow down in the absence of his normal brakes working properly.
How long was the problem there for?
"From the beginning, nearly. It start to go down, down, down, and now it was dangerous."
Those rear brakes will probably be bright red from riding the handbrake to slow down in the absence of his normal brakes working properly.
Gronholm crosses the finish line at a pedestrian pace.
Gronholm's going quite slowly and his rear brakes are very bright red. Something's not quite right with that Toyota.
As Bertelli passes Latvala, it shows the Finn's car extracted from the snowbank, with the bootlid up. They'll be on their way by now, I'd imagine, though we don't have visual confirmation.
Lorenzo Bertelli sets off. He lost one of his lightpods and the other was hanging on by a thread during yesterday's twilight stages. He'll want to avoid the same sense of deja vu that Latvala is currently feeling.
That half a dozen-odd group of spectators is still trying to get Latvala out.
Latvala was just too fast there, went a little off-line and went sideways into the bank. More often than not, the bank will suck cars in by the nose when that happens, as was the case here.
Some spectators have traipsed through the thick snow to reach Latvala and push him out.
Crash
Jari-Matti Latvala has run wide and ended up in a snowbank. Again.
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Lap:
