The Frenchman continues to set fastest stage times and increase his lead over second placed Richard Burns. With only four stages remaining, it is going to take either a spectacular performance from Burns or some spectacular misfortune for Auriol if the Toyota driver is to be denied victory.
The fight for the lead is the closest in the top ten. Toshi Arai's path to Group N honours appears to have been eased by Hamed Al Wahaibi's focus on the championship. The Mitsubishi driver had been reeling Arai in, but admitted that his primary concern was finishing the rally and scoring more points towards his battle with Gustavo Trelles for the GpN championship.
It seems that a double puncture yesterday and this morning's awful conditions have persuaded Al Wahaibi to settle for the points. Title rival Trelles has now moved up to third in class.
Positions after SS18:
1 |
Didier Auriol |
Toyota Corolla |
2h59m22.1s |
2 |
Richard Burns |
Subaru Impreza |
2h59m40.6s |
3 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toyota Corolla |
3h00m47.1s |
4 |
Juha Kankkunen |
Subaru Impreza |
3h03m45.5s |
5 |
Harri Rovanpera |
SEAT Cordoba |
3h06m27.6s |
6 |
Volcan Isik |
Toyota Corolla |
3h12m39.0s |
7 |
Toshi Arai |
Subaru Impreza |
3h15m58.3s |
8 |
Hamed Al Wahaibi |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
3h16m55.9s |
9 |
Gustavo Trelles |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
3h22m33.6s |
10 |
Katsuhito Taguchi |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
3h24m59.2s |
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