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SS8 is a slightly shortened repeat of this morning’s SS2, the Grighine Sud section of the rally – 22.5 km this afternoon instead of this morning’s 26.31km. it consists of varying surfaces – bumpy, rocky sections spliced with fast, smooth sections. This morning’s running of the stage saw a victory for rally leader Hayden Paddon by some 5.3 seconds over Sebastien Ogier.
 This afternoon it was Jari-Matti Latvala that was victor – he’s chasing Paddon down in the overall stakes and is clearly charging hard. His time is just three tenths faster than Ogier’s and half a second quicker than Paddon, who clearly isn’t making things easy for him. Ott Tanak, winner of SS7, piloted his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to fourth, 4.7 seconds down on Latvala, with Dani Sordo and Elfyn Evans completing the top six. ‘An improvement on what’s been happening so far.’ commented Evans. ‘Nice to start finding a bit of rhythm on these roads.’ With Latvala’s push, Paddon’s lead is now marginally down at 19.4 seconds. Ogier remains third, 23.1 seconds down, followed by Sordo, 45.9 seconds down on the leader thanks in part to a 10 second penalty for a jump start in SS1. Tanak and Neuville round out the top six. |
