SS18 impacts field while Ostberg powers his way to win

The 36.69km Coilune – Loelle stage was a real test for the cars and drivers this morning, with a number of issues and incidents arising throughout this mornings run, as SS13. This evening’s run, SS18, is the penultimate stage of the day, and one that the crews are no-doubt keen to get behind them

The drama began before the stage had even started for Latvala – he was four minutes late to begin the stage, meaning that he’d get a 40 second penalty, but in fact ends the stage having lost over two minutes on the road alone, due to a rear damper issue. It’s a real shame for the Volkswagen driver, who’s been having a good rally up until now and was challenging for fourth overall.

It was Mads Ostberg who was able to pick his way through the stage cleanly and quickly, taking the fastest time by 4.7 seconds over rally leader Sebastien Ogier. Meeke, Neuville and Evans all powered through for strong times, but the unfortunate news is that Hayden Paddon, who was leading the rally until the SS17, seems to have lost time in the stage and was visibly upset at the end of the stage, and didn’t give a comment. He hasn’t done too badly from the stage, losing 14.2 seconds to the new rally leader Ogier, but reports are that he has some sort of gearbox problem and stopped not long after the stage end.

The final stage of the day is the monstrous 42.22km Monte Lerno section, the longest stage of the rally and a repeat of SS14. The crews will be able to head to service after the stage, but with so many problems across the field, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect some retirements before the day is over.