Paddon and co-driver John Kennard both escaped unharmed, but the stage was stopped after the accident and then cancelled. Only Lorenzo Bertelli, Sebastien Ogier, Andreas Mikkelsen and Ott Tanak had completed it. Thierry Neuville, who would have been the sixth car in, was held at the start line.
Crews will now go to SS10, which is due to start at 16.37 hours local time [20.37 hours UK time]. SS10 is the final one of the day.
Sat 16:17 – SS9: Update
Rally organisers have issued the following statement: ‘SS9 was interrupted due to an accident involving Hyundai i20 N°20 of Hayden Paddon and John Kennard. The incident involved spectators who were immediately assisted by the emergency services belonging to the race. Due to sanitary ambulances of the race being affected to this accident, the organization established the immediate interruption of SS9. The race will continue with SS10 which will start at 1637hrs as established. The organization will continue updating on any new details concerning the accident.’
“It was very narrow. So easy to hit a rock. Very demanding. You needed perfect pace notes,” analysed Ogier after posting the benchmark time. “Something could happen, for sure…”
In the end, there was no real drama. Mikkelsen won the stage for VW and there were no more mentions of dust, although Meeke still ceded another 21s to Ostberg. The Norwegian, who is feeling poorly, has consequently managed to reduce his deficit from 1m8.4s overnight to just 32.6s!
The Ulsterman didn’t sound unduly concerned at the Stop Control, though: “It was important to get through this morning’s stages,” he commented. “I had new pace notes, so I was very cautious…”
Another cautious driver on SS8 was Latvala who admitted to a big ‘moment’ and subsequently losing his rhythm. “I was lucky there were no rocks to it,” reported the shaken Finn.
His dip in form allowed the charging Dani Sordo to get close and the Spaniard nearly earned a footing on the provisional podium for Hyundai. The opportunity was lost when he overshot a slow left hairpin near the end, wasting an estimated 10 to 15 seconds. The gap between them now stands at 14.1s and Sordo was understandably frustrated at the finish…
Another battle to watch concerns Thierry Neuville’s challenge for sixth. The Hyundai man is now only 11.8s short of Martin Prokop (Ford), but almost three minutes down on Elfyn Evans (5th, Ford).