Wales Rally GB: Tanak sweeps stage wins as Ogier closes in on victory

Ott Tanak has taken three straight stage wins on the first loop of the final day of action to trim Sebastien Ogier’s lead to 25.9s but the reigning WRC champion looks destined for a fourth straight win at Wales Rally GB.

The DMACK WRT Ford driver chopped eight seconds off of Ogier’s overnight advantage with three consecutive stage victories but the Volkswagen Motorsport driver appears to have plenty in reserve as they prepare for the second loop and final three stages.

Behind the front two Thierry Neuville maintained his useful 12.3s time cushion over Hyundai Motorsport team-mate Hayden Paddon in the battle for the final rostrum spot, with Abu Dhabi Total WRT Citroen’s Kris Meeke a distant fifth in his final appearance of 2016.

Dani Sordo in the third Hyundai entry has over half a minute gap on the charging Jari-Matti Latvala, still recovering from a loss of four-wheel drive on the final stages of day one, but the Volkswagen Motorsport driver did pass M-Sport Ford’s Mads Ostberg for seventh place at the end of SS18.

Further back Stephane Lefebvre and Eric Camilli round out the points-paying positions with Andreas Mikkelsen running out of stages to close in on points having suffered power issues throughout the action on day one at Wales Rally GB.