Belgian Thierry Neuville and Estonian Ott Tanak held their nerve in improving stage conditions to set up the prospect of a gripping finale to a pulsating 74^th Rally Poland.

Neuville, partnered by navigator Nicolas Gilsoul in a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, reached the rain-soaked overnight halt in Mikolajki with a lead of just 3.1 seconds after the lead swapped between the rivals on five occasions during the day’s nine gravel stages.

Neuville ceded the lead on SS16 after a puncture, but Tanak’s M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC lost its rear wing on the same stage and Neuville was able to claw his way back into contention, despite getting caught up in heavy rain on the last of the day’s gravel stages.

Neuville said: “I felt I was a bit unlucky. I had a lot of rain on the last five kilometres of the last gravel stage. I pushed very hard, but some of my advantage was lost.”

Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s Jari-Matti Latvala had been the third driver in the mix for much of the day, although he had dropped a few seconds behind the leading duo before losing drive to his Yaris WRC after a hard landing in a compression forced him to a standstill on the 16^th stage and cost him third place.

One of the performances of the day came from New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon. Smarting following the All Blacks’ defeat to the British and Irish Lions on Saturday morning, the second of the i20 Coupe WRC drivers set three fastest times, overhauled defending World Champion Sébastien Ogier and settled into a comfortable third position.

Ogier battled back from two flat tyres on the first loop of four stages to regain fourth position from Spain’s Dani Sordo, who also sustained a flat tyre two stages from the end.

Finland’s Teemu Suninen continued his impressive debut in a World Rally Car with sixth position and Sébastien Lefebvre was consistently the quickest of the three Citroën C3 WRC drivers in seventh.

Ford’s Mats Østberg and Elfyn Evans were a distant eighth and ninth and Andreas Mikkelsen overhauled a struggling Juha Hänninen to round off the top 10.

WRC 2 swung firmly in Norway’s favour after the second run through Goldap. Ole Christian Veiby reached Mikolajki with a comfortable lead after Swedish rival Pontus Tidemand sustained a time-consuming flat tyre and lost 48 seconds. Quentin Gilbert was a distant third, despite his own rear differential issues.

Nil Solans continued to dominate the WRC 3 category from Dennis Radstrom and Terry Folb.

Sunday

Tomorrow, teams tackle two runs through the remaining two special stages. The new 11.15km of the Orzysz special gets proceedings underway at 08.10hrs and the all-important televised Paprotki Power Stage of 18.68km rounds off the action at 12.18hrs. The podium ceremony will then take place in Mikolajki’s main square from 14.30hrs.

74^th Rally Poland – positions after SS19:

1. Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC2hr 10min 26.3sec
2. Ott Tanak (EST)/Martin Jarveoja (EST) Ford Fiesta WRC2hr 10min 29.4sec
3. Hayden Paddon (NZL)/Sebastian Marshall (GBR) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2hr 10min 51.8sec
4. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julien Ingrassia (FRA) Ford Fiesta WRC2hr 11min 58.3sec
5. Dani Sordo (ESP)/Marc Marti (ESP) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC2hr 12min 10.1sec
6. Teemu Suninen (FIN)/Mikko Markkula (FIN) Ford Fiesta WRC2hr 12min 32.5sec     
7. Stéphane Lefebvre (FRA)/Gabin Moreau (FRA) Citroën C3 WRC2hr 12min 46.6sec
8. Mads Østberg (NOR)/Ola Floene (NOR) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 13min 12.1sec
9. Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Daniel Barritt (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC2hr 13min 49.4 sec
10. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)/Anders Jaeger (NOR) Citroën C3 WRC2hr 14min 00.9sec
11. Juha Hänninen (FIN)/Kaj Lindström (FIN) Toyota Yaris WRC2hr 14min 04.3sec

Jari-Matti Latvala has slipped into the lead of Rally Poland after Friday morning’s opening loop of sodden stages.

Overnight and persistent rain has made conditions tricky for all the crews but those running nearer the front of the field have taken a small advantage in the muddy conditions. Surprised by his position, Latvala is topping a close battle and heads Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak and Sébastien Ogier, the trio all less than 7.3 seconds adrift of the lead.

Rally Poland, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, is normally a hot and dry affair but persistent rain has turned the soft and sandy roads into muddy, wet and rutted stages that are worsening with the passage of cars. A heavy storm yesterday afternoon forced the organiser to cancel the official start but last night’s opening super special stage ran as scheduled and saw Elfyn Evans take the overnight lead.

Today, however, crews headed out to the fast and flowing countryside stages, again in pouring rain, for two loops of four stages before returning to Mikolajki for a second run around the purpose-built super special. Neuville was on the pace in the opener, but Latvala took the lead in the longer second stage with a fastest time, despite feeling he wasn’t driving particularly well. Victory in the third stage and second in the last one cemented his advantage and the Finn arrived at the mid-leg service happy with his performance.

Neuville added a second stage win in SS5 to his tally, despite trying to find a good rhythm all morning. He is just five-tenths of a second ahead of Ott Tänak, the Estonian so close to winning here last year. He ran wide at a junction early this morning and then stalled on the start line of the last stage but has otherwise adapted to the ever-changing conditions. Team-mate Ogier is hot on his heels, the World Champion also trying to judge the level of grip and how much of a risk to take in the treacherous conditions.

Behind the leading quartet, Hayden Paddon is further adrift in fifth, the Kiwi driver struggling with his later road position and simply trying to survive the opening loop. His Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo hates inconsistent conditions and the Spaniard has had a couple of spins as he struggles to find a good feeling. Juho Hänninen took a 10 second jump start penalty into the day but has otherwise run without problems into seventh. Teemu Suninen, driving a 2017 specification Fiesta WRC, is a fine eighth and ahead of factory driver Elfyn Evans.

Stéphane Lefebvre heads the Citroën challenge in 10th, the Frenchman taking no risks. Andreas Mikkelsen, again drafted in by the French squad, is 12th after damaging the suspension in the last stage and Craig Breen had a broken drive-shaft in the first stage, a gutting start for the Irishman who was looking for a clean run after problems on the last event in Italy. Esapekka Lappi is currently the only retiree, the Finn out with broken suspension on the Yaris WRC.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, the fight is intense and youngster Ole Christian Veiby currently takes the advantage. The Norwegian, who has set three fastest times this morning, heads series leader Pontus Tidemand with Gus Greensmith third. In the Junior WRC Championship, Dennis Radstrom has taken the lead in what is proving to be a very close battle.

Thierry Neuville has inched into the lead of Rally Poland this afternoon after a thrilling battle that saw the lead change no fewer than three times in three consecutive stages. The Belgian holds a narrow 1.3 second advantage over Ott Tänak after nearly 120 kilometres of treacherous competition in the first full day of the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Jari-Matti Latvala is third for Toyota just 5.3 second adrift of the Estonian after a tricky afternoon.

After persistent rain throughout the morning, conditions remained difficult this afternoon despite some respite from the downfall. While those at the front of the field benefitted more during the first loop of stages, rutted roads filled with rainwater proved more difficult during the repeated stages and those just a couple of cars back fared better.

The first repeated stage was cancelled for safety reasons, but after this Latvala headed back out in the lead and maintained his advantage after SS7. However, the Finn was a bit cautious in the following stage and both Tänak and Neuville were able to close the gap, Tanak taking the overall lead by a mere second with Neuville setting the fastest time and coming to within seven-tenths of a second of the demoted Latvala. Another fastest time for Neuville then saw him overhaul both his rivals to top the leaderboard going into the second run around the Mikolajki super special stage.  

Sébastien Ogier has been on the limit the whole afternoon but opening the road meant the World Champion was the first to power through all the mud and standing water and he lost time to his rivals as a consequence. While he was embroiled in a four-way battle this morning, he has dropped back and is now over 30 seconds adrift of the leading trio.

Hayden Paddon has run well this afternoon and after driving to survive the morning had a better afternoon after set-up changes aided his charge. He is fifth ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo, the Spaniard also finding conditions a little more stable during the second loop. Teemu Suninen, in his first outing in a 2017 specification World Rally Car, is having a great run and the young Finn was fastest in SS7 on only his sixth stage in the car. His is seventh in the Fiesta and ahead of Toyota’s factory driver Juho Hänninen. The Finn knew he’d have problems with the ruts and ride height of the Yaris, but mud-caked dampers meant he was unable to do anything about it before the start of SS8.

Stéphane Lefebvre remains the leading C3 WRC runner for the French marque. He has had a trouble-free day but is being hunted down by Mads Østberg, the Norwegian just a handful of seconds adrift in 10th overall. Andreas Mikkelsen, replacing Kris Meeke in Poland, had a better afternoon after the team repaired his broken suspension and made set-up changes. More at-one with the car he was able to set more competitive times, but then took a cautious approach in the penultimate stage having picked up a puncture before the start.

He is 12th with team-mate Craig Breen 26th. After the Irishman broke a drive-shaft this morning leaving him with no option but to limp through the stages, the afternoon has been little better and Breen described it as one of the worst days of his career. Esapekka Lappi, who was forced out with broken suspension, is the lead retirement of the day and the Finn will not be restarting on Saturday.

Ole Christian Veiby is having a confident run in the FIA WRC 2 Championship category and heads series leader Pontus Tidemand, albeit by a mere 5.1 seconds. Quentin Gilbert has moved into third following the retirement of Gus Greensmith who was forced out with broken steering. Nil Solans now leads the Junior WRC category ahead of Dennis Radstrom and Emil Lindholm.

Rally Poland – Provisional results after Section 3

Armin Kremer will drive a latest generation world rally car at his home round of the championship Rally Germany between 17 and 20th of August.

The German will pilot an M-Sport-prepared Ford Fiesta on the asphalt event, and join a select group of individuals to have piloted the 380bhp cars in competition.

In recent years, 48-year-old Kremer [above right] has been a regular in the WRC 2 class, driving a Skoda Fabia R5.

But over his 25-year career he has also won three German rally titles, in 1996, 1998 and 1999, as well as the 2001 European Championship and 2003 Asia-Pacific Championship.

"I am overwhelmed and proud, it is an honour and a great pleasure, but also a huge challenge for me to compete in the same rally car as the four-time world champion Sébastien Ogier," said Kremer, who drove the Fiesta at a short test in England earlier this month.

"It's still too early to make a prediction for the rally but with the support of the M-Sport drivers and engineers I'm sure I'll be able to find the best set-up. If you know me, you'll know how much I want to get a decent result and give the German fans a good show!"

Kremer and his co-driver Pirmin Winklhofer will get a further day in the car at M-Sport's pre-event test in August.

Team boss Malcom Wilson [above left] said: "It is great to welcome Armin to our team. It is fantastic to have a German driver at his home event and I am sure that he will enjoy every single minute of it. I have no doubt that his extensive knowledge on these very special routes will be valuable for the whole team."

source: wrc.com