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Jari-Matti Latvala topped a tight shakedown at Rally Argentina on Thursday morning as just two-tenths of a second split the leading three cars.

Latvala, driving a Toyota Yaris, went fastest in the 6.01km gravel test from Villa Carlos Paz to Cabalango in his fourth and final pass. He edged out 2016 rally winner Hayden Paddon by 0.1sec, with Hyundai i20 Coupe team-mate Dani Sordo another tenth behind.

Sordo set the pace in the first two runs before his Kiwi colleague moved to the top of the order in the third pass. Latvala then went out for an extra fourth run to set the benchmark time.

“The feeling is good with the car,” said the Finn. “Already from the first run this morning, I felt really comfortable. It’s an event in which we had a nice fight with Hayden last year until a damper went through the bonnet and it was all over for us. I will drive according to the feeling and let’s see what it brings.”

Thierry Neuville was fourth in another i20, 0.6sec behind the lead pace, with Sébastien Ogier and Mads Østberg completing the top six, both in Ford Fiesta WRCs.

It was an exceptionally cold night in the rally base of Villa Carlos Paz as temperatures hovered just a few degrees above freezing, but it quickly warmed up to leave cloudless skies and temperatures of 19°C en route to a forecast high today of 23°C.

Leading times:

 
POSITION DRIVER CAR TIME
1. Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota Yaris 4min 02.0sec
2. Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 4min 02.1sec
3. Dani Sordo Hyundai i20 4min 02.2sec
4. Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 4min 02.6sec
5. Sébastien Ogier Ford Fiesta 4min 03.0sec
6. Mads Østberg Ford Fiesta 4min 03.4sec
7. Kris Meeke Citroën C3 4min 03.5sec
8. Craig Breen Citroën C3 4min 04.4sec
9. Ott Tänak Ford Fiesta 4min 05.3sec
10. Juho Hänninen Toyota Yaris 4min 06.4sec

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World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Ogier has urged his m-sport team to get to the bottom of the technical issues that denied him the chance to fight for victory at last weekend’s Tour de Corse.

Although struggling with the set-up of his Ford Fiesta WRC early on and lacking confidence on his home event, Ogier kept himself in contention with a series of top two stage times.
 
After conceding ground on Saturday morning, the combination of Kris Meeke’s retirement and midday service modifications enabled the Frenchman to go back on the attack. He narrowed the deficit to new leader Thierry Neuville to just 2.2sec by the end of stage seven.
 
That, however, was where his hopes of adding a second win to his 2017 tally ended. A loss of hydraulic pressure on the final test of the day and an intermittent electrical fault the following morning dropped him to third behind Dani Sordo.
 
A temporary fix allowed Ogier to regain the runner-up spot and increase his championship lead in the event-ending Power Stage, but he warned there was work to be done if he and M-Sport are to continue their title challenge, with an upcoming five-day test the immediate focus.
 
“It was definitely a rollercoaster weekend,” Ogier reflected. “Up and down all the time. Luckily for us, it finished on a high note with really good points – better than I was hoping for – but reliability let us down, which was detrimental to our result. That was disappointing, especially as it was shaping up to be a really enjoyable battle with Thierry.
 
“We had the speed to fight with him, but there were a few too many technical problems, not only on our car but also on both of our team-mates’ cars. That’s something the team has to work very hard on, because we don’t want to be in this stressful situation again.”

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Esappeka Lappi will join his team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hänninen in the squad for the May 19-21 event, driving a third Yaris WRC at the start of a limited programme of WRC rounds, which will be selected according to development requirements.

The car has performed well since its debut on Rallye Monte-Carlo, and was driven to victory by Latvala on just its second event in Sweden in February, but TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is continuing to learn during the first season of the WRC project. With the team having collected plenty of data from the previous events, adding a third car when needed will help to accelerate the development of the Yaris WRC.

Lappi, who is one of the brightest prospects in rallying and last year won the WRC 2 title, joined TOYOTA GAZOO Racing prior to the 2017 season and has got to know the Yaris WRC well during testing. Through real competition, the 26-year-old Finn will be able to gain further experience to keep him match-fit.

Esapekka Lappi Highlights

Date of birth: 17 January 1991

Age: 26 years old

Nationality: Finnish

2007: Karting Finnish Champion

2008: Rally sprint (won all the rounds)

2009: First rally

2011: First WRC rally (Rally Finland, Rookie of the Year award)

2012: Finnish Rally Champion (won all the rounds)

2013: First WRC 2 victory in Vodafone Rally de Portugal

2014: FIA ERC Champion

2016: WRC 2 World Rally Champion (5 wins)

WRC 2 Statistics

WRC 2 starts: 17, Victories: 7, Podiums: 11,

Points scored: 245, Stage wins: 126

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Kris Meeke dominated Friday’s opening leg to lead the Che Guevara energy drink tour de Corse after winning three of the four mountain road speed tests.

World champion Sebastien Ogier fought hard to contain the Briton and ended 10.3sec behind after winning the other test. Nobody came close to matching the top two and Thierry Neuville finished 25.8sec off the lead in third. 

Corsica was in benign mood. Unpredictable weather usually makes rain a constant threat, but sun and temperatures touching 20°C kept a smile on drivers’ faces and ensured tyre choice was straight-forward.

Meeke was apprehensive ahead of this fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. His Citroën C3 performed badly on wintery asphalt at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo but was transformed on the Mediterranean island’s sealed surface roads.

He won both morning tests on the east coast near Ajaccio before Ogier prevented a hat-trick with fastest time when the opener was repeated.

“We’ve improved the car during the day and step-by-step the feeling is getting a bit better. We’re not far off and I have some more ideas for tomorrow,” he said.

Neuville was third in every stage in his Hyundai i20 but the Belgian was perplexed his times did not match the good feeling he had in the car. “I’m running for my life. We’re driving on the edge everywhere, sometimes over the limit, but can’t touch the guys ahead,” he said.

Craig Breen overhauled Dani Sordo in the final test to hold fourth in his C3 by 1.4sec. Sordo was also at a loss to explain his lack of pace but was 6.4sec ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala’s Toyota Yaris. Finn Latvala was unhappy with his driving throughout the day.

Hayden Paddon was disappointed with seventh, his cause not helped when he slid his i20 into a rock. Stéphane Lefebvre, WRC 2 leader Andreas Mikkelsen and Stephane Sarrazin completed the leaderboard.

Elfyn Evans was more than six minutes off the pace after hydraulic problems rendered his Fiesta’s centre differential and paddle shift gear change unusable for much of the day. Team-mate Ott Tänak retired from fourth after crashing into a ditch and Juho Hänninen went out after hitting a bridge and damaging his steering.

Saturday’s second leg follows a similar format of two repeated stages, this time on mountain roads closer to Bastia. The four tests cover 131.96km.

Meeke ended with a third win but acknowledged the danger Ogier poses.

“They were two tough stages this afternoon with a lot of road pollution but I enjoyed them. We’re always wary of Seb as he never gives up but I’m comfortable with my pace,” said Meeke, who belatedly kick-started his season with victory in Mexico last month.

Ogier was never truly comfortable with his Ford Fiesta’s handling in bumpy sections. Set-up changes improved his feeling but the Frenchman promised there was more to come. 

 

         

 

 

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