Sébastien Ogier withstood an all-day attack from Ott Tänak as the Volkswagen driver leads overnight on Day 2 of the 2016 Dayinsure Wales Rally GB.
Ogier’s lead on the opening day was +37.8 seconds, but the gap between the rally leader and second place is down to +33.8 seconds.
Tänak took four stage wins on Day 2 to reduce the gap to the four-time World Rally Champion after SS14 to +24.8 seconds.
The Frenchman gained time on the final two stages to go into Day 3 with a near 34-second advantage over the DMACK driver in second with one day to go.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is on course for the runner-up position in the Drivers’ Standings in third, +12.6 seconds clear of his team-mate Hayden Paddon in fourth.
Kris Meeke had an indifferent day for Citroën, in which the Northern Irishman is fifth.
Dani Sordo in the third and final Hyundai is sixth, while Mads Østberg is seventh in the first M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Jari-Matti Latvala in the second Volkswagen is eighth, while the two Frenchmen, Stéphane Lefebvre and Eric Camilli complete the top ten at the 2016 Dayinsure Wales Rally GB.
Credit: Škoda
In WRC2, Esapekka Lappi extends his advantage over his fellow Finn Teemu Suninen overnight on Day 2 in Flintshire.
Lappi’s lead over Suninen has been extended from +46.7 seconds to +55.6 seconds with only one more day to go.
Sweden’s Pontus Tidemand is still third, while experienced WRC driver Jan Kopecký is fourth.
Marius Aasen is the first of the Ford Fiesta R5’s in fifth, ahead of the 2016 Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy-winner Osian Pryce in sixth.
Ole Christian Veiby is seventh, while Nicolás Fuchs, Hubert Ptaszek and Frigyes Turán complete the top ten in the WRC2 category on Day 2 in North Wales.
Credit: @World Photography/Citroën Racing
In WRC3 and Junior WRC, Slovakia’s Martin Koči has a dominant lead over the 2016 Junior WRC Champion Simone Tempestini.
Koči, who had a +34.2 second lead on Day 1 in Wales, has extended his advantage over the Italian to +1:55.6 with one day to go.
Tempestini is second, with no answer for the Slovakian’s pace throughout the two days so far.
Yohan Rossel and Vincent Dubert complete the French contagion in third and fourth places respectively.
William Wagner completes the runners in the WRC3 and Junior WRC classes on Day 2 at the 2016 Wales Rally GB.
Credit: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Finally, with the British drivers round-up, Kris Meeke remains the lead British driver in fifth place on Day 2 in Wales.
Meeke suffered with two tyre punctures on the morning stages, which meant that the Ulsterman had no spare tyres in his DS 3 WRC, which makes its final appearance at this rally before the C3 WRC is introduced at the 2017 WRC season.
Osian Pryce is the leading Brit in the WRC2 category in sixth, whilst the Welshman, who won the 2016 Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy in Spain two weeks ago, is in the top 20 in nineteenth place overall on his home rally.
Gus Greensmith, who was seventh in the WRC2 category coming into today’s Day 2 in Flintshire, retired from Day 2 due to his co-driver Katrin Becker falling ill.
Greensmith drops to fourteenth, while MSA British Rally Championship competitors David Bogie and Rhys Yates are twelfth and thirteenth places respectively.
The 2016 Dayinsure Wales Rally GB continues with the third and final day at SS17 (Clocaenog 1) at 08:31am UK time.
The Checkered Flag will be bringing you extensive pre and post-event coverage, as well as all four days of the 2016 Wales Rally GB from the 27-30 October 2016.
