FIA World Rally Championship

Ogier retakes rally lead in Spain after the first full day

2 Mins read
Sébastien Ogier. Credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

The eight-time world rally champion Sébastien Ogier has snatched back the rally lead in RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada and he is the overnight leader after the first full day of action in Spain. Thierry Neuville was leading the rally after the morning loop but when stage five opened up the afternoon lop the Frenchman was back in the top and he managed to hold off the fast-charging teammate Kalle Rovanperä who currently sits 4.8 seconds back in second.

Neuville however is 7.7 seconds back on Rovanperä, he has complained about his pace during the afternoon and he didn´t want to push the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 too much for fear of sliding. Neuville´s teammate Ott Tänak who had an eventful morning is still holding on to fourth place with 7.5 seconds back on the Belgian while the Spanish home hero Dani Sordo in a similar Hyundai ends the day in fifth despite having a puncture on stage seven.

Sordo wasn´t the only one who suffered from punctures on the afternoon, Toyota´s Elfyn Evans dropped down to sixth after hitting the same rock which caused the puncture for Sordo, Takamoto Katsuta also managed to hit the very same rock and also caught up a puncture. The two Toyotas are in sixth and eighth respectively with M-Sport´s Craig Breen sandwiched between them in seventh.

Adrien Fourmaux also in a Ford trails Katsuta by just 2.7 seconds in ninth while his teammate Gus Greensmith completes the top ten with 7.5 seconds down on the Frenchman.

Teemu Suninen. Credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

In the WRC2 class, Teemu Suninen is looking to take his first victory of the season after he passed Nikolay Gryazin on the final stage before the midday service and he has been holding on to it since then. In the title fight between Emil Lindholm and Kajetan Kajetanowicz, it is currently going in Lindholm´s favor as he is sitting in front of the Pole with 11 seconds to spare.

In the WRC3 class, where the title will be decided this weekend it is Lauri Joona who is leading, he managed to pass Jan Cerny on stage six and he is leading the class by 19.7 seconds over the Czech.

Overall result after SS8

Pos.NumberDriver / Co-driverNat.TeamCarTime
1.#1Sébastien Ogier / Benjamin VeillasFranceToyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally11:06:07.9
2.#69Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne HalttunenFinlandToyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1+ 4.8
3.#11Thierry Neuville / Martijn WydaegheBelgiumHyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 N Rally1+ 12.5
4.#8Ott Tänak / Martin JärveojaEstoniaHyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 N Rally1+ 20.0
5.#6Dani Sordo / Cándido CarreraSpainHyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 N Rally1+ 50.9
6.#33Elfyn Evans / Scott MartinUnited KingdomToyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1+ 1:01.2
7.#42Craig Breen / Paul NagleIrelandM-Sport Ford WRTFord Puma Rally1+ 1:03.7
8.#18Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron JohnstonJapan / IrelandToyota Gazoo Racing NG WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1+ 1:28.6
9.#16Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre CoriaFranceM-Sport Ford WRTFord Puma Rally1+ 1:31.3
10.#44Gus Greensmith / Jonas AnderssonUnited Kingdom / SwedenM-Sport Ford WRTFord Puma Rally1+ 1:38.8

WRC2 result after SS8

Pos.NumberDriver / Co-driverNat.TeamCarTime
1.#21Teemu Suninen / Mikko MarkkulaFinlandHyundai Motorsport NHyundai i20 N Rally21:10:04.1
2.#24Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin AleksandrovRAFToksport WRT 2Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo+ 12.7
3.#20Yohan Rossel / Arnaud DunandFrancePH SportCitroen C3 Rally2+ 16.7
4.#25Jari Huttunen / Mikko LukkaFinlandM-Sport Ford WRTFord Fiesta Rally2+ 38.7
5.#35Stéphane Sarrazin / Jacques-Julien RenucciFranceSarrazin MotorsportVolkswagen Polo GTi R5+ 45.1
6.#22Emil Lindholm / Reeta HämäläinenFinlandToksport WRT 2Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo+ 1:00.5
7.#23Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej SzczepaniakPolandRace SevenSkoda Fabia Rally2 evo+ 1:11.5
8.#41Fabrizio Zaldivar / Marcelo Der OhannesianParaguay / ItalyHyundai Motorsport NHyundai i20 N Rally2+ 1:36.9
9.#37Grégoire Munster / Louis LoukaLuxembourg / BelgiumBMAHyundai i20 N Rally2+ 1:39.1
10.#39Mikolaj Marczyk / Szymon GospodarczykPolandSports Racing TechnologiesSkoda Fabia Rally2 evo+ 1:46.3

WRC3 result after SS8

Pos.NumberDriver / Co-driverNat.TeamCarTime
1.#59Lauri Joona / Mikael KorhonenFinlandLauri JoonaFord Fiesta Rally31:14:19.7
2.#57Jan Cerny / Petr CernohorskyCzech RepublicAll RacingFord Fiesta Rally3+ 19.7
3.#58Diego Dominquez Jr. / Rogello PenateParaguay / SpainM-Sport PolandFord Fiesta Rally3+ 2:12.4
4.#60Zoltan Laszlo / Tamas KurtiHungaryTopp-Cars Rally TeamFord Fiesta Rally3+ 7:35.5

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