SS12: Tanak closes on third
Estonian overtakes Ostberg for fourth and narrows gap to Hirvonen
Ott Tanak has compounded a miserable day for Mads Ostberg by snatching fourth place from the overnight leader on Saturday’s final stage with a rapid run.
Tanak was 0.4s quicker than RallyRACC-Rally de Espana leader Sebastien Loeb and 9.2s faster than Ostberg to move 2.6s in front of the Norwegian, who is at the wheel of a similar Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
“It’s very good,” said Tanak, who is now 14.7s behind third-placed Mikko Hirvonen, in a Citroen DS3 WRC. “I was a bit cautious in the beginning but for sure I was taking some risks after that. It’s damp and dirty in some places, the car feels really good and I have a very good feeling.”
Ostberg said: “It’s been absolutely horrible for me. I have not got a clue what is happening. There must be something wrong because the car is impossible to drive.”
Hirvonen was 4.0s adrift of Tanak’s pace. He said: “It’s been a good day, slowly getting better but I always want more so I am not completely happy.”
Meanwhile, Loeb’s advantage over second-placed Jari-Matti Latvala increases to 27.0s heading to the overnight halt in Salou.
Pos. | # | Driver | Time | Diff / Prev | Diff / 1st |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 1 | S. LOEB | 3:16:14.1 | ||
2. | 3 | J. LATVALA | 3:16:41.1 | +27.0 | +27.0 |
3. | 2 | M. HIRVONEN | 3:17:28.2 | +47.1 | +1:14.1 |
4. | 5 | O. TÄNAK | 3:17:42.9 | +14.7 | +1:28.8 |
5. | 10 | M. ØSTBERG | 3:17:45.5 | +2.6 | +1:31.4 |
6. | 7 | H. WEIJS | 3:25:17.0 | +7:31.5 | +9:02.9 |
7. | 32 | C. BREEN | 3:28:40.3 | +3:23.3 | +12:26.2 |
8. | 22 | E. NOVIKOV | 3:29:39.2 | +58.9 | +13:25.1 |
9. | 23 | J. NIKARA | 3:29:53.2 | +14.0 | +13:39.1 |
10. | 33 | P. ANDERSSON | 3:31:59.6 | +2:06.4 | +15:45.5 |
11. | 12 | C. ATKINSON | 3:32:55.5 | +55.9 | +16:41.4 |
12. | 24 | A. ALKUWARI | 3:40:50.9 | +7:55.4 | +24:36.8 |
13. | 21 | M. PROKOP | 3:40:51.8 | +0.9 | +24:37.7 |
14. | 138 | B. GUERRA | 3:41:15.3 | +23.5 | +25:01.2 |
15. | 4 | P. SOLBERG | 3:41:37.5 | +22.2 | +25:23.4 |
16. | 8 | T. NEUVILLE | 3:41:56.3 | +18.8 | +25:42.2 |
17. | 36 | Y. AL RAJHI | 3:42:08.6 | +12.3 | +25:54.5 |
18. | 37 | D. SORDO | 3:42:20.8 | +12.2 | +26:06.7 |
19. | 34 | A. FISHER | 3:42:54.2 | +33.4 | +26:40.1 |
20. | 9 | D. OLIVEIRA | 3:44:39.7 | +1:45.5 | +28:25.6 |
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