SS12: Tanak closes on third

Estonian overtakes Ostberg for fourth and narrows gap to Hirvonen

By Franck Drui

10 November 2012 - 16:57
SS12: Tanak closes on third

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.#DriverTimeDiff / PrevDiff / 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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