Day 2: Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroën) snatch the lead
07/10/2017
· The two Fords (Ogier/Ingrassia and Tänak/Järveoja), just 1.5s apart
· Hyundai loses Sordo/Martí and Mikkelsen/Jaeger in the same corner
· Nil Solans-Miquel Ibàñez (Ford) clinch the JWRC championship title
· Neuville/Gilsoul (Hyundai) see title hopes dim
· Tomorrow, final day with 6 gravel stages
PortAventura World, Salou, 7 October 2017.- Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroën) stamped their authority on a day marked by Dani Sordo/Marc Martí (Hyundai) retiring in the second to last special stage. A fierce battle for podium was waged by Sébastien Ogier/Julian Ingrassia (Ford) and Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Ford), and also Sordo until he crashed out.
The 53 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España 2017 second leg got underway today in PortAventura World Service Park. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila was not among the 64 cars taking the start, after his Toyota Yaris WRC broke down yesterday and could not be fixed. Some scattered rains saluted the teams in the first El Montmell stage, where Meeke/Nagle (Citroën) climbed to the top of the overall standings with fastest time, edging Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger, who were struggling to adapt their new Hyundai to tarmac specs. A bit later, Juho Hänninen/Kaj Lindström burst to the front in El Pont d'Armentera and Savallà, proving the Finns' and Toyota's outstanding performance on asphalt.
Dani Sordo/Marc Martí (Hyundai) worked their way up to second overall but dropped back to fourth, behind Tänak/Järveoja and Ogier/Ingrassia Fords. Less than a second covered all three drivers, while Meeke managed to pull a 15s gap ahead of them. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul slipped further down after a 30s penalty in Savallà time control after an off-road incident in the liaison section. They hit the rear of the car, and they also suffered to some trouble in the differentials.
The second pass through Savallà proved to be decisive
The second loop got the classification even closer in the podium positions, with Sordo, Tänak and Ogier running in barely 1s, but with Meeke as a solid leader that kept an advantage of 13s during the whole afternoon over his three rivals. After the fastest times set by Neuville at El Montmell, and by Ogier at El Pont d'Armentera and Savallà, disappointment arrived for the Spanish fans in the last one, when Sordo broke his Hyundai's steering, probably due to a hit. At nearly the same place, Mikkelsen had the same problem, and they both had to retire in an especially difficult area of the stage, as the Ford of Østberg/Eriksen suffered the same issue without having to retire.
The day finished with the short Salou street stage, in downtown Salou, where Ogier was again fastest, with a difference over the third placed overall, Tänak, of only 1.5s. Over at WRC2, the leaders are still Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford), while at WRC3 and in the JWRC category, the leading duo are local team Nil Solans/Miquel Ibàñez (Ford), who secured the Junior title after Nicolas Ciamin/Thibault De la Haye retired.
Tomorrow, Sunday 8th, the third and last day will take place, with 6 tarmac over 74.26 timed kilometres after two passes through L'Albiol (6.28 km), Riudecanyes (16.35 km) and Santa Marina (14.50 km) stages. The second Santa Marina pass will be the Power Stage, offering extra championship points to the top 5 drivers. It will be broadcasted live by TV3-Esport3 channel.
Provisional classification of the 53 RallyRACC after day 2
1-Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroën C3 WRC), 2h16'21''1
2-Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Ford Fiesta WRC), +13''0
3-Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC), +14''5
4-Juho Hänninen/Kaj Lindström (Toyota Yaris WRC), +34''0
5-Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC), +53''2
6-Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC), +1'22''1
7-Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen (Ford Fiesta WRC), +1'39''8
8-Stéphane Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau (Citroën C3 WRC), +2'00''7
9-Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC), +3'15''1
10-Eric Camilli/Benjamin Veillas (Ford Fiesta R5), +5'40''8
11-Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta R5, 1st WRC2), +6'18''6
28-Nil Solans/Miquel Ibàñez (Ford Fiesta R2T, 1st WRC3 and Junior), +20'05''1
