RallyRACC, day 2: Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) dominates on tarmac
26/10/2019
The tarmac started this morning with three stages; Savallà (14.08 km), Querol (21.26 km) and El Montmell (24.40 km). Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) set the fastest time in the first two stages. This placed them again back in the lead, as they had already been yesterday after the second stage. A good time by Kris Meeke/Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) in Savallà helped them take the third place for a while, but in Querol they had an off that forced them to retire. A mechanical issue delayed Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barritt on their Toyota.
At El Montmell, Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja set their first scratch in this edition of the RallyRACC, although it did not allow them to catch up with the Hyundais in the first three places. Neuville kept the lead after this first loop on tarmac despite the brake problems he suffered in the last stage. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio follow him in the overall standings.
Mads Ostberg/Torstein Eriksen (Citroën C3 R5) keep the lead of the WRC2 Pro class while WRC2 provisional standings are led by Eric Camilli/Benjamin Veillas (Citroën C3 R5).
After a visit to the PortAventura World Service Park, the participants will pass again through the same stages in the afternoon before finishing the day in the urban stage of Salou (2.24 km), scheduled to start at 17.30.
Provisional standings of the 55 RallyRACC after 9 stages
1-Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC), 1h.52'03"5
2-Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC), +11"4
3-Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC), +16"8
4-Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC), +26"6
5-Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC), +37"4
6-Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC), +55"9
7-Teemu Suninen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC), +1'08"1
8-Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingvrassia (Citroën C3 WRC9, +4'05"4
9-Mads Ostberg/Torstein Eriksen (Citroën C3 R5, WRC2 Pro), +4'52"3
10-Éric Camilli/Benjamin Veillas (Citroën C3 R5, WRC2), +5'02"5