Hyundai Motorsport has mounted a stronger challenge on the middle day of this weekend’s Wales Rally GB, consistently setting top-three stage times and positioning itself as a serious podium contender.
Saturday’s itinerary saw teams tackle the longest day of the weekend, both in terms of total distance – 142.38km – as well as duration. The opening stage commenced at 7.55am local time, while the final test concluded over twelve hours later.
Two runs through Aberhirnant, Dyfnant, Gartheiniog and Dyfi were split up with a short 1.80km test at Cholmondeley Castle in mid-afternoon. Night-time conditions were made even more complicated with the addition of heavy fog in the penultimate stage – Aberhirnant 2.
Belgian duo Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were quick out of the blocks on Saturday morning, as they sought to overhaul a time deficit from the opening day of action. The pair claimed two more stage wins on Saturday – in SS13 (Dyfi 2) and SS14 (Cholmondeley Castle) – to hold second position overall. However, hitting the worst of the evening fog, they dropped back to third overall just 0.5s behind Sébastien Ogier.
Andreas Mikkelsen claimed five top-three stage times on Saturday as he moved into the top-five overall in just his second WRC event with Hyundai Motorsport. Hayden Paddon scored a top-two stage time in the foggy Aberhirnant run, and holds eighth overall, two places ahead of Dani Sordo in tenth.
Paddon and co-driver Seb Marshall had a mixed day with some positive moments offset by a few issues. A front-left puncture in SS9 (Dyfnant) and hydraulic issues in SS13 (Dyfi) lost them time, but a strong evening performance kept them inside the top-eight in their first WRC event since August.
Paddon said: “There have been some positives and some problems today. On the positive side, the car has felt much better today and I have felt more confident. However, we have also encountered some trouble, which has set us back. We had a puncture at the start of the second stage and then hydraulic issues on the second run through Dyfi – the longest stage of the day. We had no gearbox or differentials for the entire stage, and it was an absolute handful if I’m honest. I was looking forward to the evening stages and felt that we got more out of ourselves. It’s the same conditions for everyone, but I am able to trust Seb implicitly on the pace notes, so we could push that bit more.”
Sunday’s itinerary
The 10.41km Alwen and 6.43km Brenig stages will both be run twice on Sunday, the latter as the Power Stage.
Sandwiched in between the loops will be the 7.49km Gwydir test, bringing the total distance for the final day to 41.17km.
Overall Classification after Day Two
1 E. Evans D. Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC 32:39.2
2 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 53.1
3 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 53.6
4 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 57.7
5 A. Mikkelsen A. Jæger Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:03.6
6 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Ford Fiesta WRC +1:06.1
7 K. Meeke P. Nagle Citroën C3 WRC +1:27.6
8 H. Paddon S. Marshall Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +2:04.0
9 E. Lappi J. Fern Toyota Yaris WRC +2:41.0
10 D. Sordo M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +3:35.8
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