News from Portugal Rally stage 4 - Tanak retires 18.05.2018: WRC RALLYES 2018 VODAFONE PORTUGAL RALLY Friday, May 18th 2018 Fri 11:31 - Ott Tänak update Confirmation that Ott Tänak is retiring from the rally after his cooling system damage on SS2.

WRC RALLYES 2018
VODAFONE PORTUGAL RALLY
Friday, May 18th 2018



Fri 11:31 - Ott Tänak update

Confirmation that Ott Tänak is retiring from the rally after his cooling system damage on SS2.



1.     16     ESP D. SORDO     48:02.4        

2.     10     GBR K. MEEKE     48:07.0     +4.6     +4.6

3.     6     NZL H. PADDON     48:07.2     +0.2     +4.8

4.     1     FRA S. OGIER     48:09.7     +2.5     +7.3

5.     5     BEL T. NEUVILLE     48:11.8     +2.1     +9.4



Fri 11:31 - SS4: Evans

Elfyn is 15.4sec off the pace as he reaches Colin Clark who is at stage end for WRC All Live. What's his view on that test? "Not so happy with that time, feeling was okay but the car was moving around a lot more. You can only do so much with the grip you've got. We'll have to look to work with what we've got."



Fri 11:28 - SS4: Suninen

The Fiesta driver is looking good through the splits, he's just 0.7sec down on Sordo's benchmark 15.47km in to this one.



Fri 11:27 - SS4: Lappi

Esapekka has had a tough SS4, he's 12.9sec down on Sordo through the 27.54kms "Yeah, it would be nice to know what to do. I was completely flat-out but I just don't have grip. I'm on the limit all the time, we just don't have grip."




Fri 11:25 - SS3: Latvala

Toyota have confirmed that it's broken suspension for Jari-Matti Latvala.



Fri 11:24 - SS4: Meeke

The rally leader coming into this stage, he's lost quite a bit of time on this test - 8.2sec down on Sordo. "My rhythm wasn't so good on this one." Quite a simple explanation from Meeke.




Fri 11:22 - SS4: Sordo

Third Hyundai finishes now as Dani Sordo wheels into stop control now, 0.3sec faster than Mikkelsen: "I was pushing like hell, I didn't make any mistakes and with this road I couldn't do much better. I'm happy, okay time is a bit close to the others but that's alright."



Fri 11:20 - SS4: Mikkelsen

Andreas powers his way through the flying finish now, 1.5sec up and the fastest man through the stage. He says: "It is getting better, the rhythm is going better and better and the car is working really nice."



Fri 11:16 - SS4: Neuville

Neuville's also come through now, his sea of green in the splits hasn't translated to a fastest stage time, he's 0.3sec slower across the line. "It's really difficult to get the car turning, I struggle a little bit with this. It is difficult to go quicker than Ogier but I'm trying."



Fri 11:14 - SS4: Ogier

Ogier's through the end of this morning loop of stages now. How is he feeling after four stages? "I was quite happy, at least with my drive, not with the conditions - but that's what I expected." He's expecting it to be hot this afternoon!



Fri 11:10 - SS4: Lappi

Esapekka Lappi has made a positive start on this stage, he's matched Thierry Neuville's fastest time at the opening split.




Fri 11:09 - SS4: Sordo

Dani Sordo is 1.0sec up on Ogier's benchmark at the second of six splits on this stage.




Fri 11:05 - SS4: Mikkelsen

Andreas breaks the beam at the second split and he's fastest of anyone so far - 1.5sec up on Ogier 8.43km into this test.





Fri 11:00 - SS4: Neuville

Splits are coming in from SS4, and at the opening Neuville is 1.4sec up on Ogier.



Fri 10:56 - SS4

Without delay, SS4 is already underway so let's look at what the stage has to offer: Ponte de Lima 1, 27.54km Ponte de Lima is best known for being the stage in which Hayden Paddon and Ott Tänak crashed two years ago when the Kiwi’s Hyundai i20 burned out. The roads are wide and smooth but extremely twisty, with hardly a straight to speak of. There are plenty of surface changes as it includes sandy gravel, cobblestones, concrete and asphalt. A lot of tree felling means the stage is more open than in previous years.

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