Stage 5 news from Vodafone Portugal Rally 18.05.2018: WRC RALLYES 2018 VODAFONE PORTUGAL RALLY Friday, May 18th 2018 SS5 is a repeat of the Viano do Castelo stage that served as this morning's opening test.

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



SS5 is a repeat of the Viano do Castelo stage that served as this morning's opening test.



1.     GBR K. MEEKE    
2.     ESP D. SORDO     +1.9
3.     NZL H. PADDON     +3.0
4.     NOR A. MIKKELSEN     +10.4
5.     IRL C. BREEN     +11.9
6.     BEL T. NEUVILLE     +16.6
7.     GBR E. EVANS     +17.9
8.     FIN T. SUNINEN     +19.8
9.     NOR M. OSTBERG     +21.6
10.     FIN E. LAPPI     +23.3

Fri 16:02 - SS5: Suninen

M-Sport Ford's Finn comes into stop control and he's third fastest - 1.4sec slower than Meeke. "It was quite okay run, a few mistakes meant I good have gone a bit faster though."



Fri 16:01 - SS5: Østberg

The Citroën of Mads Østberg slots into second, just 0.8sec off Meeke's time. A good run for the Norwegian as he gives the manufacturer a 1-2-3 on the stage at the moment. "It's really amazing, the car felt really good in there. The team explained to me how the buttons are working so I can fiddle with it a bit during the stage. Thanks to them for showing me that. I still know how to drive as well which is nice."



Fri 15:58 - SS5: Paddon

The Kiwi is 2.8sec down as he reaches stop control, he's still third overall as it stands. "It is pretty hard on the car that's for sure, probably hard on the tyres as well. We've got a few softs which probably aren't ideal."




Fri 15:56 - SS5: Breen

Breen goes second fastest - 1.7sec down, those hard tyres working well for him it seems. "Starting to get back in the rhythm, but it's rough! One or two sloppy mistakes but it is a lot better."



Fri 15:54 - SS5: Evans

Elfyn has set a decent time through this stage, just 2.2sec slower than Meeke. "Not too bad this afternoon, struggled a lot to get the hard to work early on. Perhaps not patient enough at the beginning. Hards were maybe the right choice."




Fri 15:53 - SS5: Lappi

The Toyota driver seems a lot faster this afternoon, he's just 1.9sec down on Meeke's marker. He's made changes to the car in service, did they work though? "I think so, a lot more grip to be honest. The road is getting cleaner as well, hard to say for tomorrow morning but at the moment it is better."



Fri 15:51 - SS5: Meeke

Kris finishes now, 4.5sec up on Mikkelsen: "Everyone has went with a dolly mixture of tyres! I've gone for four hards. Sorry for Ogier - but it makes it interesting."



Fri 15:49 - SS5: Sordo

Dani Sordo makes it a trio of Hyundais through the flying finish and he's 2.0sec slower than Mikkelsen. He's out looking at the tyres at the stop control: "The tyres are destroyed!"




Fri 15:47 - SS5: Mikkelsen


The Norwegian completes SS5, 7.3sec faster than Neuville. "It was a clean stage, warmer than expected so I'l have to look at my tyres later, hards might be the way to go. There are a lot of rocks, there are so many of them."




Fri 15:45 - SS5: Neuville

The Belgian reaches stop control now, what's his view after that one? "The weekend is still long, the conditions are much rougher than expected. I tried to take care of the car, we need to look at the next stages and see if we need to make any changes."




Fri 15:41 - SS5: Meeke

Meeke is getting even faster, he's 5.5sec faster than Ogier's benchmark at the 12.3km split - 5.1sec faster that Neuville




Fri 15:38 - SS5: Meeke

Further down the order, Meeke is 2.9sec up on the time Ogier had set at split two, the fastest of anyone through that point




Fri 15:37 - Ogier

Ogier has stopped! He's gone off the side of the stage 17km in.




Fri 15:34 - SS5: Mikkelsen

He's upped his pace through the second split, a full second up on Ogier The second Hyundai is through split one now, he's 0.1sec slower than his team-mate




Fri 15:30 - SS5: Neuville

Thierry passes the 4.67km split and he's 0.9sec up on Ogier at the moment




Fri 15:25 - SS5: Ogier

Ogier powers his Fiesta onto the stage now and gets his afternoon underway.







Fri 15:18 - Ott Tänak

An update from Toyota: Ott Tänak has been forced to retire from the rally because of the damage his car sustained on SS2.





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