Notes, quotes from stage 18 - Ott Tänak takes victory in Argentina 29.04.2018: WRC Rallyes - ARGENTINA RALLY Sunday, April 29th 2018 1. EST O. TÄNAK 2. BEL T. NEUVILLE +37.7

WRC Rallyes - ARGENTINA RALLY
Sunday, April 29th  2018

    

1.     EST O. TÄNAK    
2.     BEL T. NEUVILLE     +37.7
3.     ESP D. SORDO     +1:15.7

4.     FRA S. OGIER     +1:58.6
5.     NOR A. MIKKELSEN     +2:02.6
6.     GBR E. EVANS     +3:06.3
7.     GBR K. MEEKE     +3:25.7
8.     FIN E. LAPPI     +4:32.6
9.     FIN T. SUNINEN     +5:38.6
10.     SWE P. TIDEMAND     +12:15.8
11.     ARE K. AL QASSIMI     +21:18.3



Sun 13:13 - SS18: Neuville

Neuville crosses the flying finish now, and he's quickest! 0.5sec up on Ogier. "Yeah I'm happy, a big relief for us after a difficult weekend at Corsica and I'm pleased to be back on the pace and I think the team has delivered a good job this weekend."




 13:08 - SS18: Tänak

Ott's fastest at the opening split - 0.9sec faster than Ogier, but then he slips 0.6sec behind at the second.




Sun 13:08 - SS18: Sordo


He finishes his rally now, a third driver with a 13m 10.7sec! 9.4sec down on Ogier. "Very important result for me, I think we had a good rally because the times in the stages were really close. I'm happy with the podium and I'm happy for the team because we're second and third at the moment."



Sun 13:05 - SS18: Tänak

The rally leader is onto the stage now, will he be able to claim a final win on the Live TV Power Stage?




Sun 13:04 - SS18: Neuville

But his team-mate is getting even faster, at the second split point he's 1.2sec faster than Ogier.



Sun 13:03 - SS18: Sordo

Sordo's slipping back a touch, he was fastest at the first split, but at the final one he's 6sec behind Ogier.



Sun 13:03 - SS18: Ogier

He started to pull time back in the closing kilometres of the stage and he claims the fastest time by 0.2sec! A dominant run in the final few corners for the Frenchman. "I think this was the maximum we could have got out the car this weekend, I could have done better in the fog yesterday but it would still have been a challenge to cope with Dani."



Sun 13:00 - SS18: Neuville

The Belgian is the penultimate car to launch into the final stage of the rally and he's matched Mikkelsen's opening split time.




Sun 13:00 - SS18: Sordo

He's losing time to his team-mate, 1.2sec down at the second split the third fastest 5.98km in.




Sun 12:59 - SS18: Mikkelsen

The i20 driver jumps through the flying finish now and provisionally he's taking the five bonus points - 3sec faster than Meeke on this test. "When the stage is uphill I think everyone is roughly on the same pace, if you try and push harder you lose the line so it's better to be clean and efficient."


Sun 12:56 - SS18: Ogier

Ogier is picking up time on the stage now, at the 9.47km split he's 0.9sec up on Meeke but 1.1sec down on Mikkelsen



Sun 12:55 - SS18: Sordo

Sordo matches Meeke's opening split time, just 0.1sec slower than Hyundai team-mate Mikkelsen




Sun 12:55 - SS18: Evans

The Welshman completes the Power Stage now, he matches Lappi's time and is 6.2sec slower than Meeke. "No explanation why I was a bit slower than the others, it's just not been the weekend we've wanted but we do take some points away."




Sun 12:52 - SS18: Mikkelsen

Andreas is on for a good time here, he's 2sec faster than Meeke at the penultimate split



Sun 12:51 - SS18: Ogier

Championship leader Ogier is onto the power stage and he's 0.3sec slower than Meeke at the first timing line



Sun 12:51 - SS18: Meeke

Kris comes through now 6.2sec faster than Lappi. He adds: "We'll see how much the stage cleans for the other cars, if I lose any points by half a second I'll blame the dog - I had to avoid a dog during that!"



Sun 12:47 - SS18: Mikkelsen

Mikkelsen - winner on El Condor during the first run this morning - matches Lappi's opening sector time.



Sun 12:47 - SS18: Lappi

He still comes in 10.1sec ahead of his countryman but oh what could have been for the Toyota as he almost noses the car over on one of the jumps! "Yeah I stalled, there was a huge rock inside and steering wheel came out of my hands and the engine stalled immediately."

- WRC  photo Toyota