WRC Tour de Corse stage 1 news, quotes and standings 06.04.2018: WRC RALLYES 2018 Tour de Corse Friday, April 6th 2018 Fri 11:09 - WRC standings after SS1

WRC RALLYES 2018
Tour de Corse
Friday, April 6th 2018



Fri 11:09 - WRC standings after SS1


With all the WRC cars now through, here's a look at the standings: 1. Ogier 31m53.8 2. Loeb +9.7sec 3. Tanak +18.1sec 4. Meeke +19.1sec 5. Neuville +21.2sec 6. Evans +30.5sec 7. Sordo +36.0sec 8. Mikkelsen +39.1sec 9. Lappi +43.2sec 10. Latvala +46.2sec 11. Bouffier +50.4sec



Fri 11:07 - SS1: Ciamin


Nicolas Ciamin has had an off into the second half of that stage and that has hampered his time - he's set a 38m25.0. He hit a gutter and bent the back wheel.



Fri 11:01 - SS1: Bonato

His stage time was a 33m52.4s.




Fri 11:01 - SS1: Bonato

He's only 0.3sec slower than Kopecky in his C3 R5. He said: "Perfect for the stage in the car, I am very happy to be here and then I'll be very happy at the finish line. "I didn't have issues with the brakes, but if you don't have brakes you go faster!"



Fri 10:59 - SS1: Lefebvre


Stephane Lefebvre is through after his first competitive stage in the Citroen C3 R5 and he's set a 35m01.5s He said: "It is not the start that I want, lost the brakes after 15km."



Fri 10:57 - SS1: Hiroko Arai


Hiroko Arai is through stage end in a time of 34m50.0s, he's third in the WRC 2 class at the moment.



Fri 10:55 - SS1: Katsuta

We're hearing Katsuta has overshot and gone down a small ditch, he's fine but the car might need to be recovered.



Fri 10:54 - SS1, JWRC: Franceschi

Jean-Baptiste Franceschi is the pace-setter in the Junior WRC, he's completed the third split in a time of 12m58.5s. Five seconds ahead of Terry Folb



Fri 10:52 - SS1: Veiby

Ole Christian Veiby has a spin late into the stage, he's now crossed the finish line with a 34m10.5s



Fri 10:51 - SS1: Solans

We're also hearing that Nils Solans has stopped on stage as well in his Ford Fiesta R5.



Fri 10:51 - SS1: Katsuta

We're hearing Takamoto Katsuta has stopped at the 34km stage. More info on that as we get it.



Fri 10:50 - SS1: Kopecky

Jan Kopecky is the first of the WRC 2 competitors through, he's set a 33m52.1s



Fri 10:49 - SS1: Bouffier

Bouffier: "Nice stage, my driving is not very good. I have to find something with my driving, it is not easy for me to get the grip. Struggling a little bit with understeer."



Fri 10:48 - SS1: Bouffier

Bryan Bouffier has come through with a 32m44.2s, the slowest time of everyone so far.



Fri 10:46 - SS1: Evans

Evans: "It went as well as we could have hoped I think. Rhythm was good, the road was narrow and difficult, and a lot of dirt has been dragged on."



Fri 10:45 - SS1: Evans

Elfyn Evans is through now, he's clocked a 32m24.3s which puts him sixth.




Fri 10:44 - SS1: Loeb

Loeb: "There was a lot of gravel on the road, I tried to go faster but it was difficult to know if I was in the rhythm or not."



Fri 10:43 - SS1: Loeb

Loeb comes through in second place with a time of 32m03.5s. He's 9.7sec slower than Ogier




Fri 10:42 - SS1: Dani Sordo

Sordo is in with a time of 32m29.8s. He said: "It is quite dirty in places, but it is not so bad."



Fri 10:41 - SS1: Lappi

"I'm happy to be honest, I started with a rhythm and I was pretty relaxed. The time compared to the others, what can I do? I'm happy compared to them." Lappi said.



Fri 10:39 - SS1: Lappi

Lappi is through in a 32m37.0s, that's 43.2sec slower than Ogier



Fri 10:39 - Tanak

Tanak: "There is some water at that start which shot my brakes, it took me a time to get them back up to temperature." He's come through the stage with a 32m11.9s, that's put him second at the moment.




Fri 10:37 - SS1: Latvala

Latvala: "Not good, our car is very good when it is dry condition, I'm struggling in the water. After I go through the water it feels like I'm losing the rear. I'm trying to improve my driving."



Fri 10:35 - SS1: Loeb

Loeb's times have appeared on the timing screen, he is almost 9 seconds down on Ogier's fastest time



Fri 10:34 - SS1: Meeke

Meeke is through in a 32m12.9s, that puts him third for now. "It was good, I did my best. There's a lot of standing water on the inside of corners that's being pulled out and onto the stage. I'm happy with my time." Meeke said.



Fri 10:33 - SS1: Mikkelsen

A 32m32.9s for Mikkelsen, at stage end he said he can't get into a rhythm after his spin at the start but he is happier with the car.




Fri 10:31 - SS1: Neuville

Neuville's at stop control now, what does he have to say? "I did the maximum I good, I had no brake bias at the start of the stage." He's complaining of a lack of grip, saying it's "all over the place"



Fri 10:29 - SS1: Neuville

Neuville completes the stage with a 32m15.0s



Fri 10:28 - SS1: Ogier

He came through with a 31m53.8s




Fri 10:28 - SS1: Ogier

Ogier: "I struggled a lot, I nearly span a few times. But I try my best." He said he's also not happy with the hairpins, saying he's nearly stalling on the hairpins.




Fri 10:27 - SS1, WRC2

A lot of the WRC 2 field is into the stage now, with Jan Kopecky setting a 7m18.2




Fri 10:25 - SS1: Meeke

Meeke twists his way through the fifth split with a 20m45.7s, the third fastest time so far



Fri 10:22 - SS1: Neuville

Neuville has also driven past the last split, he's set a 25m41.7s




Fri 10:22 - SS1: Ogier

The Ford man has come through the sixth split with a 25m23.9s, he'll be at stage end soon




Fri 10:21 - SS1: Latvala

Jari-Matti Latvala comes through the third split with an 11m28.5s.




Fri 10:19 - SS1: Neuville

2017 Tour de Corse winner Neuville joins Ogier as heading through the fifth split. He's set a 20m50.8s




Fri 10:17 - SS1: Sordo

Dani Sordo has come through the second split with a 7m03.2s - the third fastest split time so far




Fri 10:15 - SS1: Ogier

Ogier comes through the fifth split at 32.25km with a 20m37.4s.




Fri 10:13 - SS1: Mikkelsen & Meeke

Andreas Mikkelsen has set an 11m29.0s at split three, while Kris Meeke has set an 11m17.0s




Fri 10:11 - SS1: Loeb

Sebastien Loeb is onto the stage now



Fri 10:11 - SS1: Neuville

Neuville through the third split now at 17.42km and he's 9.8sec behind Ogier after logging a 11m22.4s




Fri 10:09 - SS1: Meeke

The Citroeën driver comes through the second split just 0.9sec slower than Ogier's time through 11.09km




Fri 10:07 - SS1: Mikkelsen

Mikkelsen is through the second split, he's made up time to Neuville but his 7m06.5s is 10.4sec behind Ogier




Fri 10:05 - SS1

Few more cars onto the stage as the splits were coming through, Ott Tanak is the next onto the stage, just after Citroën's Kris Meeke




Fri 10:04 - SS1: Ogier

No split time from Ogier on the first split, but at the second split 11km in to the stage he's clocked a 6m56.1s - 6.2sec faster than Neuville




Fri 10:03 - SS1: Mikkelsen

Mikkelsen is through the first split - at 4.63km - and that spin has put him 5.4sec down on Neuville.




Fri 10:01 - SS1: Neuville

First split is through from Neuville and he's clocked a 2m58.8s



Fri 09:59 - SS1: Mikkelsen

The second Hyundai of Andreas Mikkelsen launches onto the stage, but spins at the first corner.



Fri 09:57 - SS1: Neuville

Thierry Neuville is also onto the stage now in his Hyundai i20 WRC.



Fri 09:55 - SS1: Ogier

Sébastien Ogier gets Tour de Corse underway as he sets off into SS1!




Fri 09:43 - SS1 guide

La Porta – Valle di Rostino 1, 49.03km A legendary stage to start things off. A technical uphill section from the start ends at La Porta church, before twisty and bumpy roads run through Giocatojo and up the Col Saint Antoine. The descent on new and older asphalt heads through several villages before climbing again to Campile. A twistier road tracks the mountainside before a series of abrasive downhill hairpins leads to the finish.



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