Ott Tanak-Martin Jarveoja dominate Friday stages: WRC Round 5 Rally Argentina
Ott Tänak has dominated Friday afternoon’s stages of Rally Argentina, the Estonian winning each of the three repeated tests to claim a 22.7 second advantage after just over 155 competitive kilometres. Kris Meeke moved ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen for second position and Thierry Neuville has climbed from sixth to third overnight
This afternoon posed an equally tough challenge for the crews and only three of the top 10 retained the positions they held leaving the mid-leg service. Tänak has taken total command and has flown through the stages, his rivals at a loss to match his stage-winning pace. As such, he has extended his slim 0.8 second advantage to 22.7 seconds this evening, happy the car is really starting to suit him. Meeke started the afternoon third behind Mikkelsen, but when the Norwegian had a puncture in the first stage and dropped nearly 30 seconds, he was able to move ahead into second. Meeke then dropped time with a puncture of his own in the last stage, but is happy to remain in contention with potentially bad weather forecast tomorrow. Thierry Neuville took a bit of a tyre gamble this afternoon and while he knew his hard selection wouldn’t fare best on the first stage, he is just a handful of seconds behind Meeke and in the fight after a clever drive this afternoon.
He and team-mate Dani Sordo have been trading positions and from fifth at the mid-leg service the Spaniard is now up to fourth having overhauled Sebastien Ogier. He and Neuville are still however locked in a fight with only 0.9 second between them, with Ogier just 6.9 seconds further behind. The Frenchman has been on the limit today and minimised time loss running at the head of the field. He is looking to capitalise with a better road position tomorrow. Craig Breen has had a better afternoon and is sixth and battling to stay ahead of Mikkelsen who, from leading this morning, is now seventh after the puncture. Esapekka Lappi continues to be frustrated by small mistakes and problems and after a great run this morning picked up two punctures and is now over a minute adrift of the lead in eighth. Elfyn Evans has had a disappointing day and the Welshman is ninth ahead of team-mate Teemu Suninen who rounds off the top 10. Toyota also confirmed that Jari-Matti Latvala would not be returning to competition tomorrow, damage to the engine oil lubrication system forcing him out terminally.
In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Pontus Tidemand continues to lead and the Swede has 20.2 seconds in hand to team-mate Kalle Rovanperä. Gus Greensmith retains third.
Rally Argentina – Unofficial results after Section 5
| 1 | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | Toyota Yaris WRC | 1hr 30min 38.6sec |
| 2 | Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle | Citroen C3 WRC | 1hr 31min 01.3sec |
| 3 | Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 1hr 31min 07.2sec |
| 4 | Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio | Hyundai i20 Couple WRC | 1hr 31min 08.1sec |
| 5 | Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia | Ford Fiesta WRC | 1hr 31min 15.0sec |
| 6 | Craig Breen / Scott Martin | Citroen C3 WRC | 1hr 31min 19.8sec |
| 7 | Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jæger | Hyundai i20 WRC | 1hr 31min 37.1sec |
| 8 | Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm | Toyota Yaris WRC | 1hr 31min 46.5sec |
| 9 | Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt | Ford Fiesta WRC | 1hr 31min 48.9sec |
| 10 | Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula | Ford Fiesta WRC | 1hr 32min 12.3sec |
