The longest stage of the rally was the third of what had developed into a thrilling loop of morning’s speed tests. The stage-opening Grégoire Munster stopped for over two and a half minutes with what he thought was an alternator issue after 26km and then stopped again soon afterwards as Elfyn Evans moved into first on the road.
Takamoto Katsuta suffered rear suspension issues on his Yaris, but an inspired Ott Tänak smashed the stage record with a run of 24min 06.4sec and the Estonian gained the rally lead from Sébastien Ogier by just 0.2 seconds.
A strong time by Yohan Rossel enabled the Frenchman to extend his WRC2 lead over Gus
Greensmith to 12.8 seconds.
Four-minute intervals in this stage for Rally1 cars.
Previous stage record – Tänak (Hyundai - 2021): 24min 11.9sec
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“Lots of understeer especially in the corners, I cannot make the car rotate. I was using a lot of hand brake. I did what I could. A lot of cleaning in places where it is not humid.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“It was a bit disappointing to be fair. Definitely not in the direction I prefer. We need to keep working on something. It’s just getting the turning as I want it.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“This time I was struggling.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
Unofficially breaks the stage record with a flying run of 24min 06.4sec. “Let’s see, I try. I guess that’s the way it is at the moment. Some places are surprising. I don’t know where the limit is..”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
Stopped 10.7km into the stage with rear-right suspension issues.
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“Game on. It will be quite new if I am scared of anybody…”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
Stopped after 26km with a mechanical issue. The crew managed to restart with the loss of over two and a half minutes and reached a competitive pace before stopping and pulling off the stage for a second
time. He lost over six minutes. “We have an engine issue. I first thought it was an alternator issue. When I checked the belt, it was still there. I have no idea what it is.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“Obviously I am diappointed. There were some mistakes. I try to do my best and enjoy.”
Car 21. ROSSEL/DANAND
“It was a very good stage for me. The car worked very well. It was perfect. It’s a long time we don’t have a feeling like this on gravel.”
Car 22. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
“Horrible. The car was sliding everywhere. It didn’t feel good. I tried to be clean and minimise the sliding.”
Car 25. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
“Tried some changes with the set-up but I was not able to drive clean. I am not keeping the line. I don’t know why. We will change again to try and improve.”
Car 28. SOLANS/SANJUAN
“We are trying to do our best. I am trying to drive as best as I can and push to the limit and stay on the line, keep clean and push hard.”