SS7 – A disastrous stage for Meeke, Paddon and Latvala

The final gruelling gravel stage of the day has unleashed havoc upon some of the top drivers. The first victim of the stage was Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT’s Jari Matti Latvala, who rolled his car after sliding up a bank. He did manage to complete the stage, but only by using the Yaris’ ‘road mode’.

Hyundai Motorsport’s Hayden Paddon and Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s Kris Meeke both seemed to stop in roughly the same, early point in the stage. However, their reasons for doing so were unrelated. Paddon’s car suffered from an electrical failure, rendering the car immobile for a short time, while Meeke’s C3 WRC was the victim of broken suspension, ending his day in the process.

The stage was less painful for Dani Sordo, who was fastest over the stage with a time of 19.20.2s. Sebastien Ogier was second fastest , 2.6s behind Sordo. Ott Tanak was the third quickest over the unforgiving stage, 4.6s off Sordo’s time.