Kris Meeks Leads in Finland
Volkswagen team boss Jost Capito's prediction appears accurate and Citroen's Kris Meeke currently leads WRC Rally Finland by 18.1 seconds at the end of the first full day, from Jari-Matti Latvala who was able to chip away at Meeke's advantage through the afternoon, having spent the morning recovering from a mistake that led to a tyre damage however, the Citroen driver always seemed able to respond to the Volkswagen's pace.
Sebastien Ogier was chasing them when he spun into a ditch at a hairpin on Surkee and lost sixteen minutes before he and co-driver Julian Ingrassia, aided by some spectators, managed to get the Polo back on the road, dropping him from third to 56th overall. The Frenchman continued in his undamaged car and should still have a shot at powerstage points on Sunday at least.
Andreas Mikkelsen is currently fourth, having dropped just behind Thierry Neuville's Hyundai in a very close battle through the afternoon and Craig Breen continues to hover behind them despite his lack of WRC experience, making him less confident in the ruts of the afternoon stages. Ott Tanak had been battling Meeke for the lead until suspension damage and a spin dropped him to 10th halfway through the morning, but after two stage wins and a second place on the loop's first three tests, he hovered on the brink of the top six before sustaining a puncture and falling back again to start Saturday eighth between the M-Sport Fords of Mads Ostberg and Eric Camilli. The clear WRC2 leader Esapekka Lappi holds 10th overall, with Dani Sordo's stand-in; Kevin Abbring, nursing some suspension damage on his Hyundai in 11th.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS12:
Pos .... Driver .... Team .... Car .... Gap
1. Meeke/Nagle Abu Dhabi Total WRT Citroen 1h13m22.2s
2. Latvala/Anttila Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen 18.1s
3. Neuville/Gilsoul Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 44.3s
4. Mikkelsen/Synnevaag Volkswagen Motorsport II Volkswagen 45.4s
5. Breen/Martin Abu Dhabi Total WRT Citroen 53.8s
6. Paddon/Kennard Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 58.2s
7. Ostberg/Floene M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 1m02.9s
8. Tanak/Molder DMACK World Rally Team Ford 1m14.4s
9. Camilli/Veillas M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 1m22.6s
10. Lappi/Ferm Skoda Motorsport
29th July, 2016