Top 15 WRC classification after ꦇSS9 from Wales Rally GB 

Ott Tanak has fortified💦 his early lead at Wales Rally GB as nearest rival Elfyn Evans drops out of contention for M-Sporꦫt Ford to see the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver pull out almost half a minute advantage on Friday’s second loop.

The Estonian driver comes into Wales Rally GB with three consecutive WRC event wins and is in prime position to maintain that run with a 28.8s lead on championship leader Thierry Neuville at♔ the end of SS9.

While Tanak wꦆon th🍌e first two stages of the afternoon loop, Evans stopped midway through SS7 with a suspected engine issue which forced him out of the running from second place. Coupled with a timely charge and Evans’ exit, Neuville has moved up to second place for Hyundai and victory on SS9 saw him trim Tanak’s lead to 28.8s.

Fellow Toyota driver Jari-Matti Latvala holds third place just 2.5s off Neuville with teammate Esapekka Lappi recovering from an early spin to move up to fourth 🐎and just 4.6s off Latval🦩a at the end of Friday’s running, with all three Toyotas inside the top four.

Sebastien Ogier also attempted a Friday afternoon push to see him move up to fifth on the overall classification for M-Sport Ford, just 2.3s off Lappi, with Citroen’s Craig Breen slotting into📖 sixth place over 10 seconds off the defending WRC champion.

Hayden Paddon produced a solid final stage on Friday to jump to seventh place for Hyundai, coupled with M-Sport Ford losing Teemu Suninen who went off the road on SS9, which saw Mads Ostberg retain 🦋eighth place for Citroen.

Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkeslen has moved up to ninth place by virtue of Sunin💎en’s drop down the order with WRC2 class leader Kalle Rovanpera rounding out the top ten for Skoda, with almos♎t a full minute lead on Pontus Tidemand.