SS12 – Meeke’s charge continues, Elvyn Evans rolls

The longest stage of the third day, the gruelling 37.67km Amarante, gave the drivers a chance to push hard, though the stage itself would fight back against some.

Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jari-Matti Latvala had a better result, completing the stage second fastest with a time of 25:18.4, which was 1.5s quicker than teammate, Ogier.

While Latvala was the fastest intially, it didn’t last long, as Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team’s Kris Meeke continued his blistering pace. He brought his DS3 WRC over line 9s faster than Sebastien Ogier and extended his lead over the event to an impressive 1:02.9s.

Mads Ostberg and Henning Solberg were both plagues with drivetrain issues, resulting in both cars losing four-wheel-drive, leaving them to complete the stage with front-wheel-drive only.

In WRC2 drama unfolded for M-Sport World Rally Team’s Elvyn Evans who, after showing impressive pace earlier in the day, unfortunately rolled his Fiesta RS WRC out of the stage, forcing him to retire.

Pontus Tidemand continued his impressive pace though, finishing the lengthy stage in 26:03.0s, just 43.1s behind Ogier – an impressive time for the event, but an incredible time for WRC2.