WRC – Tänak leads Toyota 1-2-3 as rivals suffer on Panzerplatte

Ott Tänak sits at the top of a Toyota 1-2-3 heading into the final day of Rallye Deutschland, after the infamous Panzerplatte stage shattered the victory – and championship – hopes of his rivals Thierry Neuville and Sébastien Ogier.

After midday service, the drivers tackled two loops on the Baumholder military area, consisting of the short “Arena Panzerplatte” stage (10.73km) and the 41.17 kilometre “Panzerplatte” test, with an 15 minute service at Bostalsee in-between.

Tänak and Neuville were separated by just five seconds heading into the afternoon, but disaster struck Neuville early in the first run through the long Panzerplatte stage, when he had to stop and change a tyre on his Hyundai, losing 1min26sec to Tänak.

Ogier meanwhile struggled for pace in his Citroën in the same stage and was passed by Tänak’s team-mates Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala, who both moved into podium places. But the disenchantment continued for Ogier on the repeat of Panzerplatte, when he also suffered a puncture, losing 1min26sec and dropping four places in the overall standings.

Meeke was fastest on Panzerplatte 2 to build a gap of 9.4 seconds between himself and Latvala, while Tänak ended the day with a lead of 32.4s over his British team-mate.

After starting the day in ninth, Dani Sordo finished in fourth as the lead Hyundai, in front of Neuville and Mikkelsen. Ogier dropped to eighth behind his team-mate Esapekka Lappi, with Gus Greensmith and Takamoto Katsuta rounding out the top 10.

Jan Kopecký leads the FIA WRC2 Pro category in his Škoda Fabia R5 Evo in 11th overall, while Fabian Kreim heads FIA WRC 2, ahead of fellow German Škoda driver Marijan Griebel.

2019 Rallye Deutschland – Unofficial Results after Section 7: