Rally GB is one of the most traditional events on the calendar and, true to form, is delivering the treacherous conditions for which it is renowned. Despite driving rain and gale force winds last night, fans braved the ceremonial start in Llandudno and today’s conditions continued to deliver much of the same. Ogier was fastest from the outset and the Frenchman has once again set the pace, winning five of the six stages to the south of the Deeside service park. His nearest challenger early this morning was team-mate Latvala, but the Finn went off the road in the short Sweet Lamb stage, ending up in a ditch and into retirement. Latvala’s loss was Meeke’s gain and while the Ulsterman has pushed hard and closed the gap to Ogier to under eight seconds with victory in stage four, his priority remains to haul in top points for Citroën to ensure the team maintains its second place in the Manufacturers’ Championship. They overnight split by 13.5 seconds. Mikkelsen, in third, was forced to miss yesterday’s shakedown because of precautionary medical tests, but the Norwegian – who won his first WRC event on the last round in Spain – has run without problems and remains in the fight.

Behind the leading trio, Mads Østberg has had a steady run all day and overnights fourth in the second DS 3 WRC and he has more than 35 seconds in hand to Dani Sordo, the Spaniard in the lead Hyundai i20 WRC. Ott Tanak splits him and Hayden Paddon, the Kiwi driver losing time with a spin and then a hydraulic problem this afternoon. Welshman Elfyn Evans still needs to get into the groove; he has slipped from sixth to eighth with a puncture, spin and a stall and has yet to feel comfortable in his home forests. Lorenzo Bertelli is ninth and Citroën’s young protégé Stephane Lefebvre is an impressive 10th overall. Martin Prokop lost a chunk of time in the final stage with broken suspension, and Robert Kubica has endured a puncture, understeer and then in the final stage some overheating related problems, the result of an off-road excursion. Thierry Neuville, who was relegated from Hyundai’s main team for this event, continues to have a difficult season, the Belgian taking a wheel off in the third stage, forcing him into retirement.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship category, Craig Breen held the advantage for most of the day but lost nearly two and half minutes with a puncture in SS4. He dropped to eighth, handing the lead to Eric Camilli who now overnights with 9.4 seconds in hand to Teemu Suninen. In the two-wheel drive FIA WRC 3 Championship, series contender and rally leader Quentin Gilbert stopped in the final stage, leaving Ola Christian Veiby to head the category.

Wales Rally GB – Unofficial Results after Section 2