After missing a braking point on slippery gravel roads, he slid straight-on into a bank and returned to the Deeside service park where his team replaced the engine cooling system.
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After winning the last three rounds in Finland, Germany and Turkey, Tänak is second in the drivers’ standings, just 13 points behind Neuville and 10 ahead of Ogier, in the closest WRC battle in many years.
The action switches into the north Wales forests on Friday. Three early morning tests are repeated in the afternoon following mid-leg service in Deeside, with two short fan-friendly tests at Slate Mountain completing the pre-lunch loop. The eight stages cover 110.76 km.
Tickets to Kennards Hire Rally Australia, including a $99 adult Get Me Everywhere all-stages pass, are available on-line at www.rallyaustralia.com.au.
Results after day one (Thursday):
1 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) 1m21.6s
2 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +0.3s
3 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +0.3s
4 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +0.7s
5 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +0.9s
6 Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1.7s
7 Hayden Paddon/Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1.9s
8 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2.2s
9 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Skoda Fabia R5) +2.2s
10 Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +2.5s
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