STREAM the WRC action from Wales Rally GB — including Stages 12, 18 and the Power Stage LIVE — on FOX SPORTS this weekend. Get your free 2-week Foxtel Now trial and start watching in minutes.And for a change, the running order rule that puts the series leader first on the road at the start of the rally — and which Ogier hates so much — will favour him if the Wales stages are in their typically mucky condition. That could allow him to build a crucial early advantage. But as ever, no rally is won until it’s over. If Ogier was leading by minutes but suddenly hit by mechanical failure or a driver error, it will be all on in Australia. Sound impossible? Carlos Sainz infamously lost the World Championship within sight of the finish at Rally GB in 1998. Ogier crashed out of the lead on the final stage of Rally Spain in 2015.
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Schedule:
Motorsport - Wales Rally GB
Date: 27-30,Oct,2017
Status: Live
Ogier is avoiding talk about another title for him or M-Sport.“Clearly, this could be a very special event for the team and it also provides us with our first mathematical chance of securing the drivers’ championship. But we can’t think too much about that. We just need to focus on enjoying the rally and delivering the best performance we can.”Understandable caution, but he was quoted in Britain’s Autosport magazine saying he wanted to clinch the title this weekend because Rally Australia presents challenges he’d rather avoid. More certain than a drivers’ title, however, is that his M-Sport team will win the manufacturers’ championship in GB. After a sensational season in which Malcolm Wilson’s private outfit has been on the podium at every round and Ogier has led the standings more often than not, M-Sport needs a contribution of just four points from its drivers Ogier, Tänak or Elfyn Evans to pop the champagne corks. It will be all the more rewarding as a “home” win, M-Sport’s base in northeast Cumbria being not too far from rally HQ at Deeside, just inside the Welsh border. Steeped in motorsport history, Wales Rally GB is one of the most anticipated and celebrated WRC events and has come to epitomise the sport of rallying.
Endurance will be needed as crews tackle a mammoth 17-hour day on Saturday as well the challenging conditions. Rain, fog and even ice are all to be expected. The fast, flowing stages might not be technically difficult, but muddy conditions add a treacherous twist and ever-changing grip waits to trap the unwary. Effective windscreen wipers and blowers will be crucial. Wales Rally GB starts with an all-new stage at Tir Prince Raceway on Thursday evening. Friday presents the classic stages of Myherin, Sweet Lamb and Hafren. Saturday concludes with two night stages, while five stages await on Sunday. Total competitive distance over 21 stages will be 304 kilometres. New Australian Rally Champion Molly Taylor, driver for the official Subaru do Motorsport team, brings to Fox Sports News her insider’s perspective of the FIA World Rally Championship. Also rated the world’s No. 1 female rally driver, Molly has contested many rounds of the WRC and European Rally Championship and knows the people, the cars and the roads after years of international experience.Elfyn Evans' fastest time in the Thursday morning Wales Rally GB shakedown stage has marked him out as the favourite for the event, according to his M-Sport teammate Sebastien Ogier. The DMACK driver went more than a second per mile faster than anybody through the Clocaenog test, posting a time of 1m58.1s, and going 2.3s quicker than Dani Sordo. Evans' Ford Fiesta is fitted with a DMACK tyre specifically made and tailored to the cooler and wetter conditions in Wales. Fellow Ford driver Ogier reckons the different tyres of Evans is what gives him "the best cards in the hand"."We all know he has the best cards in the hand to win the rally, but even if you have those cards you still have to do it and in these conditions that's not easy," said Ogier, who was 3.4s slower than Evans in the shakedown."But already this morning we have seen it's quite a performance difference with these tyres.
"He struggled in Spain where the tyre was completely wrong and they [DMACK] focused completely on this event, so they come here with the right tyre."We have to do our best, but Elfyn has the right package. At least he's not a threat for the championship, but if I don't win the rally, I would not be unhappy if he did."While Ogier named Evans as the favourite, the Welshman himself was keen to play down that tag."This is a long and difficult rally, but if the conditions stay like they were in shakedown this morning then the tyre is working exceptionally well," said Evans."But the weather is drying and that will definitely help them (Michelin runners)."Shakedown isn't completely representative for how much grip there will be."Obviously Sunday is in the same place, so it's the same for there, but that's a small percentage of the distance."There are a lot of grip changes we've seen from the recce."That's the type of places, where we've seen a lot of logging and there's a lot of mud, that's where we're going to lose our advantage because it will come down to the mechanical grip in the car rather than then grip from the tyre."We have a fantastically good compound and a pattern for this tyre, it didn't work so well last time in Spain, but it's working here so far."Ott Tanak was third quickest behind Sordo with Jari-Matti Latvala the top Toyota in fourth.Thierry Neuville, the only other driver other than Ogier and Tanak who can take this year’s title was fifth quickest. Citroen stars Craig Breen and Kris Meeke were 10th and 12th quickest respectively.
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