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Germany WRC: Tanak leads Mikkelsen after Saturday morning

Ott Tanak extended his Rally Germany lead over Andreas Mikkelsen to 23 seconds during Saturday's opening loop.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport

Sutton Images

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport
Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport
Craig Breen, Scott Martin, Citroën C3 WRC, Citroën World Rally Team
Elfyn Evans, Daniel Barritt, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Pontus Tidemand, Jonas Andersson, Skoda Fabia R5, Skoda Motorsport
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

M-Sport Ford driver Tanak started the morning with a 5.7s lead over Mikkelsen heading into the short Arena Panzeplatte superspecial.

Tanak topped the opening stage of the day, but he really started to build a gap on the full version of Panzerplatte, as Mikkelsen struggled with the tricky conditions and ended the 26-mile stretch 15.3s behind.

The Estonian continued to capitalise on Mikkelsen's troubles through Freisen. Tanak was once again quickest through the stage, but Mikkelsen had no such luck.

The Citroen driver spun at a late junction and stalled, which increased Tanak's lead to 25.7s.

Mikkelsen was able to regain 2.7s on the final stage of the opening loop. He finished Romerstrasse quickest to head into the afternoon 23s off the lead.

Sebastien Ogier spent the morning edging closer to his former Volkswagen teammate for second, after title rival Thierry Neuville retired following the opening stage of the day with irreparable damage to his left rear wheel. 

A cautious Ogier made the most of Mikkelsen's earlier incidents to go into the afternoon loop just 6.3s adrift.

Toyota's Juho Hanninen was one of the surprises of the day. The Finn completed the fearsome Panzerplatte stage 2.4s faster than Ogier to take the stage win.

Hanninen is currently locked in a tight battle with Elfyn Evans for fourth. He gained significant time on the DMACK Ford driver through the final three stages of the loop to head to service just 0.8s behind the Welshman, who completed Romserstrasse with visible cosmetic damage after clipping a hay bale.

Craig Breen and Jari-Matti Latvala are separated by 17s in sixth and seventh. Both drivers finished the opening loop visibly upset. Latvala in particular was disappointed with his run through Freisen, which included an off-road excursion into a field.

Jan Kopecky continued to extend his lead in WRC2 ahead of Eric Camilli. He holds a 12.5s lead following the opening loop, while WRC2 points leader Pontus Tidemand is currently on course to claim the championship in third.

ClaDriver/CodriverCarTime/Gap
1 estonia Ott Tanak 
estonia Martin Jarveoja 
Ford Fiesta   1hr42m50.9s
2 norway Andreas Mikkelsen 
norway Anders Jäger 
Citroën C3  25.7
3 france Sébastien Ogier 
france Julien Ingrassia 
Ford Fiesta  31.0
4 united_kingdom Elfyn Evans 
united_kingdom Daniel Barritt 
Ford Fiesta  1'14.9
5 finland Juho Hanninen 
finland Kaj Lindstrom 
Toyota Yaris 1'17.3
6 ireland Craig Breen 
united_kingdom Scott Martin 
Citroën C3  1'53.0
7 finland Jari-Matti Latvala 
finland Miikka Anttila 
Toyota Yaris  2'11.2
8 new_zealand Hayden Paddon 
united_kingdom Sebastian Marshall 
Hyundai i20 Coupe  4'19.6
9 czech_republic Jan Kopecky 
czech_republic Pavel Dresler 
Škoda Fabia R5 5'41.9
10 france Eric Camilli 
france Benjamin Veillas 
Ford Fiesta R5 5'51.1

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