Paris (AFP)

In a handkerchief: the candidates for the title of world rally champion, Ott Tänak, Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville, were separated by only a few seconds in front of the Rally of Great Britain at the end of the day on Friday.

At the end of the tenth stage on twenty-two until Sunday, the Estonian Tänak (Toyota), leader, was 3 sec 4/10 ahead of the Frenchman Ogier (Citroën), second, and 8 sec 4 / 10 on the Belgian Neuville (Hyundai), fourth.

Third, British Kris Meeke (Toyota), leading the opening stage Thursday until the last ES on Friday, was inserted 3 seconds 6/10 in the provisional ranking of the twelfth inning on fourteen of the World Championship. rallies (WRC), played in the forests of Wales.

The fifth, Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), was relegated to 25 sec 7/10.

As the outcome of the season approaches, Ogier and Neuville hope to take advantage of the British run to narrow their gap in the drivers standings on the current leader, Tänak.

The Frenchman, who has won the event five times - a record - in the last six editions, is seventeen lengths and the Belgian thirty.

- Everything has to be done -

If everything remains to be done on Welsh roads, wet and muddy, "it's been a good day," says Ogier, who is aiming for a seventh world title with a third different manufacturer (after Volkswagen in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and M -Sport Ford in 2017 and 2018). "We are fighting for victory and that's what we wanted, we're happy to be here"

"My driving was good but there are things to understand.This afternoon, my pace was not the one I wanted," commented Neuville.However, we are placed and we must make the best of this situation."

In the constructors' standings, the fight is also in full swing between his team and that of Mikkelsen, Hyundai, first, and that of Tänak and Meeke, Toyota, second at nineteen points.

The day also killed two of the WRC's top drivers: Finland's Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), who dropped out in SS6 and 7 respectively.

Latvala's car suffered damage that can not be repaired in time, she will not leave Saturday.

152,50 kilometers of specials are on the program of the day, nearly half of the timed distance of the rally.

Additional difficulty, no mechanical assistance from the teams is allowed between the seven stages. Rain and mud are still on the agenda.

© 2019 AFP