SS5 Ponte de Lima 2 (27.44 km)-Cancelled
Haydon Paddon(Hyundai) and Ott Tanak(Ford) crash out on stage , Paddon's car catches fire !! ....
Both Crews are OK !
Hayden Paddon's attempt to win a second World Rally Championship event in a row has ended after his Hyundai i20 WRC rolled and caught fire in Portugal.
The Kiwi driver and co-driver John Kennard are reportedly safe and out of harm's following the shunt on SS5.
Hyundai said the bushes around where it came to rest caught alight following the accident and the car has been destroyed.
Paddon had been aiming to challenge Sebastien Ogier for the event win having beaten the three-time champion to victory in Argentina.
After the two came to verbal blows over running order rules, Portugal was the first event where Paddon has run up front in the WRC as he started second in the road.
He had been holding sixth overall after SS4, 22.9s down on series returnee and rally leader Kris Meeke's Citroen DS 3.
The stage has been neutralised because of the incident.
Ott Tanak, who began the stage in fourth place, also crashed out near the scene of Paddon's accident.
autosport.com/paddon-suffers-fiery-crash-in-portugal
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Fire destroyed Hayden Paddon’s Hyundai i20 after both he and Ott Tanak rolled at the same place in Friday afternoon’s opening speed test at Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
The Kiwi’s car caught fire after he crashed heavily 11.90km into the second pass of Ponte de Lima. It burned out within five minutes and while Paddon and co-driver John Kennard were unhurt, they were only able to save their crash helmets from the burning wreckage.
Minutes later Tanak rolled his Ford Fiesta RS at the same location. It also caught fire, but the uninjured crew were helped by locals in extinguishing the flames with a hose pipe and it was reported the Estonian’s car was not badly damaged.
Organisers cancelled the stage and the following competitors drove it non-competitively before continuing to the following Caminha test.
Before the cancellation, Dani Sordo was fastest by 9.6sec in his i20 from Sebastien Ogier, with Thierry Neuville a further 0.5sec back. Nine drivers completed the stage competitively and notional times will be awarded to the remaining competitors, meaning the leaderboard remains unconfirmed.
Mads Ostberg counted himself lucky not to go off at the same point as Paddon and Tanak. “I lost the line in a rutted corner, there were lots of car parts on the road,” said the Norwegian.
Jari-Matti Latvala also hit problems, striking a hole and breaking his Volkswagen Polo R’s power steering. The Finn was exhausted after wrestling his car to the finish and dropped 40sec.
wrc.com/portugal-ss5/
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SS6 Caminha 2 (18.03 km)
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SS7 Viana do Castelo 2 (18.70 km)
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SS8 Porto Street Stage1 (1.85 km)
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SS9 Porto Street Stage 2 (1.85 km)
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Meeke leads amid drama in Portugal
Kris Meeke led Vodafone Rally de Portugal on Friday night after dominating an action-packed day in the hills overlooking northern Spain.
The Briton, returning to the WRC after missing the previous two rounds, claimed the lead by winning this morning’s opening speed test. He was fastest in four more to head world championship leader Sebastien Ogier by 31.9sec with two days remaining.
Hayden Paddon, winner of the previous round in Argentina, and Ott Tanak provided the drama. Both rolled at the same place this afternoon and their cars caught fire, fierce flames reducing Paddon’s car to a shell in minutes. Both drivers and co-drivers were unhurt.
Two stage wins this morning enabled Meeke to build a 11.5sec lead in Citroen’s DS 3 over Ogier, fastest in last night’s curtain-raising test. As the gravel roads became heavily rutted, he stretched his lead to 35.2sec in the repeat pass, before Ogier narrowed the gap in the final two asphalt street tests in Porto.
Road opener Ogier had the worst of the conditions as he cleaned the gravel in his Volkswagen Polo R to leave better grip for others. An inspired Dani Sordo demoted the Frenchman from second before a front left puncture cost 10sec and the Spaniard dropped 5.4sec behind in his Hyundai i20.
A cautious approach paid dividends for Andreas Mikkelsen who was fourth in a Polo R, ahead of Thierry Neuville, who climbed the order after a cautious start. Stephane Lefebvre was sixth despite a puncture in his DS 3.
Mads Ostberg had difficulty downshifting his Ford Fiesta RS but improvements enabled the Norwegian to climb to seventh, with team-mate Eric Camilli eighth.
Jari-Matti Latvala held fourth despite a set-up that was too stiff for the conditions. However, the Finn hit a hole and broke his Polo R’s power steering, dropping more than three minutes wrestling it through the remaining stages. He finished 1.1sec ahead of WRC 2 leader Pontus Tidemand
The afternoon’s opening stage was cancelled after the crashes of Paddon and Tänak. Paddon and co-driver John Kennard could only save their crash helmets from the burning wreckage, while locals helped Tänak fight the flames with a hose pipe to save his car.
The only other major retirement was Kevin Abbring, sidelined with a broken steering arm after clipping a bank.
click:
wrc.com/portugal-wrc-day-1/
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