Tanak charges clear of Ostberg

Top 15 classification after SS15 at Rally Finland

Ott Tanak has strengthened his advantage at Rally Finland by charging ahead on Saturday’s morning loop to take a 23.7s lead on Mads Ostberg.

Having reclaimed the lead after SS7 the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver held a slender 5.8s margin on Friday night but his attack over this morning’s four stages has seen Ostberg unable to respond in second place for Citroen.

With a useful lead, Tanak will look to consolidate over the second loop as he targets his second win of the year following up for his maiden triumph for Toyota in Argentina.

Ostberg holds a comfortable 20-second gap over Jari-Matti Latvala in third place for Toyota while over 30 seconds splits the Finn from Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon in fourth.

Esapekka Lappi has recovered from a tricky start to his home event, 12 months on from his stunning maiden victory, to climb up to fifth place at the end of SS15 ahead of lead M-Sport Ford driver Teemu Suninen.

After Sebastien Ogier profited from M-Sport team orders to jump ahead of Elfyn Evans, the defending WRC champion remains stuck in seventh place with a sizeable gap back to Suninen.

Citroen’s Craig Breen is still a distant ninth place but comfortably ahead of WRC championship leader Thierry Neuville who continues to struggle down in the final points place for Hyundai.