Ott Tänak goes into day three of WRC Rally Wales in the lead

Estonian rally driver Ott Tänak currently tops the table at the WRC Rally Wales, coming into Saturday.
Having got off to a slow start in the Toyota Yaris on Thursday afternoon's stage, not in Wales but in England, at the Oulton Park Circuit, this carried over to the initial stage on Friday. However, after winning the second stage at Penmachno in North Wales on Friday morning, Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja hardly looked back, winning three more stages: the two Dyfnant stages (19.36 km) and the 10.26-kilometer Aberhirnant stage, to put them at the front of the pack starting Saturday.
Friday's later stages took place in failing light, though the much-anticipated after-effects of Hurricane Lorenzo failed to fully materialize, in that part of Wales at least.
The competition looks set to be a battle for the title between Tänak, who leads the table on 210, and reigning champion Sébastien Ogier (France, Citroen), who is currently in second place both in the table on 193 points, and Rally Wales.
Two more races follow before the end of the season. The maximum number of points a driver can pick up is 30, 25 plus five bonus points. Tänak has managed this feat three times this season, in Sweden, Chile and Finland, as well as winning Portugal and Germany.
Rally Wales had up to now been somewhat of a non-event in Tänak's career, making the current form even more significant.
ERR's online sports portal is live-blogging the event (in Estonian) here.
Editor: Andrew Whyte