Rally Deutschland: Day 3Toyota Yaris WRC first, second and third after mastering Panzerplatte

Quotes:
Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)

“It has been a great day for the whole team. We always knew that the stages in the military area would be really important. Our drivers did a brilliant job all day and especially on Panzerplatte to avoid any problems, and our car seems to be really strong there. We are in a really good position now: This would be a great result for us in both championships. But tomorrow is still a difficult day as the vineyard stages are always tricky, so we need to stay focused.”

Ott Tänak (Driver car 8)

“This morning I was really trying to be close to the limit, but the main thing was to avoid the mistakes and to be clean. In the afternoon, the Baumholder stages were really tricky this year, especially on the second loop when we just had to manage our position. It was so rough, with so many rocks, it was a big challenge to avoid everything. But I tried my best and in the end we managed, but it was a lot of pressure. As a team we have good control of things now, so I believe we just need to work together tomorrow and bring this result home.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)

“It was a very good day overall. The morning was a bit frustrating as I was thinking too much about the braking, but we had a very good phone call from Tommi after the second stage. He said ‘relax, take it easy, there is no panic, just drive and it will come’ and eventually it happened. Step by step we were improving, my engineer Taavi was giving me tips to get a bit more grip in the car, and in the afternoon I had a really good feeling. The most important thing now is to focus on securing the maximum points for the team.”

Kris Meeke (Driver car 5)

“I was a bit apprehensive this morning because I didn’t know those stages so well, so I was happy to be able to maintain the gap to third place at three seconds. Going to Panzerplatte I knew everything could change, and it was nice to have the pace there. The car felt fantastic this evening. We didn’t change the setup at all for the second loop but the road just cleaned up a bit and I was able to trust the grip a bit more. We still have work to do tomorrow. It’s sitting perfectly for the team but it’s a relatively long loop for a Sunday so we have to be on our game to hold position.”

What's next?

The rally returns to the vineyards above the Mosel valley for the final four stages, totalling 79.5 kilometres. The Grafschaft and Dhrontal tests will both be run twice, the latter serving as the rally-ending Power Stage.

Key stage: Dhrontal (SS17 & SS19, 11.69 kilometres)

Martin Järveoja (Co-driver car 8): “The Power Stage is a lot shorter than the other stage we’ll drive on Sunday, but it’s still a demanding one. It’s a very twisting stage with lots of hairpins, and a combination of vineyard roads and wider main roads.”