Wales Rally GB could be the pivotal event of the World Rally Championship

The news that M-Sport team of Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will be moving to the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT for 2019 has dominated the media coverage in the World Rally Championship world recently.

It is a return to a team they know well – a decade ago they entered their first event as Junior World Rally Champions with Citroen.

Meanwhile, this weekend’s Wales Rally GB beckons.

After tomorrow’s shakedown, the event will start with a stage at the Tir Prince Raceway before heading to the parc ferme at the central service park in Deeside.

The 60 competitors will face 1 419km with 23 special stages over 319km of classic rally roads. The chases for both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles are close.

Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT will be all out to regain the lead in the constructors’ race and field current driver’s championship leader Thierry Neuville on 177 points, sixth-placed Andreas Mikkelsen on 75 and Haydon Paddon (10th, 49).

The surprise has been the performance of Toyota Gazoo WRT, which is leading the constructors’ race by five points and has won the last three events.

Their team will be Ott Tanak, the man who took those three wins – second in the driver’s title chase on 164 points – Esapekka Lappi (fourth, 88 points) and Jari-Matti Latvala (fifth, 75).

M-Sport Ford has Sebastien Ogier in third with 154 points, Teemu Suninen (eighth, 54) and Welshman Elfyn Evans (ninth, 53). Craig Breen will lead the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT attack.

Breen has 47 points and is 12th, just behind team-mate Mads Ostberg (11th, 48 points). Constructors’ leader Toyota Gazoo WRT boast 284 points, followed by Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT (279).

Any rally in Wales can catch out unwary competitors with rain, fog and slippery roads, plus log piles waiting to punish the smallest mistake.

This could be the pivotal event of the season.

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