Tanak and Lappi complete the first three positions in the provisional standings
– ZAGREB (CROATIA)
Croatia cursed for Hyundai. Thierry Neuville, who started with all the favors of the forecast after having easily commanded operations yesterday, was the victim of an accident during the eleventh special stage, rubbing his i20 N Rally1 well. Impossible for the Belgian to continue the stage. Neuville will try to start again tomorrow with the Super Rally, but at the moment he occupies the fortieth provisional position and the only hope to score some points is linked to an exploit in the final Power Stage. The Englishman Elfyn Evans was able to take advantage of this predicament. Toyota Gazoo Racing official is the new leader with his Yaris Rally1 and can check his opponents with ease. Furthermore, the second in the standings, Ott Tanak, complains of driveability problems on his Ford Puma Rally1 M-Sport and is now twenty-five seconds and four tenths behind Evans. Hyundai can now count on only Esa-Pekka Lappi, who occupies the third position. It will take a real exploit for the Finn to recover the exact half minute delay that separates him from Tanak. Behind Lappi is a real Toyota festival, with Sebastien Ogier fourth, Kalle Rovanpera fifth and Takamoto Katsuta sixth: the overall podium is still within reach of all three. The second Puma Rally1 of Pierre-Louis Loubet also defends well, being seventh and last of the Rally1s in the points.
wrc2, the situation
—
Yohan Rossel continues to command operations in WRC 2 with his Citroen C3 Rally2, also occupying an excellent eighth place overall. However, Nikolay Gryazin remains close by, only eleven and a half seconds behind with his Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. The “neutral” still maintains the top of the WRC 2 Challenger sub-classification. The Finnish Emil Lindholm enters the absolute Top Ten and takes the provisional third place in WRC 2. Nicolas Ciamin victim with his Polo GTI R5 of an accident in the thirteenth stage. While Cachon should certainly start again tomorrow with the Super Rally, he is not at all sure that the mechanics will be able to repair the Polo that the Frenchman put on his hat causing the stage to “stop”. Fourth place in class for Sami Pajari with the Skoda in front of the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of a little incisive Adrien Fourmaux and the umpteenth Fabia of the former M-Sport driver Gus Greensmith.
wrc masters cup
—
Armin and Ella Kremer score the perhaps decisive stretch in the WRC Masters Cup. The German duo is now three minutes and ten seconds ahead of Mauro Miele and Luca Beltrame, good at avoiding trouble but less aggressive than usual. Perhaps the crash suffered in the shakedown still weighs on Miele’s rhythm. Keferbock/Minor remain third ahead of Laszlo/Zsiros, both at the wheel of Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.
jwrc and wrc3, pellier ok
—
William Creighton was among the many to pay the price in the tough second stage. An accident in the ninth special stage cost the Irishman the leadership in WRC3 and JWRC, causing him to drop in the standings at the moment. In addition to Creighton, Dominguez, Hernandez and Anwar were also forced to resort to the Super Rally due to going off the road or breaking down: they should all start again for the last stage. In the JWRC standings there is thus the leap forward of Tom Rensonnet, second in class ahead of Eamonn Kelly, who “replaces” Creighton in the hearts of Irish fans. They are the only three drivers who have not made use of the Super Rally so far, confirming the extreme toughness of the Croatian specials.
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED