Neuville gives up, Tänak takes advantage! Follow the second stage of the Ypres Rally in live text

The wait was long, but for the first time in four months, the World Rally Championship (WRC) returns to asphalt. THE Rally d'Ypres (Belgium) is offering 20 special stages on the Belgian plains from Friday August 19 at 10:16 a.m.

>>> Follow the Ypres Rally in live text <<

On this second day of the event in Belgium, there will be eight new stages on the program on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m., covering nearly 135 km of route. The crews will pass through Reninge (15 km), Dikkebus (14,2 km), Wijtschate (15 km) and Hollebeke (22,3 km), the longest stage of the rally, before the loop is repeated in the 'afternoon.

ALSO READ > Neuville as boss on the Ypres Rally, disaster for M-Sport

Friday morning, Kalle Rovanperä was the victim of an impressive off-road crash on the second special stage of the event! The Finn, then leader of the race, rolled several times. The crew was unhurt but was unable to leave until Saturday morning due to damage to their car.

The local stage rolled up its sleeves on Saturday morning. Thierry Neuville showed his muscles and adopted a great rhythm on the first loop of the day. At the end of the four special stages of the morning, the Belgian is still leading the Rally of Ypres, now more than 16 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer, Ott Tänak. The native of Saint-Vith moved into second at the end of the morning, setting the two best times on SS11 and SS12 to escape into the lead of his home event.

The Estonian lost a lot of time on the last two stages. Less comfortable than his teammate and suspecting a transmission problem on his Hyundai i20 N, the 2019 world champion finds himself threatened by Elfyn Evans for 2nd place. The gap at the start of the second loop is only 5 seconds, while the Welshman regained a good pace on Saturday morning.

To M-Sport, la matinée de samedi a été un désastre. Craig Breen, disturbed by a bale of straw moved during the passage ofAdrien fourmaux before him, fell into a ditch and ended up on the roof. SS10 was then interrupted under a red flag, as the Ford was poorly positioned and even started to catch fire. Greensmith and Lappi came to the aid of the M-Sport driver to put out the fire, fortunately not serious.

General classification after SS12:

s programSaturday August 20:

10:13 a.m.: SS9 – Reninge 1 (15 km)
11:08 a.m.: SS10 – Dikkebus 1 (14,2 km)
12:00 p.m.: SS11 – Wijtschate 1 (15 km)
12:55 p.m.: SS12 – Hollebeke 1 (22,3 km)
15:13 a.m.: SS13 – Reninge 2 (15 km)
16:08 a.m.: SS14 – Dikkebus 2 (14,2 km)
17:00 p.m.: SS15 – Wijtschate 2 (15 km)
17:55 p.m.: SS16 – Hollebeke 2 (22,3 km)