Neuville at the head of the shakedown, Ogier in ambush

The Belgian dominated the practice session for this new rally of the 2018 WRC season on Thursday morning, ahead of his direct rival Ogier.

Published on 13/09/2018 à 12:12

⁰ View comments)

Neuville at the head of the shakedown, Ogier in ambush

Obviously relieved of a weight after its three-year extension announced Wednesday afternoon, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was the fastest during the shakedown of Rally from Türkiye Thursday morning.

For once, the differences observed at the end of the short shakedown course are relatively significant. Thus, the leader of the general classification before this 10th round of the 2018 World Rally Championship season (WRC) finished 1”6 ahead of his direct opponent for the title, Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford).

The Frenchman himself has a five-tenths margin over the third man of the morning, Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). The Official Citroëns are lower in the hierarchy, with Craig Breen seventh (+6”6) and Mads Ostberg eighth (+6”6). It should be noted, however, that the two C3 WRCs did not compete in the third and final pass.

The event did not officially begin untilAndreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) had to watch his comrades from the side of the track. The Norwegian suffered transmission failure during the second pass and was even able to film the rest of the shakedown on his phone!