Neuville takes charge in Türkiye

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) a attendu la dernière spéciale de la première étape pour prendre les commandes du Rally from Türkiye. With in particular a new scratch in Ula (SS6), the championship leader is now ahead Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) qui pointe à seulement 3 dixièmes du Belge. Le quintuple champion WRC made the difference in Cetibeli (SS5) by reducing a good part of his delay.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) fell to 3rd position but the Norwegian remained in contact with the title contenders, running less than 3 seconds from the lead of the race.

Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) s’est hissé au 4e rang, tandis que le Top 5 est complété par son coéquipier Ott Tänak who took the advantage over Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) on the last course. The New Zealander remains 3 seconds behind the Estonian but he is also threatened by Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) who is only a second behind.

The second pass was catastrophic for the Citroën drivers. At the forefront this morning, Mads Ostberg and Craig Breen were both victims of the rough stages of the Rally of Turkey. The Norwegian retired like Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) in SS6, damaging his suspension, while the Irishman suffered several punctures. The latter finds himself in 8th place, trailing only Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) among the WRCs.

WRC standings after SS7 –
1. Neuville 1h 52m 28.2sec
2. Ogier +0.3sec
3. Mikkelsen +2.6sec
4. Latvala +16.3sec
5. Tänak +31.9sec
6. Paddon +35.1sec #WRC

— WRC (@OfficialWRC) September 14, 2018

WRC 2 also saw some upsets as Skoda drivers Jan Kopecky and Pontus Tidemand both suffered punctures on SS5. The Czech was nevertheless able to regain control of the category by ahead of Chris Ingram (Skoda), but the Swede stopped on the last course.

WRC 2 standings after SS7 –
1. Kopecký 2h 02m 53.8sec
2. Ingram +16.3sec
3. Tempestini +2m 37.9sec
4. Kajetanowicz +3m 28.5sec
5. Heller +5m 02.1sec
6. Cukurova +7m 04.3sec #WRC

— WRC (@OfficialWRC) September 14, 2018

The second stage of the Rally Turkey will begin this Saturday from 7:35 a.m. with the 34,24km of Yesilbelde.