Ogier produces his effort at Monza, Rossel solid in WRC3

For now, all is well in the best of all possible worlds Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Toyota). The French, narrowly led by their rivals Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin (Toyota) the evening before, struck a major blow during the last four special stages contested in the mountains of Lombardy this Saturday, November 20 in the morning.

The championship leaders initially regained the advantage before regaining it on the following special stage. But the second passage in the longest and most demanding stages of the Rally of Monza 2021 allowed the seven-time world champions to produce an effort that could prove decisive in the scenario of this season finale.

Indeed, Elfyn Evans, who must at all costs finish ahead of the French if he wishes to put his name on the World Cup list, lost time without making a blunder. The Welshman is 5s behind as the cars return to the Monza service park.

“The car is pleasant to drive, explains the Gapençais. I struggled a bit with his balance in this last stage, but everything is fine. The mountain stages were really beautiful here, we had a lot of fun. We will miss these cars, that's for sure! »

The battle for the last step of the podium also took an important turn from the first corners of SS9. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) who wanted to catch up with the leading Toyotas, was too offensive and hit the rail. The Belgian, fortunately, was able to continue his journey without bumpers or aerodynamic elements on the front of his i20 Coupe, but leaves his teammate Dani Sordo in third place.

Behind, the drivers were very good, except Teemu Suninen (Hyundai) who overtook Gus Greensmith (Ford) who was struggling with his brakes. The Finn, called to replace Ott Tänak (package for family reasons), continues to adapt to his new equipment and increases his pace from special to special... until a minor incident in SS11.

Finally, France is also doing very well in WRC3. Arriving in Italy as co-leader of the championship with Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda), Yohan Rossel (Citroën) gave himself a breath of fresh air. Supported by the Rookie Academy, the Saintéloc Racing representative has a 22”1 margin over the Pole.

In WRC2, the suspense was decapitated when leader Marco Bulacia (Skoda) went off the road in SS8. Registered only in the Teams classification, Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda) is ahead of Jari Huttunen (Ford), registered in both the Drivers and Teams classifications. The latter is more than a minute ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda).

This Saturday afternoon, two special stages are planned, the two passages through Sottozero at 15:09 p.m. and 17:19 p.m. They will be followed in live text on AUTOhebdo.fr.

General classification :