Rally Greece: Neuville survives tricky afternoon to claim final scratch

By finishing third each time in special stages won by Ott Tänak (Hyundai) then Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), Neuville consolidated his lead at the top of the general classification. The Belgian pair he forms with Martijn Wydaeghe now has a 54″9 lead over Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera, still in second place despite the puncture suffered in the ninth special of the rally, which had the effect of removing a large part of the rear-right bodywork of the Hyundai i20 Rally1. The Belgian duo set the fastest time of the night superspecial, while the Spanish pair maintain a 25″ advantage over Ogier and Vincent Landais.

As feared, Grégoire Munster (M-Sport Ford) was unable to restart this afternoon and will have to wait until Sunday morning to get back on the road for Rally Greece. Elfyn Evans (Toyota) finally joined him when he rolled on the eleventh stage, at low speed. The front and roof of the Yaris Rally1 were still badly damaged, although he managed to reach the finish five minutes behind Ogier. Evans was however unable to line up on SS12. Tänak almost suffered the same fate at the same place, but managed to avoid going completely on his roof.

In the previous special, Takamoto Katsuta got through despite a spin in the first kilometers, whileAdrien fourmaux finished SS11 with a slow puncture on the rear left. The day ended with a two-kilometre superspecial on asphalt, before the cars were brought back under Parc Fermé. A 45-minute service will begin Sunday, where in addition to the 18 points promised to the leader this Saturday, another twelve points will be to be chased, crucial for the drivers' and constructors' world championships.

Finally, in WRC2, Yohan Rossel continues his comeback with two additional scratches, he is back to 27″ behind Robert Virves, himself 28″2 behind the leader Sami Pajari. Given the pace of the French driver since the start of the rally, this Sunday promises to be splendid!

Rally Greece – General after SS12

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