Victim of two punctures, Sébastien Ogier, leader of the WRC World Rally Championship, is in 5th place in the Croatian Rally, 1 minute 23 seconds behind Belgian Thierry Neuville, in the lead at the end of the first day on Friday.
“We can always believe it, but the podium is far away,” noted the French driver (Toyota). Despite four scratch times out of eight specials, it was a frustrating day for the eight-time world champion, weighed down by two punctures on the second and then the eighth and final special.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), his pursuer in the World Championship standings, took the lead in this fourth round of the season with 5.7 seconds ahead of Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and 30 seconds over Estonian Ott Tänak ( M-Sport/Ford). “Elfyn is pushing behind and tomorrow will be a great day too,” Neuville said.
Things had started off perfectly for Ogier. The Frenchman took advantage of his position as opener to win the first special ahead of Neuville and Tänak. But the winner of the Monte-Carlo and Mexico rallies this season punctured at the start of the second special, then losing more than 1 minute 30 to Neuville. Kalle Rovanperä, third in the World Championship standings, had the same misfortune as Ogier, but the Finn lost more than two minutes to the Belgian.
On a dirtier and more tricky road, Neuville was also not spared by damaging the front of his Hyundai after hitting a haystack in a chicane. Without consequence, he finished in the lead after the four morning stages with 16 seconds ahead of Evans and 22 over Tänak. Despite three best times in four specials, Ogier finished this first loop in 7th place, 1 min 27 sec from Neuville.
The Frenchman started the second, pedal to the metal, winning the fifth special. Third in SS6, where the rain came on some portions, Ogier took the opportunity to gain two places (5th). But the Frenchman punctured again in the eighth and last special of the day to finish at 1 min 23 sec. Eight new specials are on the program for Saturday.
It should be noted that Rally Croatia opened with still palpable emotion, a week after the death of Irish driver Craig Breen (Hyundai), 33, during reconnaissance of this event.
