Rally of the Gods: Neuville and Ogier in a close battle for victory

Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville has been leading the Rally Greece since SS4 on Friday, but Sébastien Ogier in the Toyota remains hot on his heels.

Ex-Weltmeister Thierry Neuville führt, Reifen nur ein Routinethema

Foto: Red Bull

Neuville heads into Sunday with a 4.1-second lead after fending off fierce attacks from Ogier.

The Belgian started Saturday with a lead of 9.7 seconds. Over the four special stages in the morning, nine-time world champion Ogier closed the gap on his rival by six seconds, leaving him just 3.7 seconds behind.

With two special stages remaining in the afternoon, Ogier went against the grain and carried only one spare tyre. All the other Rally1 drivers had taken two spare tyres.

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Weltmeister Ogier durchpflügt eine Furt

Foto: XPB

However, Ogier’s decision did not bring the hoped-for speed advantage, as Neuville instead set the pace on SS12 with a commanding lead of 7.1 seconds and extended his lead to 10.8 seconds.

“That’s good,” said a delighted Neuville. “I’ve had a great day. The car ran fantastically. It was super-fast and I really enjoyed it. Nothing’s decided yet, but we’re optimistic.”

Ogier reached the checkpoint shortly after Fourmaux (Hyundai), who had been forced to stop due to a puncture and had consequently dropped from third to sixth place. He admitted, however, that he had lost almost no time in the dust kicked up by his French compatriot.

Weltmeister Sebastien Ogier liegt vor dem Finaltag auf Platz zwei

Foto: Red Bull

“It didn’t cost me much; it just bothered me a bit in a few bends – it wasn’t too bad,” commented the reigning world champion.

On Menalo Mt 2, however, the tide turned, as this time it was Ogier who made significant ground. Neuville lost over 6.7 seconds to his rival on Saturday’s final special stage, reducing his lead ahead of Sunday’s final four special stages to just 4.1 seconds.

Neuville damaged his Hyundai in one of the final bends of the day, which led to a coolant leak. However, he emphasised: “Everything’s fine.”

World Championship leader Eflyn Evans (Toyota) was hot on the heels of Josh McErlean (M-Sport Ford) in fourth place and closed the gap on the Irishman to just four seconds ahead of Saturday’s final stage.

Hyundai-Pilot Adrien Fourmaux liegt auf Platz vier

Foto: XPB

McErlean was struggling with a shock absorber problem, so he seemed to be easy prey for Evans. However, Evans was forced to stop on the special stage to change a tyre, causing him to drop from fifth to seventh place.

“These things happen,” said Evans, commenting on his misfortune. “It was completely unexpected. The puncture happened very suddenly, so I was actually on the verge of going off the road. After the puncture, I couldn’t brake for the next corner, but it all turned out fine in the end.”

McErlean, however, was unable to make up any ground, as Fourmaux edged him out of fourth place by just one second. Ahead of Fourmaux in third place is two-time winner this season Takamoto Katsuta, with a 43.6-second lead.

Toyota youngster Sami Pajari set his sights on Dani Sordo (Hyundai) on Saturday and started the afternoon 16.9 seconds behind the Spaniard, who had previously been in seventh place. Sordo extended his lead over Pajari by a further 3.7 seconds after SS12, but SS13 proved to be a stroke of bad luck for the part-time World Championship contender. On the day’s final special stage, he suffered a front-right puncture. “This isn’t our rally,” lamented Sordo.

Takamoto Katsuta in Griechenland auf Podiumskurs

Foto: Red Bull

Pajari consequently moved up to sixth place, 39.5 seconds ahead of Sordo, whilst Evans finished 4.8 seconds behind Pajari.

Martins Sesks had already lost 3.10 minutes before the afternoon’s action began, as he left the service park 19 minutes late. His Ford simply wouldn’t start.

The 26-year-old Latvian therefore finished the day in 11th place, behind the two drivers leading the WRC2 category in their Skodas, Andreas Mikkelsen and Robert Virves.

Jon Armstrong (Ford) and Oliver Solberg (Toyota) both crossed the finish line unscathed following their retirements on Friday. Armstrong had a scare at the final checkpoint when a fire briefly broke out in the left-rear section of his Ford Puma Rally1.