Thierry Neuville is fulfilling the predictions in the opening stages of the Ypres Rally and is leader of the general at the end of the first stage. After seven stages and not eight due to the cancellation of the last special for safety reasons, andBelgian Neuville manages a 7.2-second lead over Craig Breen. The Irishman is the only one at the height of the local driver, while behind him there is an interesting duel for the third place that Ott Tänak has and that the three Toyota starters are chasing. The low de Teemu Suninen confirms M-Sport debacle and Oliver Solberg’s lead in WRC2.
With six Pirelli hard compound tires as fitted ‘standard’With the exception of the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta, the second loop of the Ypres Rally left the first attack of the local hero. An offensive that started with Thierry Neuville’s scratch in SS5, special in which he surpassed by 2.1 seconds to Craig Breen. Monopolizing the first two positions in his particular ‘duel’, Neuville repeated scratch in SS6, again ahead of Breen. In this case, the difference between the two was 1.5 seconds, an income that allowed the Belgian to stretch his lead to 4 seconds compared to his Hyundai ‘compi’.
No two without three and the dynamics on the SS7 were exactly the same, with scratch from Neuville. On this occasion Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä slipped ahead of Craig Breen in the second pass through ‘Kemmelberg’ with a sufficient performance, in the case of the Finn, to assault the fourth position of the rally that until that moment was occupied by Elfyn Evans. All in all, what would be the last special of the day due to the cancellation of the SS8 it was written in the code of WRC2 with the abandonment of Teemu Suninen and Tom Kristensson, drawing the most absolute drama in M-Sport with the losses of its two pilots in the queen class and in the silver category. What’s more, Jari Huttunen also had a puncture.
The SS7 not only gave a turnaround to the general of the WRC2 category, but also served to highlight the existing dynamics in the fight for the top positions of the rally. On the one hand, Thierry Neuville and Craig Breen seem to play in another leagueAlthough the Belgian little by little has been adding seconds in his battle with the Irish, always with the aim of winning at home and getting fully into the fight for the title. Behind, the fight for third position has been compressed. Although Ott Tänak remains third, the pressure is mounting from Toyota’s drivers.
At the end of the first stage, THierry Neuville has 7.6 seconds of lead over Craig Breen. For his part, Ott Tänak closes the Hyundai triplet 31.2 seconds behind the leader. All in all, the 2019 WRC champion has seen his pursuers take over, to the point that Kalle Rovanperä is only 1.4 seconds behind Estonian. Elfyn Evans appears not much further, as the Welshman is 2.2 seconds off the podium. For his part, Sébastien Ogier remains sixth, but he is not far from third place either. Takamoto Kastuta and Pierre-Louis Loubet, seventh and eighth, yes they are in no man’s land.
The loss of Teemu Suninen has put Yohan Rossel in ninth place, beyond the French’s own leadership in the WRC3 category, in which he beats local Sébastien Bedoret by 23.6 seconds. For its part, Oliver Solberg is tenth and leader of the WRC2 class after the series of catastrophic misfortunes suffered by Teemu Suninen, Tom Kristensson and Jari Huttunen. In fact, the young Swedish driver has 2 minutes and 48 seconds to spare over his teammate Jari Huttunen and only a problem or an abandonment could prevent the Hyundai i20 N Rally from debuting with victory. Finally, Jon Armstrong continues to lead the JWRC.
Classification after SS8 of the 56th Ypres Rally
The Ypres Rally continues this Saturday (18:15) with the celebration of the second stage of the event. Drivers and co-drivers will compete 119.92 kilometers against the clock.