Thierry Neuville had everything in his hands to achieve the perfect victory and debut his record in the hybrid era of the WRC with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at his home appointment, before his public, at the Ypres Rally. However, this perfect scenario was blown up when Neuville went off track in SS15. Ott Tänak is the new leader in Belgium and although Hyundai is in a position to win again, if Elfyn Evans allows it, the Neuville fiasco leaves a very bitter taste in the team.
The evening loop started with Thierry Neuville marking ground. The Belgian managed to be the fastest in SS13 and extended his lead by 2.1 seconds over Ott Tänak, knowing that part of the work had been done. He even assumed the blow of SS14 with integrity after giving up some time with respect to his rivals. Nothing serious, but anticipation of his particular debacle. In a mishap very similar to the one Craig Breen had in the morning, Thierry Neuville went wide on a left-hander and got stuck in the gutter.
Loading tweet…
1561080631827767296
Damage to the rear axle and a puncture prevented Thierry Neuville from followingno matter how hard he tried until shortly after standing on an access road. Ott Tänak took the lead with a scratch included in SS15, running as the only trick for Hyundai to achieve its third victory this season, the same number of victories that the Estonian would have in his record. Yes indeed, the threat of Elfyn Evans is very real and after SS16 the distance between the two is 8.2 seconds. There are still four stages left and anything can happen.
For its part, Esapekka Lappi has found a podium out of nowhere, rolling precisely in ‘nowhere’, as they say, in no man’s land. More than a minute behind the leaders and with more than a minute and a half ahead of Oliver Solberg, the podium seems safe except for his own error. There may be more battle for fourth place, since Adrien Fourmaux is 14.3 seconds behind Oliver Solberg, a short distance considering that the French M-Sport driver received a 20-second penalty for being late for the SS15 time control.
Behind, little history. Takamoto Katsuta is the last survivor -in that way- and occupies sixth place, ahead of the ‘Rally2’. And not even the silver category has much crumb, since Stéphane Lefebvre has gradually gained an advantage over Andreas Mikkelsen, without the Norwegian being able to do anything against the power of the Citroën driver. Yohan Rossel closes the podium, with Grégoire Munster fourth in the category and tenth overall in the rally. For its part, Jan Cerný rides unopposed to victory in WRC3.
Qualifying after ss16 of the 57th Ypres Rally Belgium
The Ypres Rally concludes this Sunday (08:43 a.m.) with the dispute of the third stage of the test. Pilots and co-pilots will dispute 51.34 kilometers against the clock to close the event.
Photos: hyundai motorsport