British Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Elfyn Evans took control of the tricky tarmac stage earlier in the day when Thierry Neuville, who had led by 5.7sec on Friday afternoon, crashed and retired in the second stage, and is the leader in the Croatian Rally.
The Hyundai i20 N’s neuville it left the line and crashed into a concrete block, causing extensive damage to the tires and suspension components. His retirement gave Evans a commanding lead of 22.6 seconds midway through the day.
The dynamic changed when Ott Tanak He turned up the heat after the service in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and cut Evans’ lead in half with two stages to go. However, the Estonian suffered a technical failure which cost him valuable time late in the day and he finished 25.4sec off the lead.
A victory of EvansIf he can avoid Tänak, it will be his first since the 2021 Sect Rally Finland more than 18 months ago. “If Ott is in trouble, I wouldn’t wish it on him,” said the Welshman. “It’s not nice to take advantage of a gap like that, but hey, there’s a long way to go.”
Esapekka Lappi he took his Hyundai to third overall despite lacking confidence on some of the gravel stages. A half-spin in SS13 didn’t help matters, though the Finn pushed harder in the afternoon and was half a minute behind Tänak by the end of the test.
Sebastien Ogier He started off on the wrong foot after being handed a one-minute penalty for a safety violation on Friday afternoon. He was given an additional 10-second penalty after a technical problem delayed him on the liaison stage in today’s opening stage.
But the Yaris driver, who won it in 2021, rose from seventh to fourth overall after setting the three fastest stage times. Behind him were teammates Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta, both of whom overtook Pierre-Louis Loubet who struggled to find traction on the hard compound tires.
Sunday’s final day north of Zagreb features the widest roads of the weekend. The first Trakošćan – Vrbno (13.15 km) starts near a 13th century castle on the edge of the lake in the middle of spectacular scenery, followed by Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec (14.09 km). Both will be run twice, bringing the day’s total to 54.48km.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
