Rally for the World Championship WRC in Croatia proved to be a very big challenge for most crews, which was also proved by the leader of the championship, Kalle Rovanperä, who took off from the road on the first "speed", and the trio insists on the top. Neuville, Ogier in Evans. The Frenchman is 7,7 seconds behind the Belgian, the Welshman is only three tenths of a second behind the Frenchman.
The fifth speed test is for Neuville did not start well, as the Belgian is on the 6,94-kilometer section from Ruda to Baldness missed the entrance to the hairpin and almost spun, leaving him turned off the car, so he lost some valuable time.
Nonetheless, he defended the lead, as rivals and Neuville mistakes failed to be punished. Ogier, who struggled in the morning with his settings Toyota, was 0,6 seconds slower than Belgian and thus lost a few tenths of a second compared to the leader in the rally, while third-placed Evans was behind the leader Neuville in the fifth speed test. 1,1 seconds.
He was the fastest Ott Tänak, which in the end had a second advantage over Neuville and thus secured the first stage victory in Croatia. Estonian, who did not find the right grip on the third and fourth speed tests, reduced the gap to 24,3 seconds. It's before afternoon work begins Thank you said he had no technical problems.
On the 23,76-kilometer-long sixth stage Neuville he didn’t risk unnecessarily, which he did Ogier allowed him to bite a little into the Belgian’s leadership. The current world champion was 3,5 seconds faster than Neuville and lagging behind the driver Hyundai reduced to 9,4 seconds.
Even on the seventh and eighth speed trials, the differences were minimal and so it is Neuville held a 7,7 second lead over Ogier, in the meantime, he pushed into second place Evans, which is on the eighth "Speed" lost 1,7 seconds and landed in third place again.
