Thierry Neuville – Syndication Server

Neuville leads WRC Croatia Rally 3-way fight after Saturday twists

Thierry Neuville (above) holds the slightest of WRC Croatia Rally leads after Saturday’s enthralling, flat-out penultimate leg ended with Hyundai’s asphalt ace besting Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by just 4.9s, with Sebastien Ogier only 6.7s further back. …

After a day of multiple twists and turns – literally and metaphorically – Belgian Neuville was ecstatic to head to the overnight halt in his i20 N Rally1 holding that sub-five-second lead and provisionally scoring 18 points to boost his FIA World Rally Championship title lead over GR Yaris Rally1 driver Evans. Eight-time champ Ogier made it two Toyotas inside the top three, and is still very much in contention for his 59^th career WRC win.

The morning loop of four stages swung in Neuville’s favor thanks to his efforts in preserving his four soft-compound Pirelli P Zero tires. Evans, who’d ended Friday tied with the Belgian on overall time, conceded 4.7s to Neuville across the morning’s tests as he struggled to juggle only three softs, one hard and two wet-weather tires in the absence of forecasted rain.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans struggled with his tire choices in Saturday’s morning loop, but is still within 4.9s of rally leader Thierry Neuville. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

All three Toyota Gazoo Racing crews opted to carry four soft and two wet-weather tires for the repeated afternoon loop, while Neuville chose a more diverse package comprising two hards, two softs and two wets.

Although Toyota’s strategy initially paid off when Evans reclaimed the lead after beating Neuville by 6.7s in the light drizzle of the afternoon’s opening test, 9.77-mile Smerovisce-Grdanjcl 2, the Hyundai man responded by winning the final three all-asphalt stages in predominantly dry conditions to go back in front.

Under the new-for-2024 WRC points system, Neuville’s Saturday finish will earn him those 18 points, providing he completes Super Sunday’s final four stages. Evans will receive 15, while Ogier, who’s running only a limited WRC schedule this season, will bank 13.

“It’s not a big lead, but we had a great day,” said Neuville. “Despite a not perfect tire choice this afternoon we were capable of defending our lead. It wasn’t easy when the weather wasn’t very easy to judge. Now we need to continue attacking and have a good tire choice [on Sunday].”

Ott Tanak ended Saturday still in fourth overall, more than a minute further back in the second factory Hyundai. The Estonian was lucky to escape with nothing more than slightly a bent rear wheel when he ran wide on a left-hander and clipped a curb early in the leg.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak holds fourth, a minute out of the lead battle. Running wide and damaging a wheel didn’t help his cause. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Tanak had 19.9s in hand over Adrien Fourmaux’s fifth-placed M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. The Frenchman was again impressive in his long-shot quest for a third consecutive WRC podium, taking the fastest time on the Smerovisce-Grdanjci stage to stretch his advantage over Toyota’s third entry, Takamoto Katsuta.

Seventh-placed Andreas Mikkelsen suffered another time-consuming overshoot, but felt increasingly comfortable on asphalt aboard the third of the factory Hyundais, while Gregoire Munster gained more valuable experience in his Puma to end the day eighth overall.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Nikolay Gryazin maintains a comfortable 39.5s lead over DG Sport Competition teammate Yohan Rossel. Similar to Friday’s opening leg, the Citroen C3 duo were a notch above the competition, now led by Finn Sami Pajari, albeit 26.3s behind Rossel in the final class podium spot.

Pajari’s climb up the order comes at the expense of Spain’s Pepe Lopez, the Skoda Fabia RS driver dropping time to lose his podium place and sit fifth in the WRC2 standings behind Gus Greensmith’s similar machine.

Nikolay Gryazin maintained his WRC2 lead, heading a Citroen C3 1-2 over teammate Yohan Rossel. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Four more all-asphalt stages comprise Sunday’s finale, with up to 12 championship points still up for grabs in the overall battle. Two tests are each tackled twice for a total of 34.04 competitive miles before the finish in Croatian capital Zagreb.

WRC Croatia Rally, positions after Leg Two, SS16
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 2h09m46.0s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +4.9s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +11.6s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m15.5s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m35.4s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m14.2s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +4m00.8s
8 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m56.3s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2 leader) +7m41.4s
10 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +8m20.9s

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Neuville’s Sunday sweep secures WRC Monte Carlo Rally victory

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville opened his 2024 WRC title bid with a win on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday. The Hyundai i20 N driver (above) racked up his 20th FIA World Rally Championship victory and his second on the Monte with an …

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville opened his 2024 WRC title bid with a win on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday.

The Hyundai i20 N driver (above) racked up his 20th FIA World Rally Championship victory and his second on the Monte with an imposing performance in the French Alps, banking a perfect score of 30 points alongside co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe. The Belgian duo mastered the ice-patched mountain roads to head Toyota Gazoo Racing rival Sebastien Ogier by 16.1s at the finish.

Neuville shrugged aside early engine issues before launching an attack on Saturday, overtaking both Ogier and his Toyota teammate and early leader Elfyn Evans to storm into the lead with a slender 3.3s advantage at the end of the leg. A clean sweep of fastest times in Sunday’s three-stage finale cemented his position ahead of nine-time Monte Carlo winner Ogier.

Thierry Neuville kept up the pressure on Sunday’s final leg to secure his second Monte Carlo Rally win.

“I don’t have the words, to be honest,” said Neuville after finishing the final stage on the iconic Col de Turini. “It was just so great this weekend — I felt so comfortable in the car.

“The whole team was doing an amazing job and I think the whole package was working really well,” he added. “There are always things to improve, so of course we need to continue working, but we are very happy to win this rally.”

Ogier, who’s running only a limited WRC schedule this season, led for a single stage on Saturday afternoon, but the Frenchman could not hold off Neuville despite his best efforts.

“It’s been a nice battle with Thierry,” said eight-time WRC champ Ogier. “Well done to him, he’s been really fast this weekend.”

Sebastien Ogier enjoyed the battle with Thierry Neuville, but fell short of a 10th Monte Carlo Rally win. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Evans held the upper hand after Friday’s opening leg, but time ebbed away from him on Saturday, not helped by a hybrid unit problem on his GR Yaris Rally1. He eventually finished 29.1s behind his teammate, Ogier.

Ott Tanak, returning to Hyundai after a season with M-Sport Ford, placed fourth on his first rally back with the German-based squad. Mystery engine problems hindered the 2019 WRC champ throughout the rally, although a stage win for the Estonian on Saturday morning confirmed his potential with the i20 N Rally1 in 2024 guise.

Adrien Fourmaux equaled his career-best WRC result by finishing fifth overall in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. Behind him was Hyundai debutant Andreas Mikkelsen, with Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta almost three minutes further back in seventh after sliding off the road on Friday.

Adrien Fourmaux matched his best WRC finish with a fifth place for M-Sport Ford. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel stormed past Pepe Lopez and Nikolay Gryazin on Sunday’s short leg to claim back-to-back Monte Carlo Rally class wins.

Starting Sunday’s final leg 6.9s behind fellow Citroen C3 driver Gryazin, Rossel clawed back 3.9s from the Bulgarian in frosty conditions on the opening stage, matching Lopez’s time.

With the bit between his teeth, Rossel continued his charge, outpacing Lopez’s Skoda Fabia RS by 5.8s and Gryazin by 8.6s on the penultimate stage. That propelled the 28-year-old Frenchman to within two tenths of a second behind Lopez going into the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage, and also relegated Gryazin to third.

Maintaining his momentum, Rossel completed a clean sweep of stage wins to claim victory by 4.0s over Lopez, despite having worn out his car’s tires.

“It’s crazy; it’s an incredible feeling,” said an elated Rossel.

Yohan Rossel pulled out all the stops on Sunday’s final leg to grab a WRC2 class win. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Round two of the WRC takes place on the snow and ice of Rally Sweden. The series’ only pure winter rally, based in Umea on Feb. 15-18, is one of the fastest events of the season.

WRC Monte Carlo Rally, final positions after Leg Three, SS17
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3h09m30.9s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +16.1s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +45.2s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m59.8s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m36.9s
6 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m34.6s
7 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +8m28.5s
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 winner) +10m29.8s
9 Pepe Lopez/David Vazquez (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +10m33.8s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +10m45.2s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 1 round
1 Neuville 30 points
2 Ogier 24
3 Evans 21
4 Tanak 15
5 Fourmaux 11

Neuville holds off Ogier for slender WRC Acropolis Rally lead

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (above) kept a charging Sebastien Ogier at bay to lead WRC Acropolis Rally Greece after Friday’s opening leg, the Belgian overcoming a late technical drama in the process. Just 2.8s separated Neuville from Toyota Gazoo …

Just 2.8s separated Neuville from Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Ogier after the first full day of competition at the legendary Acropolis’s 70th edition. And despite winning just one of the five grueling gravel road tests that made up Friday’s 63.37 competitive miles, he led the day from start to finish.

The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver passed overnight leader Kalle Rovanpera, who’d set the pace on Thursday evening’s rally-opening, 0.92-mile super special stage in Athens, by going fastest through Friday morning’s Loutraki opener. Pushing on, Neuville had pulled out a 7.4s buffer over Ogier’s GR Yaris Rally1 going into the day’s final stage in Elatia, but his hard work was very nearly in vain as a mechanical problem, suspected to be transmission related, hampered him throughout the 17.6-mile blast.

“The rear diff was slipping all the time and I couldn’t go on full-throttle for first, second and third gear,” Neuville explained. “I was constantly losing time and I couldn’t rotate the car on throttle, so I was struggling a lot.

“It was stressful, also because it was a challenging stage. From the first kilometer I could hear the noise from the rear diff and I was worried that I couldn’t go to the end, but we managed.”

Ogier, who’s running a limited schedule in 2023 and is back in action for the first time since June, was poised to steal the lead late, but could only claw back 5.0s after low-hanging tree branches removed his Yaris’s rear wing. The eight-time WRC champ believes tire strategy will be key in Saturday’s punishing leg, which boasts almost 90 miles of competition.

“I felt that my rear wing was missing, but I had no idea why,” he recalled. “It’s going to be a bit like this all weekend — what the tire differences are between us — but it’s a big day tomorrow.”

Sebastien Ogier (above, rear wing still intact…) closed to within 2.8s of rally leader Thierry Neuville. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

GR Yaris Rally 1 driver Rovanpera earned one stage win as the rally threaded up the country following Thursday’s spectacular start in Greece’s capital city. Opening the road, the reigning WRC champ and 2023 points leader was hindered by loose stones as the surface dried after torrential rains in the days leading up to the event and trailed teammate Ogier by 25.5s at the end of Friday.

Just 5.5s behind was Elfyn Evans, who struggled to make an impact despite this rally being crucial in his bid to hunt down teammate Rovanpera in the championship points battle. A slow puncture in the morning’s first stage caused the Welshman minor time loss and he, like teammate Ogier, also lost his Yaris’s rear wing in the final stage.

Evans leapfrogged Esapekka Lappi in the Elatia closer to hold fourth overall by just 1.1s after the Hyundai driver was forced to err on the side of caution after nursing a water leak for much of the afternoon.

A stall in the final stage saw Hyundai’s other entry, Dani Sordo, slip from fifth to seventh on the leaderbaord, but the Spaniard’s frustrations were nothing compared with those of Ott Tanak, who sat ninth overall in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.

Tanak checked out of the mid-leg tire fitting zone 22 minutes late after repairing a technical fault and incurred a 3m40s time penalty as a result. Although coy on the details, he believed the issue was similar to the one which ruled out his M-Sport Ford teammate, Pierre-Louis Loubet, who retired before the day’s first stage citing “temperature issues.” But there were at least some positives the Estonian could take from the day, as he won two special stages in his Puma.

M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak has the speed, but a tech issue has put him out of contention.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel stormed to the front of the class field after rival Adrien Fourmaux suffered heartbreak late in the leg.

Fourmaux, who drives a Ford Fiesta Mk2 for M-Sport Ford, was undoubtedly the star performer on what proved to be a testing day for several of the WRC2 category’s regular front-runners.

His consistency appeared to be paying off as he carried an eight-second lead into the penultimate stage, but a pesky rock on the start line dealt the Frenchman front-left tire damage and his advantage was sliced to just 0.9s.

Worse was to come on the Elatia finale, however, in the form of another puncture. Fourmaux and Alex Coria opted to perform a mid-stage wheel change, dropping almost two minutes and handing the class lead to compatriot Yohan Rossel.

Rossel didn’t win any stages aboard his Citroen C3 Rally2, but headed Skoda Fabia RS driver Gus Greensmith by 6.8s at the overnight halt.

Adrien Fourmaux was WRC2’s star of the day until a pair of late punctures.

WRC Acropolis Rally Greece, leading positions after Day One, SS6
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 55m10.4s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2.8s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +25.5s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +31.0s
5 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +32.1s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +41.7s
7 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +48.6s
8 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2, non-points) +3m16.7s
9 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m34.5s
10 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 leader) +3m46.3s

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WRC Rally Sardinia: Neuville seizes lead after chaotic Saturday

Thierry Neuville sits on the brink of his first FIA World Rally Championship win of 2023 having taken control of Rally Sardinia on a thrilling and chaotic Saturday which saw eight-time WRC champ Sebastien Ogier crash out of the lead. Neuville …

Neuville (above) had trailed Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Ogier and his Hyundai Motorsports teammate Esapekka Lappi in third place since the start of the all-gravel, sixth round of the WRC season – but a heavy downpour in the day’s penultimate Erula-Tula stage caused utter chaos and turned the rally on its head.

Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Ogier, hunting down a record fifth Italian win, entered the stage clinging onto a slender overall lead. However, the Frenchman’s fortunes took a dramatic downturn when he understeered off the road, veering down an embankment less than a mile after the start.

Second-placed Lappi reduced his pace a little upon seeing Ogier’s stricken car, inadvertently dropping more than a half minute to teammate Neuville’s Hyundai i20 N Rally1.

Neuville had started ahead of the lead pair and was unaware of the drama unfolding behind him on the road, but climbed from third to first overall as a result of Ogier’s exit and Lappi easing off. After setting fastest time on the day’s final stage, the Belgian now heads a Hyundai 1-2 by 36.4s going into Sunday’s four-stage finale.

“I am relieved to be at the finish,” admitted Neuville, who has not won a rally since Japan last November. “It was a tough day out there, but the feeling was getting better and better with the car. We learned a lot, that’s important, but it’s still not always perfect yet and we can still improve.

“Tomorrow is a short but tricky day,” he added. “We need to have a clever drive through and try to bring home the 1-2 for the team.”

Reigning WRC champ and current points leader Kalle Rovanpera was elevated to third at Toyota teammate Ogier’s expense, although the Finn is unlikely to be able to trouble the front-running pair on outright pace. He trailed Lappi by 1m14.3s at the end of the leg after being hampered by excessive tire wear in the afternoon.

Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera sits in third, but too far back to trouble the lead Hyundais. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Perseverance paid off for Elfyn Evans, whose day was filled with setbacks. The Welshman’s GR Yaris sustained radiator damage in a water crossing on the third stage of the morning loop and he leaked almost three minutes limping back to service.

History threatened to repeat itself later in the day when Evans’ car momentarily lost power while negotiating another water splash. But the misfire cleared itself shortly afterward and he reached the finish, albeit almost four minutes behind teammate Rovanpera in fourth overall.

Ott Tanak and Takamoto Katsuta were not as lucky, with both suffering water-induced retirements. A faulty electrical sensor was to blame for M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 man Tanak’s exit, while Katsuta bowed out with radiator damage on his GR Yaris.

Their respective mishaps enabled Dani Sordo, recovering from a Friday morning roll, to climb to fifth overall in his Hyundai.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, just four stages stand between Adrien Fourmaux and his first win in the class.

The Frenchman, driving an M-Sport-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2, overtook overnight WRC2 leader Sami Pajari in the second stage of the morning and maintained his lead throughout the rest of the day, reaching Olbia’s end-of-leg halt with a 25.7s buffer despite nursing a minor technical issue through the final test.

“It’s been a very challenging day for us and for the car — so I am happy to be here,” Fourmaux said.

M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux is closing in on a first WRC2 class win. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

With Pajari ruled out by rear-suspension damage sustained in a collision with a roadside rock, Skoda Fabia RS pilot Andreas Mikkelsen was Fourmaux’s nearest challenger. Only 0.1s back from the lead at one point in the morning, the two-time WRC2 champ was ultimately repelled by the Frenchman in Saturday afternoon’s wet weather conditions.

Teemu Suninen languished in seventh on Friday night, but an impressive comeback drive by the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 driver saw him climb to third in the category.

Expect more rain for Sunday’s short, sharp final leg, which consists of two passes through Arzachena-Braniatogghiu (9.46 miles) and Sardegna (4.84 miles) for a total of 28.6 competitive miles. The second pass through Sardegna is the bonus points-paying, rally-closing Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Italy Sardinia, leading positions after Day Two, SS15
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 3h10m36.9s
2 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +36.4s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m50.7s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5m36.5s
5 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) + 6m27.9s
6 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta MkII – WRC2 leader) +8m11.7s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m37.4s
8 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N – WRC2) +10m46.4s
9 Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hamalainen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +11m08.3s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +11m40.5s

Consistent Neuville leads tricky Friday on WRC Rally Croatia

Thierry Neuville led throughout Friday’s treacherous opening leg of WRC Rally Croatia, despite only winning one stage of the all-asphalt event. It was the Hyundai driver’s consistency which ultimately came to the fore as the roads in the hills west …

Thierry Neuville led throughout Friday’s treacherous opening leg of WRC Rally Croatia, despite only winning one stage of the all-asphalt event.

It was the Hyundai driver’s consistency which ultimately came to the fore as the roads in the hills west of capital city Zagreb tested the mettle of the FIA World Rally Championship’s leading crews. Running a special paint scheme on his i20 N Rally1 (above) to commemorate his teammate, Ireland’s Craig Breen, who died in a pre-event testing crash last week, Neuville ended the grueling day just 5.7s clear of second-placed challenger Elfyn Evans’ Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.

Neuville was unhappy with his car’s morning setup, but took the lead after the day’s second stage when Sebastien Ogier, winner of the day’s opener, dropped over one and a half minutes carrying out a mid-stage wheel change on his GR Yaris.

The Belgian remained at the helm throughout the afternoon, although Evans cut his advantage by more than half as scattered rain clouds loomed over the stages. Both drivers stuck to a mixed combination of hard and soft compound Pirelli tires, which proved to be the optimum choice.

“We’ve done a decent job, but it hasn’t been easy at all,” Neuville admitted after the leg’s eighth and final stage. “It was a bit better at the end of the day and I am really happy that we had a bit more fun in the car this afternoon. Hopefully we can finish in first place at the end — that would be a great achievement for the team and for us.”

One driver for whom tire gambles did not pay off was Ott Tanak. The Estonian bolted wet-weather rubber onto his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 for the second run through the Stojdraga-Hartje test, but conditions remained mostly dry and he fell behind Esapekka Lappi’s Hyundai after dropping 17.0s.

Tanak responded in the penultimate stage by besting Lappi to reclaim third overall, reaching the overnight halt 3.4s clear of his Finnish rival and 24.3s adrift of second-placed Evans.

Despite his wet-weather tire gamble backfiring, Ott Tanak fought back to an overnight third. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Ogier, meanwhile, valiantly fought his way back up to fifth, 50.3s in arrears of Lappi. The eight-time champ came to Croatia as the WRC points leader, despite running only a limited program of rallies in 2023, but will be hard-pressed to stay there if Neuville continues at the sharp end and comes away with a significant haul of points.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta overtook M-Sport Ford driver Pierre-Louis Loubet in the final stage to grab sixth, while reigning WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera languished in eighth overall. The GR Yaris driver won last year’s Rally Croatia, but currently trails the front-runners by more than two minutes after he, too, stopped to change a wheel at the same location as teammate Ogier.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel left his opponents floundering to build a convincing lead over Nikolay Gryazin.

Rossel, who’s running his first event since January’s season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, announced his return to the series by punching in a trio of fastest stage times aboard his Citroen C3.

The car received a number of technical upgrades ahead of Rally Croatia and those tweaks seem to be suiting the Frenchman. He cleared the day without errors and carried a sizeable 29.9s advantage over Gryazin’s Skoda Fabia RS at the end of the leg.

“It has not been easy, but it’s been a good day for us,” said Rossel, who held second in the WRC2 points before the rally. “We will see how it goes tomorrow.”

Yohan Rossel took Citroen’s upgraded C3 to a comfortable early WRC2 lead. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Saturday’s second leg follows a similar format to Friday’s opener, with four stages, driven morning and afternoon, adding up to 72.45 competitive miles

WRC Rally Croatia, leading positions after Day One, SS8
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 1h16m02.4s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5.7s
3 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +30.0s
4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +33.4s
5 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m23.7s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m52.1s
7 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicola Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +1m52.9s
8 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m40.3s
9 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 leader) +3m20.0s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m49.9s