Rally | There is a huge race for seconds to win the Monte Carlo World Rally – Sébastien Ogier sidelined Juha Kankkunen's achievement

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville and Toyota Sébastien Ogier are fighting a fierce battle for the victory in the Monte Carlo World Rally Championship.

Ogier took the lead for the first time in Saturday's penultimate special stage, but Neuville struck back in the final stage of the day. For the last three sprints on Sunday, the Belgian starts with a lead of 3.3 seconds.

“It doesn't get much better than the last one. It was sheer perfection from start to finish. I immediately felt that the time was right,” Neuville beamed.

“The car worked very well today. Our front car also did a good job. We kept getting better on the same page, and I got credit for that. I was able to push harder,” he added.

Ogier, who only drives selected rallies, will surely have everything on the line on Sunday, as he is already chasing his tenth home race win of his career. On Saturday, Ogier reached the milestone of 700 special tests, rising to the level of the Finnish legend Juha Kankkunen with.

“Of course it's a great thing. At least I achieved that today. However, it's just a number, even though it's a nice statistic. This weekend, however, the win is the only thing that matters to me,” said Ogier.

The third Toyota driver in the race Elfyn Evans bent from the top speed on Saturday. The difference to the top is 34.9 seconds. Fourth in the race is Hyundai Ott Tänak before the M-Sport Ford Adrien Fourmaux.

Rally With the new point system of the World Championship, Neuville is already on 18 points, but to earn them, the Frenchman still has to get through Sunday's stages. On Saturday, conditional points were given to the ten best drivers.

On Sunday, points will be awarded to the seven fastest drivers of the day and, in traditional style, to the five fastest from the Power Stage that ends the rally.

“I don't want to take too many risks. In the last section today, I have to admit, I took them, but otherwise the whole day was very much under control,” Neuville said.

“The difference is about a little, so we have to drive hard. However, we also have to be smart. We don't need all the points, but it would be great if we could keep our lead and take as many points as possible.”

Sami Pajari drives in the Rally2 class. Picture: Olivier Chassignole/AFP

Toyota's driving a brand new Rally2 car Sami Pajari hasn't quite gotten to you with their new tool. Lahtalainen is fifth in his class. Get rid of the front man To Pepe Lopez it's been a whopping three and a half minutes.

“Maybe we didn't get to test enough in dirty conditions. Sam has had a hard time with them. He does not have enough credit in difficult circumstances. This is mostly about the car's adjustments,” Toyota's team boss Jari-Matti Latvala stated.