Thierry Neuville was forced to start strong on this day to try to win the Super Sunday classification, trying to collect as many points as possible at the Sardinia Rally after yesterday’s bitter retirement and so he did.
On the last day of racing on the Italian island, the Belgian from Hyundai Motorsport won the first two special stages carried out this morning, that is, the entire first lap carried out on the Cala Flumini 1 and Sassari – Argentiera 1, signing two great performances despite being forced to open the tests by virtue of yesterday’s withdrawal.
Neuville won the 12.55 kilometer SS13 Cala Flumini 1, stopping the clock in 8’06″5 and beating teammate Ott Tanak by 4″6. In the SS14 Sassari-Argentiera 1 of 7.10 kilometers he repeated himself, always preceding the Estonian by 8 tenths of a second.
This means that he is leading Super Sunday with a margin of 5″4 over Ott Tanak, while the margin over the other drivers is much wider despite the fact that this morning’s practice is very short. By completing the task he could take home 7 points, plus those he will try to get in the Power Stage, thus making amends for yesterday’s serious mistake. Neuville currently leads Super Sunday with a 5″4 lead over Ott Tanak, 10″6 over Evans, 15″9 over Ogier. 18″6 on Sordo.
If Neuville did everything he set out to do yesterday, Ott Tanak found himself in a perhaps unexpected situation. Thanks to this morning’s double second place, the Hyundai Motorsport driver reduced his gap to Sébastien Ogier in the general classification from 17.1 last night to the current 6.6.
A difficult situation to predict, but which has become reality and now Ogier will not be able to sleep peacefully. The doubt – and it is more than legitimate – is linked to the fact that the 8-time world champion thought about saving the tires and then squeezing them in the second lap and trying to bring home the maximum points in the Power Stage. The scenario is realistic, although we will have to wait a little longer to understand how much Ogier managed.
No significant changes affected the general classification. Elfyn Evans continues to be in difficulty, considering the overall 10″6 delay he suffered in 2 races from Neuville. It is clear that he has no intention of taking risks to avoid losing the points accumulated yesterday, but if he wants to try to recover more from Neuville, he will have to give everything in the Power Stage.
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