Thierry Neuville is in great shape and continues to prove it. A little while ago he also won Special Stage 9, the 24.40-kilometer El Montmell 1, making his first position in the general classification of the Rally of Spain 2021 even stronger.
The Belgian driver of Hyundai Motorsport stopped the clock in 12’03 “5, or 3 tenths better than his teammate Dani Sordo. This led him to win the third special of the day, the seventh of his weekend.
The most important aspect for him, however, is to have taken Elfyn Evans to 9 seconds, the only chaser this weekend. A perfect morning for the Belgian, in which he increased his margin from 7 tenths to 9 seconds.
Dani Sordo, on the other hand, thanks to the second time obtained in PS9, literally burned the disadvantage he had against Sébastien Ogier in the fight for third place in the overall standings of the event.
Sordo ate Ogier 6 seconds and now the 7-time world champion is just 3 tenths ahead of the Spaniard from Hyundai. For the Alzenau team, the third position of the Iberian would be very important to keep the Constructors’ title hopes alive up to Monza.
For Ogier, on the other hand, it would be a significant blow for the Drivers title goal already in Spain. We will see how things evolve in the afternoon: will there be Ogier’s response or will Sordo be able to overtake?
As for the other positions, an important step backwards by Gus Greensmith. The Brit was slowed down by a puncture to the left rear wheel on his Ford Fiesta which caused him to drop 2 places in the overall standings. Oliver Solberg – now seventh – and Nil Solans, who climbed eighth, took advantage of this.
As for the WRC2, Eric Camilli continues to excel at the wheel of the Citroen C3 Rally2. At 14 “8 from him is the first of the pursuers, Nikolay Gryazin, who in PS9 overtook Emil Lindholm. Mads Ostberg is trying the desperate comeback: if he fails to take at least second place – and, at the moment, he is a desperate undertaking – Andreas Mikkelsen would mathematically win the world title in the category.
The morning lap of the second day of competition at the Rally of Spain 2021 ends here. Now the drivers will be able to take advantage of the mid-day Service and choose the tires for the afternoon lap. This will start at 15:00 with the PS10, the Savallà 2 of 14.08 kilometers.
Rally of Spain 2021 – General classification after the PS9
Pos. | Pilot / navigator | Car | Time / posting |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Neuville / Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 1.31’22 “2 |
2 | Evans / Martin | Toyota Yaris WRC | +9 “0 |
3 | Ogier / Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | +32 “0 |
4 | Sordo / Carrera | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | +32 “2 |
5 | Rovanpera / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | +53 “7 |
6 | Fourmaux / Coria | Ford Fiesta WRC | + 1’26 “2 |
7 | Solberg / Drew | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | + 2’44 “4 |
8 | Solans / Martì | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | + 3’11 “0 |
9 | Greensmith / Patterson | Ford Fiesta WRC | + 3’16 “4 |
10 | Camilli / Vilmot | Citroen C3 Rally2 | + 5’51 “5 |