Thierry Neuville isn't up for it and has decided to change pace to get back into the fight for success at the 92nd edition of the Rallye Monte-Carlo.
The Hyundai Motorsport driver, after winning the first special stage of today's afternoon lap, repeated himself in Special Stage 7, the Champcella / Saint-Clément 2 of 17.87 kilometers, signing the third scratch of his race.
An important result for Neuville, because thanks to this special victory he nibbled away 3 and a half seconds on Sébastien Ogier and 4″6 on Elfyn Evans, the two drivers who precede him in the general classification of the Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Neuville is now 8″6 behind Ogier and 17″3 behind Evans. The spin he took this morning on the Champcella / Saint-Clément, in the first lap, weighs heavily, but Hyundai also pays for the reliability problems he had between last night and this morning.
Meanwhile, if Neuville approaches the Toyotas, Sébastien Ogier continues to do the same with his teammate Elfyn Evans. Ogier is 8″6 from the top of the general classification which continues to be in the hands of the Welshman.
All the other positions are already starting to crystallize, with Ott Tanak fourth but almost 50 seconds away from the podium. Behind him, in fifth place, is Adrien Fourmaux, 21 seconds behind him. Andreas Mikkelsen and Gregoire Munster are sixth and seventh respectively, but half a minute behind.
However, the succession of emotions continues regarding the WRC2. Pepe Lopez regained the lead in the category standings by winning the race and now has an advantage of 4″3 over Nikolay Gryazin and 6″2 over Yohan Rossel, the two official Citroen Racing drivers. Sami Pajari continues to occupy fourth place at the wheel of the first Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, but is almost a minute and a half behind.
#WRC #Rallye #MonteCarlo #SS7 #Neuville #pushes #repeats
