After a year of absence due to a pandemic, the Rally Spain returns protagonist in World Wrc for the penultimate round of the 2021 season. A key event for the world championship race, which could both award the eighth crown to Sebastien Ogier with an early rally, as well as completely reopen the games in favor of Elfyn Evans, who like last year the title would thus be played at Rally Monza.
Back to racing entirely on asphalt – the last year without a mixed bottom was 2009 – the Catalan stage is up to now smiling at Toyota’s Welshman. The first three special stages held in the morning (for a total of 56 timed kilometers) in fact allowed Evans to dig an important gap between himself and his opponents: Thierry Neuville, on Hyundai, is second at 7 ″ 9, while Sebastien Ogier he is 3rd 12 ″ 6 behind his teammate.
Not the result expected by the seven-time world champion, who has been waiting for a rally on asphalt for some time to avoid paying duty to the role of pioneer that belongs to the leader of the World Championship. “I need to find some speed“, He instead had to confess at the end of the PS3 (Riba-Roja, 14.21 km) closed 1 ″ 4 from Evans, the best of its morning.
The fresh winner of the Rally Finland built his advantage over the Frenchman during the first two laps. Ready to go, and Evans found himself leader of the race with 5 ″ 1 on Neuville and 8 ″ 1 on Ogier at the end of the 20 km of the PS1 by Vilaplana. An advantage increased by 3 ″ 1 over the seven-time world champion at the finish line PS2 of La Granadella (21.80 km), assigned for a matter of hundredths to Neuville, author (to the tenth of a second) of the same time trial as Evans.
The second passage of the day instead cost Ott dearly Tanak, author of a paid spin with 21 ″ 3 delay at the finish line; the Estonian thus slipped from fourth to sixth place in the general, overtaken by Dani Sordo and Kalle Rovanpera. At the end of SS1, Takamoto’s retirement had arrived Katsuta, who after the exploit at the Rally Safari at the end of June, retired in Estonia and Belgium and had to skip the last outing in Finland.
To close the Top-10, Adrien’s Fords Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith, and the Hyundai of the Oliver juniors Solberg and Nil Solans, the latter making his debut on a Wrc. In the afternoon the drivers will be busy repeating the first three special stages.
Rally Spain | Ranking after the PS3 – Top-10
Pos. | Pilot | Car | Time / Gap |
1 | E. EVANS | Toyota | 30: 33.7 |
2 | T. NEUVILLE | Hyundai | +7.9 |
3 | S. OGIER | Toyota | +12.6 |
4 | D. DEAF | Hyundai | +16.7 |
5 | K. ROVANPERÄ | Toyota | +25.1 |
6 | O. TÄNAK | Hyundai | +33.1 |
7 | A. FOURMAUX | Ford | +48.3 |
8 | G. GREENSMITH | Ford | +59.9 |
9 | O. SOLBERG | Hyundai | +1: 12.0 |
10 | N. SOLANS | Hyundai | +1: 30.2 |