Craig Breen continues to lead Rally New Zealand but it was Elfyn Evans who set the pace on Te Akau South as Thierry Neuville spun.
Straight after Whaanga Coast that kickstarted Friday’s loop, Te Akau South was another classic stage for the World Rally Championship’s current crop to get stuck into.
Incredibly, WRC title rivals Kalle Rovanperaä, Ott Tänak and rally leader Breen all set the exact same time on the 19.5-mile stage and were right at the sharp end of the timesheets, just 1.3 seconds off the pace set by Evans’ Toyota.
Breen therefore remains out front for M-Sport Ford, 3.3s ahead of Tänak with Evans climbing to third – 1.8s back.
“That was absolutely beautiful, breath-taking,” said Breen. “I probably didn’t commit as much as I’d like to, but I enjoyed it regardless.”
The presence of Tänak and Evans on the provisional podium signalled a poorer run on SS3 for SS2 stage winner Gus Greensmith and the returning Sébastien Ogier.
The pair are now fourth and fifth overall respectively, 6.7s and 10.5s off Breen’s event lead.
“In some places I just wasn’t quite finding the rhythm right,” Greensmith explained, “so on the second pass I just need to make the whole stage good.”
Ogier was 1.8s slower than Greensmith as he struggled for grip and found it hard to establish a rhythm – sliding from second fastest on Whaanga Coast to sixth fastest on Te Akau South. He’s 2.8s up on team-mate Rovanperä overall.
Neuville had a tricky opening stage of the day and slipped from third overnight to seventh, and things didn’t get much better on Te Akau South when he spun his Hyundai around.
Approaching a sequence of left-right-left corners with a bump on the right, the rear just got away from him and he dropped an estimated 15-20s.
“There was a bump with some water and just the rear spun around, and the engine stalled,” he said. “It was quite narrow and not easy to get around.”
Neuville wasn’t alone in making that error though as Takamoto Katsuta spun his Toyota in the same fashion at the same corner.
Oliver Solberg is 1.4s ahead of him in eighth overall, but not entirely happy.
“They’re enjoyable stages but I can’t get the flow,” he said. “It’s difficult to get into it.”
