Jon Armstrong is the latest driver to be caught out by Croatia Rally’s variable grip, clattering into a concrete kerb and retiring from stage four.
M-Sport had gone for an alternative tire strategy that favored soft tires over the hards. That choice had paid dividends, with Armstrong only 0.1s off the pace on SS3 and fastest on the splits in SS2 until a puncture cost him half a minute.
But Armstrong’s hopes of reaching the podium places again – having been third after the opening test – were ended by understeering on a fast left-hander. He grabbed the handbrake to force rotation but this put the right-rear into a concrete kerb, sustaining a 4G impact and sending him further off the road, which triggered two right-side punctures.
Out of spare tires after his earlier issue on stage two, Armstrong was forced to retire on the spot.
Sami Pajari’s won the final stage of Croatia’s Friday morning loop to extend his lead to 8.4 seconds, with Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta taking second place at the expense of Thierry Neuville on the Učka test.
While Neuville is only 0.3s behind Katsuta in the battle for second, he did not sound confident of his chances to claim the position back.
“Those stages are a real struggle for me,” said Neuville. “I don’t get it. [My car is] understeering like hell. On the uphill the rear diff is spinning so I never get the rotation to get corner exit.”
With Armstrong out along with the earlier retirements of Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg, Hayden Paddon has now been promoted to fourth place overall, 9.4s up on Josh McErlean.
Neuville is leading Hyundai's charge but is struggling with his car setup
M-Sport’s sole remaining Ford Puma Rally1 backed off on stage four after passing the stranded Armstrong.
It’s quite satisfying to get through the loop,” said McErlean. “It’s a big shame to see Jon stopped, he’s been doing a terrific job. But after we saw that, I thought we’d manage it back to service because we’re on the same tire package and at that point you start to doubt things.”
Adrien Fourmaux has climbed back to seventh place after his stage two puncture that set him back almost a minute and a half. He has 38.2s still to find against McErlean to climb to sixth place; with only one spare in his tire selection, he had to be careful not to suffer a second deflation on the rest of the morning loop.
