Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville’s epic fight at the front of Rally Turkey continues, with Ogier’s Toyota edging Neuville’s Hyundai by 1.3 seconds on SS4.
After the mammoth 19-mile test that kickstarted the day, the 5.43-mile Datça stage was a welcome reprieve for the drivers but the intensity of the competition very much remained.
Ogier began the stage 1.7s up on Neuville, and near enough doubled his advantage with his fastest stage time to lead World Rally Championship title rival Neuville by 3s at one-third distance of Rally Turkey.
“To be honest it was not a good stage for me,” said Neuville, who took five hard compound tires, while Ogier carried one medium and four hards.
“I still try to find the traction, the rear is very loose in these conditions and obviously he had the softer tire which was better for this stage.”
Ogier commented: “It’s always a difficult stage here, very sandy, very loose but a clean run for me.”
Elfyn Evans holds an anonymous third place, now 11.7s behind Ogier overall with an SS4 time that was 2.1s slower than his pacesetting team-mate.
Overnight leader Sébastien Loeb is fourth, 9s behind Evans but falling into the clutches of Kalle Rovanperä – who lurks just 3.5s in arrears. Ominously, Rovanperä was 1.7s quicker on SS4.
“I tried to push in the stage,” Loeb said. “We made a mistake with the tire choice in the morning, now we have two spares also.
“I think I did a good stage but I cannot do much better.”
Teemu Suninen continues to occupy a lonely sixth, both on the stage and in the rally; quicker than those behind him but not on terms with those ahead. But his pace advantage over his M-Sport team-mates leaves him looking safe from an attack.
Photo: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Gus Greensmith wasn’t happy after SS3 but made some changed before the start of SS4, which he confirmed had made a positive difference.
“The car feels a lot more controllable and I can push a bit more,” he said, going 0.6s quicker than team-mate Esapekka Lappi.
Seventh placed Lappi also made changes to his Fiesta WRC but, in polarizing fortunes to eighth placed Greensmith, they had an adverse effect.
“I made some changes but it went the wrong way, when it’s clean it’s OK but we struggle with big understeer when it’s loose,” Lappi said.
“It’s hard to feel confident. I made the suspension softer but it went wrong way.”
Pierre-Louis Loubet is doing all he needs to, as he continues to learn the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.
The 23-year-old is ninth and 33s down on Greensmith but comfortably ahead of Škoda Fabia Evo driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the WRC3 class leader having moved ahead of M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux – who leads WRC2 in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 – in the overall classification.
World Rally Champion Ott Tänak does not feature on the leaderboard after retiring on Saturday morning’s first stage with a steering issue aboard his Hyundai.
SS4 times
1 Ogier (Toyota) 6m53.9s
2 Neuville (Hyundai) +1.3s
3 Evans (Toyota) +2.1s
4 Rovanperä (Toyota) +2.2s
5 Loeb (Hyundai) +3.9s
6 Suninen (M-Sport Ford) +11.8s
Leading positions after SS4
1 Ogier (Toyota) 50m40.3s
2 Neuville (Hyundai) +3s
3 Evans (Toyota) +11.7s
4 Loeb (Hyundai) +20.7s
5 Rovanperä (Toyota) +24.2s
6 Suninen (M-Sport Ford) +45.4s
7 Lappi (M-Sport Ford) +1m14.7s
8 Greensmith (M-Sport Ford) +1m31.9s
9 Loubet (2C Competition Hyundai) +2m04.9s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Škoda) +3m10.6s
