Thierry Neuville has displaced Hyundai team-mate Craig Breen on the provisional Arctic Rally Finland podium as rally leader Ott Tänak recorded yet another stage win on SS6.
The Mustalampi stage had been bossed by Hyundai in the morning, but Kalle Rovanperä’s Toyota was well and truly mix on the repeat pass.
It was still Hyundai that ultimately prospered however with Tänak and Neuville setting the pace; Tänak edging Neuville by a mere 0.2 seconds.
However the third Hyundai of Breen struggled to just the sixth-fastest time as he “lost all the studs at the end”.
“I really tried,” he said, “but I completely killed the front tires.” Breen has now dropped behind Neuville to fourth, 7.9s behind the podium and 10.8s ahead of fifth-placed Toyota driver Elfyn Evans.
Neuville was happy with his time, but unsure if he’d abused his tires too much: “Maybe I did a little bit too much with the tires, we have to have a look now for the next stages.
“I felt them go suddenly and we didn’t have this in the testing.”
Rovanperä dropped 1.4s to Tänak to trail by 25s overall, occupying a 9.9s cushion over Neuville behind. But perhaps most importantly, the 20-year-old was happier with the handling of his Yaris WRC after struggling with it in the morning.
The intriguing fight between World Rally Car debutant Oliver Solberg and seven-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier has continued into Saturday, and it’s the inexperienced Solberg that prevailed.
Solberg occupies sixth place but had been getting reeled in from Ogier in the morning. However he is now 7.9s up the road after beating the Toyota man by 5s on SS6.
Ogier did at least move up to seventh spot however as team-mate Takamoto Katsuta was briefly stuck in a snowbank and fell to eighth.
Photo: McKlein Image Database
“I tried but I’m afraid like often, second loop it should improve because there’s a lot of loose,” said Ogier.
“But also I struggle with tires, my tires were quite destroyed at the end. I think it’s going to be a tricky loop with tires,” he continued, echoing Neuville’s thoughts.
Solberg added: “It’s the most difficult I’ve ever done in my life. It’s sideways – everywhere! Snowbank into snowbank.”
Katsuta’s misdemeanour dropped him to 3.9s behind Ogier, with M-Sport’s Teemu Suninen just 7.6s back in ninth after a stronger run that had him going fourth quickest on the stage.
Gus Greensmith’s yo-yoing confidence showed no signs of improvement on Saturday afternoon after he bemoaned the handling of his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC with a second spare tire in the trunk. The Briton took just one on the morning loop, and said he was having lots of “big moments” randomly.
“The car is lethal to drive, it’s absolutely s****,” he grumbled.
Photo: M-Sport World Rally Team
He remains an isolated 10th, 52.2s behind his team-mate.
2C Competition Hyundai driver Pierre-Louis Loubet ran into trouble when he drifted wide on a sweeping left-hander early in the stage, nudging the rear-right of his i20 Coupe WRC into a snowbank which sucked the front round into it.
Loubet drove away from the scene but was slow thereafter, even being passed by Janne Tuohino’s Fiesta WRC on the stage. However, the Corsican was unsure as to what exactly the issue with his car was.
“I don’t know we have like no engine, we are on road mode,” he said.
SS6 times
1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai) 13m57.3s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai) +0.2s
3 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota) +1.4s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (M-Sport Ford) +11.2s
5 Oliver Solberg/Seb Marshall (Hyundai) +11.4s
6 Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Hyundai) +13.9s
Leading positions after SS6
1 Tänak/Järveoja (Hyundai) 1h21m25.3s
2 Rovanperä/Halttunen (Toyota) +25.0s
3 Neuville/Wydaeghe (Hyundai) +34.9s
4 Breen/Nagle (Hyundai) +42.8s
5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota) +53.6s
6 Solberg/Marshall (Hyundai) +1m02.7s
7 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Toyota) +1m10.6s
8 Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barritt (Toyota) + 1m14.5s
9 Suninen/Markkula (M-Sport Ford) +1m22.1s
10 Gus Greensmith/Elliott Edmondson (M-Sport Ford) +2m14.3s
