Tanak inherits Ypres Rally lead after team-mate Neuville crashes

Prior to the accident on the rerun of ‘Wijtschate’, which happened on a left-hander six miles into the test, Neuville was in control and comfortably ahead of 2019 World Rally champion Tanak. However, that all changed when he understeered off the road and careered into a ditch. He did manage to get going again with the help of spectators who rushed to his aid but had to park up a short time later.

Victory for Tanak is far from assured, however, as Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Elfyn Evans is breathing down his neck and pursuing a first visit to the podium’s top step in 2022. 8.2 seconds is the gap between the front two men with one day left. “Ott’s going well obviously, but it’s still close. We’re trying everything we can and we’re going to continue doing that,” said Evans.

Neuville – the overnight leader by 2.5 seconds – traded places on Saturday’s opener with Tanak, although with only a tenth separating them, the Belgian wasn’t unnecessarily worried. The same couldn’t be said for Tanak, however, as the four-wheel-drive on his i20 N Rally1 car was giving him all sorts of headaches. The next one - SS10 - was only a few cars old when it was red-flagged by organisers after Craig Breen’s Puma Rally1 washed out on a corner less than 8-miles into ‘Dikkebus’, dropped into a ditch and rolled onto its roof. Thankfully, both he and Paul Nagle walked away from the car unhurt.

That stoppage offered Tanak a brief reprieve and only delayed the inevitable: Neuville taking charge of his home event on the WRC calendar. And that he did on the morning’s penultimate stage despite the set-up of his car being “nervous”. His case for back-to-back Ypres successes was helped by Tanak’s on-going issues, and running off line at a left-hander. With this information finding its way to Neuville, he pounced and further extended his buffer to 16 seconds. “Of course, we want to fight for victory and I had to give it a go. We are getting a bit better with the car but I feel like there is some more in it – we just need to find it,” said Neuville.

Holding station in third was early event pacesetter Evans, a further 5.3 seconds adrift of Tanak. It was a scrappy morning for the Welshman as he surrendered tenths of a second at the wheel of a car he struggled to settle into a meaningful rhythm with. Less than perfect pace notes proved to be another handicap for him. “With new notes, there are always a few places you can go a bit better,” he said.

Arriving into the lunchtime service halt at the end of SS12 in fourth was Esapekka Lappi; with Breen no longer in the equation he was effectively in no-man’s land, two minutes and 40 seconds up the road from M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux and another 4.5 seconds to the good over Hyundai’s Oliver Solberg.

Fourmaux was lucky to still be at the races, a hefty straw bale coming to his rescue before SS10 was cancelled. He avoided ending up in a ditch by bouncing the rear of his car off it to stay on the road. As for Solberg, set-up tweaks at the end of Friday didn’t have the desired effect. Rather than improving the handling, these introduced loads of “crazy understeer” meaning he couldn’t “trust the front”.

M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith had been as high as fifth before an off-road moment on SS10 – ‘Dikkebus’ – forced him to stop and change a wheel. The Englishman initially thought he had got away lightly but it soon transpired the impact had bent a portion of the rear suspension on his Puma Rally1. As for Toyota Junior driver Takamoto Katsuta, he had to make do with no hybrid boost for SS9 and SS10 before it returned again.

Neuville began the repeat loop of stages in the afternoon with another stage victory. Behind him, meanwhile, it was a case of as you were, the top six unchanged at the end of the antepenultimate speed test. The event was then turned on its head in dramatic fashion as the i20 N Rally1 careered off the road. He was freed thanks to the endeavour of spectators and was able to carry on his way but, moments later, he had to park up.

That shuffled the Rally1 runners, with Solberg also benefiting from a 20 second time penalty organisers meted out to Forumaux for checking into the penultimate stage two minutes late. “There were a lot of people on the road section so we were trying to pass people but we were stopped by police,” explained fifth-placed Fourmaux. “We need to have a look if we can do something but yes, we were two minutes late.”

A depleted main field was also playing into Takamoto Katusta’s hands. As low as 21st on Friday morning, he now finds himself well inside the points scoring places in sixth despite frustrations with the hybrid system on his GR Yaris Rally1 growing.

Back at the front, Tanak ended the day in the best possible fashion, clearing the last stage 1.9 seconds quicker than Evans to carry an eight second cushion into Sunday’s four stages, which will include the now customary end-of-rally Power Stage.