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Neuville takes Tour of Corsica World Rally Championship lead

Thierry Neuville took a shock World Rally Championship Tour of Corsica lead on Saturday morning after Citroen's Kris Meeke suffered engine trouble

The Belgian Hyundai driver started the day 25.8s behind Meeke, but rapid times on both of the Saturday morning stages allowed him to overturn Sebastien Ogier, who was struggling with the springs on his M-Sport Ford Fiesta, for second.

That became the net lead when Kris Meeke's engine expired after completing the Novella special stage, just before service.

Dani Sordo gave Hyundai two cars in the top three after he used the morning to get ahead of Craig Breen.

The Spaniard described SS5 as "the worst stage I have driven in my life" but his pace didn't reflected that as he held third place.

Breen suffered when he completed the whole of SS6 without an intercom, and despite the number of corners on the Corsican roads, he completed the stage only eight seconds behind the Spaniard.

Breen is the sole remaining Citroen after Stephane Lefebvre crashed out on SS5, although he could return under Rally2 tomorrow.

Toyota driver Jari-Matti Latvala cursed the brake-feel on his Toyota, the Rally Sweden winner lying 10.7s behind Craig Breen in fifth.

Hayden Paddon made sure all three Hyundais are in the top six, struggling with trusting his i20 WRC but only 14.6s behind Latvala. He was quicker than the Finn on both the morning stages.

Elfyn Evans joined Lefebvre in crashing out of the event. The Welshman went off on a quick left hander.

Also outside of the top 10 after a crash yesterday, Juho Hanninen set third and second fastest times in his Toyota Yaris WRC, leaving the 14th-placed Finn wondering what could have been after crashing out yesterday.

Ott Tanak, the second M-Sport Fiesta, is 13th and joins Hanninen well down the order as he struggles with a suspected spark plug issue on his Fiesta. He went off the road yesterday.

Andreas Mikkelsen, eighth overall, leads WRC2 in his Skoda Fabia R5, as Teemu Suninen's Fiesta trails by over a minute, second in class and 10th overall

If Stephane Sarrazin was registered for WRC2, he would be 19.9s behind the Norwegian, in his first rally in a Fabia R5. Instead, he lies ninth overall only.

LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS6:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 2h00m30.6s
2 Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 8.2s
3 Dani Sordo, M.Marti Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 45.3s
4 Craig Breen, S.Martin Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroen 56.1s
5 Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC Toyota 1m06.8s
6 Hayden Paddon, J.Kennard Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 1m21.4s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen, A.Jager Skoda Motorsport Skoda 4m35.6s
8 Stephane Sarrazin, J-J.Renucci Sarrazin Motorsport Skoda 4m55.5s
9 Teemu Suninen, M.Markkula M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 5m40.9s
10 Yohan Rossel, B.Fulcrand Citroen 7m11.0s
11 Ole-Christian Veiby, S.R.Skjaermoen Printsport Skoda 7m54.3s
12 Jeremie Toedtli, A.Paque Skoda 9m35.2s
13 Simone Tempestini, G.Bernacchini Gekon racing Citroen 9m35.6s
14 Guy Fiori, J.Tavera Skoda 10m52.0s
15 Jean-Marc Manzagol, E.Patrone Ford 11m18.7s
16 Pierre-Louis Loubet, V.Landais Ford 12m30.0s
17 Romain Dumas, P.Chiappe Porsche 12m56.3s
18 Elfyn Evans, D.Barritt M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 13m53.0s
19 Jan Kopecky, P.Dresler Skoda Motorsport Skoda 14m24.1s
20 Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 14m49.4s
21 Eamonn Boland, M.J.Morrissey Ford 17m11.3s
22 Raphael Astier, F.Vauclare Peugeot 17m21.1s
23 Nil Solans, M.A.Ibanez Ford 17m46.3s
24 Francois Delecour, D.Savignoni FIAT 17m59.3s
25 Pierre-Marc Nannucci, A.Nesta Renault 18m06.1s
26 Terry Folb, C.Guieu Ford 18m34.2s
27 Nicolas Ciamin, T.de la Haye Ford 18m54.8s
28 William Wagner, K.Parent Ford 19m38.8s
29 Emil Bergkvist, J.Sjoberg Citroen 19m39.5s
30 Robert Duggan, G.Conway Ford 20m10.8s
31 Florent Joly, G.Perier Renault 20m51.2s
32 Yannick Rossi, B.Volpei Mitsubishi 21m00.2s
33 Laurent Pellier, B.N.-Gigot Citroen 21m15.7s
34 Alain Vauthier, S.Nollet Ford 23m39.4s
35 Alberto Marchetti, M.Scalmani Ford 23m58.7s
36 Armando Pereira, R.Tutelaire Ford 24m22.5s
37 Eric Filippi, F.Mazotti Renault 24m45.3s
38 Julius Tannert, J.Heigl ADAC Sachsen Ford 25m02.5s
39 Cedric Cardi, Y.Roche Peugeot 25m16.4s
40 Dennis Radstrom, J.Johansson Ford 26m25.1s
41 Philippe Trevis, L.Freyssenet Renault 28m18.5s
42 Jean-Christophe Guibert, C.Laborderie Ford 28m56.6s
43 Eric Camilli, B.Veillas M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 29m25.5s
44 Thierry Mattei, A.Pietri Mitsubishi 29m30.2s
45 David White, P.Hall Ford 30m41.1s
46 Federico Fiorini, F.Girardi Peugeot 30m54.2s
47 Yoann Bonato, B.Boulloud Citroen 33m47.7s
48 Sebastian Careaga, C.Bustos Ford 33m51.3s
49 Florian Picchioni, T.Borel Citroen 34m21.9s
50 Juho Hanninen, K.Lindstrom Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC Toyota 34m40.5s
51 Olivier Capanaccia, F.O.Piazza Peugeot 36m03.2s
52 Dillon van Way, D.Roberts Ford 36m10.1s
53 Lukasz Pieniazek, P.Mazur TRT Peugeot WRT Peugeot 36m23.3s
54 Alain Mari, J-D.Cesari Renault 38m40.3s
55 Alain Lauzerte, P.Guerrieri Subaru 39m13.8s
56 Sebastian Schwinn, F.Griebel Mitsubishi 43m18.7s
57 Miko-Ove Niinemae, M.Valter Cueks Racing Ford 45m54.6s
58 Jakub Brzezinski, S.Marciniak Go+Cars Citroen 48m11.7s
59 Patrick Marchand, I.Barbe Peugeot 49m55.4s
60 Michel Branca, G.Forns Mitsubishi 53m34.4s
61 Richard Thiery, F.Thiery Peugeot 56m15.6s
62 Jonathan Villy, R.Villy Citroen 56m18.1s
63 Djamel Aiteur, R.Beccavin Honda 56m24.0s
64 Stephane Lefebvre, G.Moreau Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroen 57m22.8s
65 Francois Cervetti, J.Bonifet Renault 59m34.9s
66 Jean-Philippe Andre, L.Burzio Peugeot 1h23m08.2s


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