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WRC Spain: Neuville snatches slender lead from Ogier on Friday morning

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville ended the opening morning of Rally Spain with a slender 0.5 second lead over Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier after a hotly-contested quartet of asphalt stages.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

McKlein / Motorsport Images

Neuville snatched the rally lead from eight-time world champion Ogier after winning the fourth and final test of the morning loop.

The Belgian became the third leader across the four stages following a bright start from newly-crowned world champion Kalle Rovanpera, who won the opening two tests.

Toyota ace Rovanpera ended the the loop in third, 4.2s adrift of Neuville, while the defending Rally Spain winner's Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak was fourth, a further 1.8s in arrears.

The top 10 was completed by Elfyn Evans (Toyota), Hyundai’s Dani Sordo, Takamoto Katsuta in the fourth Toyota and a trio of M-Sport Fords headed by Craig Breen, followed by the returning Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith.

Overnight rain presented damp stages to kick off the the morning loop, which began with two brand new tests. The damp conditions, coupled with cuts, ensured road conditions would become increasingly worse as mud was dragged onto the sinuous asphalt roads.

That handed the advantage to new champion Rovanpera as he made the most of his road position to win the first stage by 1.2s from Neuville. Rovanpera admitted it was not a “perfect stage”, but it was enough to take the initiative as his rivals battled the worsening road conditions.

Tanak was third fastest, 0.3s behind Neuville, but the Estonian was struggling for rhythm. Ogier was only a tenth back in fourth ahead of Evans, Sordo and lead M-Sport Puma runner Breen.

Rovanpera struck again in Stage 2, held in similar conditions. The Finn marched to another stage win as he pipped Neuville by 2.1s, with Evans 0.9s further back. Ogier remained in contention just a tenth adrift of Evans, however Tanak lost 7.3s in the test after suffering a problem with his his i20 N's hybrid unit.

Sebastien Ogier, Benjamin Veillas, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Sebastien Ogier, Benjamin Veillas, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

The dirtier roads and later road position hampered the M-Sport runners as Breen, Loubet, Greensmith and Fourmaux dropped away from the lead group.

Rovanpera’s perfect start came to end on the drier Stage 3, when an inspired Ogier clocked the fastest time to not only win the stage - the longest of the morning - but also move into the rally lead.

The Frenchman was 3.3s quicker than Neuville, who moved to second overall, while Rovanpera battled understeer and dropped to third after setting the fourth-quickest time, some 8.2s adrift of the pace.

"This one was a bit trickier compared to the first two,” said Rovanpera. “I felt I didn't have so much grip in the beginning and at the end I was having some understeer.

“I think in the middle we did okay, but we were definitely losing a bit at the beginning and the end."

Rovanpera wasn’t the only driver struggling, as Breen lamented his pacenotes made during the recce as he dropped another 22.9s.

"I may as well have stayed at home in there,” said the Irishman. “My notes are so, so slow. I've never done this rally in the dry. I've just made [my pacenotes] so slow and we're paying the price.”

M-Sport team-mate Pierre-Louis Loubet also lost valuable time when his front-left tyre came adrift from the Puma’s rim, which cost the Frenchman 49.4s and dropped him from ninth to 11th overall.

Craig Breen, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team

Craig Breen, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team

Photo by: M-Sport

The rally lead changed for a third time on the final stage of the loop, as Neuville pipped Tanak by 1.8s to win Stage 4. Ogier could only manage a time 2.4s slower than Neuville, which was enough to relinquish his short-lived lead.

There was more drama for Tanak, his car appearing to suffer from an alternator issue that necessitated a stop on the road section for repairs, while Neuville’s i20 N was dropping oil.

Behind there were further problems for Loubet, who managed to complete the stage but was forced to stop to put out a small fire in his Puma’s engine bay.

Crews will repeat the morning loop of stages this afternoon.

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