Sébastien Ogier moved to the front of the Central Europe Rally following incidents that affected Thierry Neuville during the final stage of Saturday morning. Neuville, who started the day with a 6.4-second lead, suffered two consecutive spins in the Schärdinger Innviertel stage. The second of these proved costly, as his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID got stuck in a concrete ditch, causing him to lose around 40 seconds and drop to fourth place.
Ogier took advantage of the opportunity to reclaim the lead, a position he hadn't held since Friday morning. The French driver, after briefly dropping to third place during the day's first stage, managed to recover and finished the morning with a 4.6-second lead over Ott Tänak.
Tänak remains in the fight for the manufacturers' championship
Estonian driver Ott Tänak, who also races for Hyundai, had a solid morning and maintained second position, just 5.2 seconds behind Ogier. Despite temporarily reducing Neuville's lead in the drivers' championship, Tänak remains focused on securing the manufacturers' title for Hyundai. The team, led by Cyril Abiteboul, is aiming for its first championship since 2020 and currently holds a 17-point advantage over Toyota.
Tänak has been instructed to manage risks to maximize points in the battle for the manufacturers' title. Despite possible points variations on Sunday, when 12 additional points will be available under the Super Sunday format, Tänak remains focused on securing Hyundai's lead as they approach the season finale in Japan.
Neuville's challenging situation
Despite the setbacks in the morning, Neuville still has a chance to fight for the drivers' title. The Belgian will need to beat Tänak by at least two points and avoid letting Ogier and Evans score more than 10 and 15 points, respectively. Neuville, aware of the difficulty of his situation, admitted that his pace notes had been too optimistic for the slippery conditions.
"My pace notes were too fast for the state of the track. They would have worked in dry conditions, but with the slippery asphalt, the car just wouldn't turn," Neuville commented after finishing the stage. Despite the setback, the Belgian driver remains hopeful of scoring points on Super Sunday, though he is aware that he would need Tänak to face some issues to maximize his chances.
Evans in the battle for the podium
Elfyn Evans, Ogier's teammate at Toyota, also had a positive day and is now in third place, just 3.7 seconds behind Tänak. The Welshman has been in constant competition with his Hyundai rivals, and his performance in Saturday's stages leaves him in a competitive position to fight for the podium in the remaining stages.
Other drivers affected by conditions
M-Sport Ford's Adrien Fourmaux was one of the drivers unable to complete the morning, retiring due to front differential issues that affected his car's handling. Takamoto Katsuta, on the other hand, managed to stay in fifth place despite an off-track excursion in SS11, leading his teammate Sami Pajari by over a minute.
In the WRC2 category, Nikolay Gryazin leads, followed by Oliver Solberg and Filip Mareš, who complete the overall top 10 of the rally.
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