Italy WRC: Neuville continues to lead as Latvala edges closer
Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville's Rally Italia Sardegna lead over Jari-Matti Latvala has shrunk from 11.1s to 2.9s following the three Saturday morning stages, which were won by three new stage winners.
Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport
Kevin Abbring secured his maiden WRC stage win in the opening Monti di Ala test, before Ott Tanak set the pace in the following run.
While the status quo was maintained between Neuville and Latvala in the aforementioned two stages, the Finn made significant gains in the 44.2km Monte Lerno section, the longest one of the rally, beating the Belgian by almost seven seconds.
Sebastien Ogier continued to struggle with his road-sweeping role as his deficit behind the leaders increased to almost a minute, the Frenchman just holding off Mads Ostberg, the winner of the final stage, and Andreas Mikkelsen.
Dani Sordo held sixth, followed by Tanak, the Estonian passing WRC2 leader Umberto Scandola and Henning Solberg during the morning.
Standings after SS12:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Hyundai | 2h11m39.6s |
| 2 |
|
Volkswagen | +2.9s |
| 3 |
|
Volkswagen | +55.3s |
| 4 |
|
Ford | +55.6s |
| 5 |
|
Volkswagen | +58.5s |
| 6 |
|
Hyundai | +1m29.9s |
| 7 |
|
Ford | +2m34.6s |
| 8 |
|
Ford
|
+3m37.2s |
| 9 |
|
Ford |
+4m57.5s |
| 10 |
|
Ford | +8.17.8s |
Thierry Neuville
Jari-Matti Latvala
Sebastien Ogier
Mads Ostberg
Dani Sordo
Ott Tanak
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