Neuville charges to CER lead on Friday morning

The Belgian star, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID, has his sights set on a much bigger prize at this penultimate round of the season, with he and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe edging ever closer to their maiden WRC title. Neuville outpaced overnight leader Ogier on two of the morning’s three Czech asphalt stages, moving 2.7sec ahead of the Frenchman.

Ogier had led by 0.9sec following Thursday’s opening two stages and initially extended his advantage to 3.2sec on SS3. However, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID driver was soon caught by Neuville, losing time due to minor errors which including running wide on corners in SS4 and SS5.

Neuville, too, admitted that the changing conditions were a challenge, a point underscored when team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen went off the road on Šumavské Hoštice 1. While Mikkelsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen escaped unscathed, the stage was red-flagged due to their car blocking the route.

“The grip is changing in every corner,” Neuville explained. “With no car in front [on the road], it’s hard to judge. We are being a bit careful overall, it’s very tricky.”

Despite losing Mikkelsen, Hyundai still placed two cars on the provisional podium. Neuville’s colleague main championship rival, Ott Tänak, ended the morning 1.1sec behind Ogier in third. The Estonian can only afford to drop one point to Neuville this week if he is to keep his title hopes alive.

Elfyn Evans claimed fourth, with a stage win on Strašín 1 being the highlight of his morning. The Welshman was 2.5sec behind Tänak while Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta followed in fifth, 12.8sec further back.

Sami Pajari ran much of the morning without hybrid power in his Toyota, ending the loop 41.6sec back from the lead in sixth. Adrien Fourmaux was 5.5sec down on Pajari after his M-Sport Ford Puma suffered a similar fault.