The Belgian, who previously won this rally in 2020, clearly woke up on the right side of bed as he outpaced Elfyn Evans and Sébastien to climb from third to first overall in his Hyundai i20 N.
Neuville trailed long-time leader Evans by 16.1sec overnight but turned the tables during the three mountain special stages in the French Alps to reach the mid-leg service in Gap with a 5.1sec advantage over Evans’ Toyota GR Yaris as the Welshman reported a hybrid issue.
Ogier was a further 2.6sec back in another Toyota after a cautious drive on frosty roads in the morning’s opening test from Esparron to Oze yielded almost 20sec to Neuville, allowing the 35-year-old to pounce.
“I was well awake this morning,” Neuville smiled. “But sometimes [in the last stage] I couldn’t really understand the pace notes, and I hesitated so I lost a bit of time.”