Evans nibbles Tänak’s lead, Neuville mounts Saturday fightback

Estonian star Tänak was outpaced by Toyota GAZOO Racing’s Elfyn Evans on the two uninterrupted stages of Saturday morning’s loop. A safety issue forced the cancellation of SS12 at Ena, with notional times allocated to both competitors.

Evans, driving a GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID, extended his buffer over third-placed Adrien Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID to nearly two minutes. Meanwhile, his Toyota team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta swapped positions after the latter spun and arrived at the midday tyre fitting zone in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Tänak is not only battling for the drivers’ championship but also carrying the weight of Hyundai’s manufacturers’ title ambitions on his shoulders. With Neuville and the team’s third i20 N Rally1 HYBRID driver, Andreas Mikkelsen, hampered by issues on Friday, Hyundai’s hopes rest largely on Tänak. Despite the setbacks, the team provisionally remained ahead of Toyota in the manufacturers’ standings after SS12.

Neuville, who needs just six points this weekend to secure his maiden WRC title, endured a challenging Friday due to turbocharger problems that left him in 15th position overnight. The Belgian made steady progress on Saturday morning, climbing to ninth by lunchtime - a position that, if maintained, will yield at least two championship points by the end of the day.