Neuville capitalised to take second after a frustrating start in his Hyundai i20. The Belgian’s car would not handle as he wished and he overshot a junction and hit a chicane before set-up changes did the trick and he climbed from fifth.
He headed a quartet of drivers covered by less than 10sec. Jari-Matti Latvala briefly held second in another Yaris, but ended 2.5sec behind Neuville after losing his rhythm in this afternoon’s long Brenig stage.
Esapekka Lappi recovered from an early spin to make it three Yaris cars in the top four. The Finn was 4.6sec adrift of his fellow countryman and 2.3sec clear of Ogier’s Fiesta.
Ogier was third until first and second gears broke which, combined with two spins, relegated him to eighth before a late recovery. Craig Breen completed the top six in a Citroën C3.
Drivers face more than 15 hours at the wheel on Saturday when they journey south to mid-Wales. After a 05.30 start, they tackle five stages, the first four of which are repeated in the afternoon. It adds up to 150.24km of action with no opportunity for service during the day.
Leading positions:
1. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Toyota Yaris 1hr 06min 04.3sec
2. T Neuville / N Gilsoul BEL Hyundai i20 + 28.8sec
3. J-M Latvala / M Anttila FIN Toyota Yaris + 31.3sec
4. E Lappi / J Ferm FIN Toyota Yaris + 35.9sec
5. S Ogier / J Ingrassia FRA Ford Fiesta + 38.2sec
6. C Breen / S Martin IRL Citroën C3 + 48.8sec
WRC 2 in Britain: Rovanperä storms ahead - https://t.co/YuucapO2a9 pic.twitter.com/oUruNZMk2Z
— WRC (@OfficialWRC) October 5, 2018
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