WRC Monza: Ogier reclaims lead from Evans as title battle continues

The seven-time champion ended the loop with a 5.2s wholesomeness over team-mate Evans having started the day 1.4s in arrears.

A head-to-head title wrestle between Ogier and Evans went up flipside notch as the rally lead reverted hands three times wideness four stages.

Ogier regained the lead on the first test (Stage 8) but then lost the wholesomeness as Evans won Stage 9, surpassing the former grabbed the lead when by winning Stage 10. The Frenchman then extended that lead by taking Stage 11 to remain on undertow to win an eighth world title.

Hyundai’s Dani Sordo inherited third overall without team-mate Thierry Neuville made heavy contact with the barriers early in Stage 9 just moments without winning the previous test.

Sordo ended the loop 28.2s overdue but superiority of Neuville, while Oliver Solberg maintained his strong showing in fifth. Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota), Teemu Suninen (Hyundai), Gus Greensmith (M-Sport-Ford) and Kalle Rovanpera, who is under team orders to run a inobtrusive pace, completed the WRC runners.

It was Neuville who came out of the blocks quickest as whoopee got underway with a 14.80km pass through the twisting hairpin-laden Bergamo mountain roads of San Fermo.

The Belgian personal his second stage win of the rally as he stepped up his pursuit of the lead Toyotas.

\"I tried. I hope we can reservation when some time - we are only 20s behind,” said Neuville.

Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Ogier emerged as Neuville’s nearest rival on the test but reached the stop tenancy 1.7s slower. However, the Frenchman was crucially 2.9s faster than title rival Evans, which was unbearable to leap when into the lead of the rally by 1.5s.

\"It was a new stage, so I was moreover not really on it,” said Ogier. “I enjoyed driving the car, but I don\'t want to go too full risk.\"

Evans added: \"It wasn\'t the weightier stage. I struggled for grip and seemed to be sliding a lot increasingly than expected.”

Evans was fourth fastest overdue Sordo in third and Solberg in fifth, as the Swede showed his Friday pace was not a fluke.

M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux returned to whoopee without repairs were completed to his Fiesta pursuit a roll in Friday’s Stage 3.

Neuville’s fast start to the morning was halted by an armco windbreak 0.5km into stage 9. The Hyundai suburbanite lost the rear of his i20 on a long, fast right-hander that resulted in a heavy frontal impact with the barriers, spinning the car.

Despite the hefty hit and forfeiture to the front of his car, Neuville unfurled at a decent pace. The Belgian reached the stage finish with the ninth fastest time, although the time loss demoted him to fourth overall overdue Sordo, who finished the stage in second.

\"Very early on I lost the rear. I did some set-up changes surpassing the stage and with the tyres not 100 per cent warm I started to slide,\" said Neuville.

“I was so tropical to making the corner but I didn\'t. I lost the time re-starting the car basically.”

There was plenty of excitement at the front as Evans reclaimed the rally lead he lost on the previous stage by winning the test with 3.8s margin over third fastest Ogier.

Solberg was fifth quickest but was unhappy with his drive, labelling his driving as “absolutely terrible”. Meanwhile, Greensmith was without the full use of his brakes which dropped him into the clutches of Suninen as the wrestle for seventh intensified.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC

Photo by: Toyota Racing

The lead reverted hands for a third time as Ogier won Stage 12, the repeat of the morning’s first wham through San Fermo.

Ogier clinched his fourth stage win of the rally by 3.4s on Evans, ensuring he headed into the morning’s final stage with a 1.1s lead.

“I know that for you, it looks like a battle, but I alimony focussing on my momentum only,” said Ogier.

Evans added: “To be honest, it felt like a good run. We were smooth, but obviously not quite fast enough.”

Incredibly Neuville was second fastest and only 1.7s shy of Ogier despite the heavy forfeiture to the front of his car. Suninen climbed to seventh overall without his weightier showing in a Hyundai to stage resulted in the third fastest time superiority of Solberg and Sordo, who set identical times, with Evans only sixth.

Ogier then extended his wholesomeness surpassing midday service by winning Stage 11 as Evans dropped 4.1s overdue his rival.

Brake issues unfurled for Greensmith, while Suninen was lucky to reach the finish when his left rear made contact with a windbreak at a hairpin, causing forfeiture to the car.

The rally continues this afternoon with two blasts virtually a stage at the Monza grand prix circuit.