However, Neuville is nominally the leader of the rally, as he set the fastest time on the day’s opening stage, which dictates the race leader in the event of a tie.
“I did what I could. Not a great day for us, struggled a bit with the handling and lots of cleaning in there too. Not much more we can do,” Neuville said.
“Difficult stage to, not a good feeling at the end of it. Really difficult with all these cuts. Difficult to manage with all the dirt on the road,”Evans commented.
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, drove a fierce run on the day’s final stage. Ogier set the fastest time by a margin of 9.2 seconds ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux. At the same time, Ogier significantly closed the gap to Neuville and Evans at the top of the standings. Ogier is now 6.6 seconds behind the leading duo.
“It’s been a good run, I’m happy with that one for sure. We’re happy to close the gap after the road position this morning. Tomorrow is the start of another rally, much slower and much slippier,” Ogier summarized.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak continues in fourth place in the rally. He is now 41.1 seconds behind the leader. Fourmaux is fifth in the rally ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen.
“It’s good to finish on a positive stage. I changed the setup and it seems to be working. It’s really nice to finish the day like this. It’s been a good day so far,” Fourmaux stated.
The Croatia Rally continues on Saturday, with eight special stages on the schedule. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Watch the video below for a recap of Friday morning’s events at the Croatia Rally. The competition’s standings and itinerary are below the video.
Standings at the Croatia Rally after SS8/20:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 1:05:15.3 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +0.0 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +6.6 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +41.1 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +52.7 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:38.3 |
| 7. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +2:37.8 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:07.3 |
| 9. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +3:48.3 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +4:19.4 |
| 11. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +4:24.7 |
| 12. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +4:50.5 |
Croatia Rally itinerary (CET):
Thursday, April 18 09:01 Shakedown: Okić (3.65 km) Friday, April 19 08:28 SS1: Krašić - Sošice 1 (23.63 km) 09:41 SS2: Jaškovo - Mali Modruš Potok 1 (9.48 km) 10:39 SS3: Ravna Gora - Skrad 1 (10.13 km) 11:47 SS4: Platak 1 (16.63 km) 14:02 Tyre fitting zone (15 min) 14:45 SS5: Platak 2 (16.63 km) 15:58 SS6: Ravna Gora - Skrad 2 (10.13 km) 17:16 SS7: Jaškovo - Mali Modruš Potok 2 (9.48 km) 18:09 SS8: Krašić - Sošice 2 (23.63 km) Saturday, April 20 07:31 SS9: Smerovišće - Grdanjci 1 (15.72 km) 08:24 SS10: Stojdraga - Gornja Vas 1 (20.77 km) 10:05 SS11: Vinski Vrh - Duga Resa 1 (8.78 km) 11:03 SS12: Pećurkovo Brdo - Mrežnički Novaki 1 (9.11 km) 13:03 Service (40 min) 14:31 SS13: Smerovišće - Grdanjci 2 (15.72 km) 15:24 SS14: Stojdraga - Gornja Vas 2 (20.77 km) 17:05 SS15: Vinski Vrh - Duga Resa 2 (8.78 km) 18:03 SS16: Pećurkovo Brdo - Mrežnički Novaki 2 (9.11 km) Sunday, April 21 07:08 SS17: Trakošćan - Vrbno 1 (13.15 km) 08:35 SS18: Zagorska Sela - Kumrovec 1 (14.24 km) 10:23 SS19: Trakošćan - Vrbno 2 (13.15 km) 13:15 SS20: Zagorska Sela - Kumrovec 2 (14.24 km) *Power Stage
