The battle for the lead has been intense all day, and the 14th special stage was no exception.
This time, it was Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville’s turn to rise to the top of the rally. He outpaced Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier by 3.9 seconds and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by 4.3 seconds.
Neuville moved back into the rally lead with a 2.3-second advantage over Evans. Ogier continues in third place, now 9.5 seconds behind the leader.
“It started to affect us a little bit. Very hard to know what is happening to the weather. The grip is changing often,” Ogier said, acknowledging that the rain towards the end of the stage had an impact.
Neuville drove a fantastic fastest time, leaving him somewhat bewildered by his own performance.
“I don’t know, I went flat out. When we found out there could be rain at the end, we just went flat out. It looks like we didn’t have the optimal tyre choice so far,” Neuville said.
The rally lead has changed twice during the afternoon. Croatia is currently hosting an exceptionally tight tarmac rally.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak continues in fourth place. Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux remains in fifth, and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta is in sixth.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari continues to hold the 11th spot in the overall competition and is still third in the Rally2 class.
Two more special stages will be run in the Croatia Rally on Saturday. The competition concludes on Sunday. The first provisional World Championship points will be distributed on Saturday evening according to the new system.
Standings at the Croatia Rally after SS14/20:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 2:00:27.0 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +2.3 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +9.5 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +1:09.7 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:26.7 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2:05.1 |
| 7. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +3:41.2 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:28.3 |
| 9. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +7:10.2 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +7:34.9 |
| 11. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +8:17.5 |
| 12. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +8:32.1 |
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
