SS16: Thierry Neuville caps off his day with the fastest time, co-driver to pay dearly – “He now has to open his wallet”

Additionally, Neuville conditionally claimed full point haul for Saturday, although the Belgian must still make it through Sunday to the finish. Neuville had bet with his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe that if he won the 9.11-kilometer stage twice today, the co-driver would have to buy himself a Porsche 911. Neuville won the stage for the second time, so the co-driver is due for some expensive shopping.

“We had a great day, despite the tyre choice this afternoon we were able to defend first place and now(Wydaeghe) needs to open the wallet,” Neuville quipped.

In the overall standings, Neuville’s lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans is 4.9 seconds. Another Toyota driver, Sebastien Ogier, is in third place, 11.6 seconds from the leader.

“We need to keep attacking, maintain the feeling and make the right tyre choice. The weather wasn’t so easy to judge today, but we’ll see for tomorrow,” Neuville added.

Evans had briefly led the rally on Saturday afternoon, but Neuville regained the lead. The Welshman was still pleased with his day.

“It’s been good fun, it’s been a good day, good driving. Couldn’t quite follow Thierry, it didn’t quite work out. Just keep driving, hopefully make some good tyre decisions and try our best,” Evans shared.

Ogier, on the other hand, lamented that he had lost the battle for victory on Friday due to his starting position. However, being the third fastest on Saturday, his justification seemed somewhat unnecessary.

“All day we tried to push as much as we could, it wasn’t enough but it was a good day for me in the car. The gap is unfortunately from yesterday and that was expected before coming here, but we’re going to try again tomorrow,” Ogier stated.

Hyundai’s Ott Tänak is fourth in the race, followed by M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta is in sixth place, ahead of Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen and M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster.

In the WRC2 class, Citroën’s Nikolay Gryazin continues to lead. His teammate Yohan Rossel is 39.5 seconds behind. The Frenchman lost crucial ten seconds after being one minute late to the start of the last special stage.

Toyota’s Sami Pajari, driving the new Rally2 car, is in third place in the Rally2 class. Pajari set the fastest time in his class on the final stage.

“We skated quite a bit, but fortunately, we got through it. It was a pretty big moment. At one point, gravel started pulling the car. We tried to drive a decent time to end the day. I have to be satisfied, especially having narrowly avoided going off,” Pajari said.

Croatia Rally concludes on Sunday with a sprint race of four special stages. The top seven drivers of the day, as well as the top five on the concluding Power Stage, will earn additional points.

Standings at the Croatia Rally after SS16/20:

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