On Friday morning, the Belgian, who leads the World Rally Championship, recorded three fastest times across four stages. He fully capitalized on having the first starting position, which is the most advantageous in Croatia’s tarmac event.
At the Platak special stage, the Hyundai star narrowly defeated Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by a margin of 0.2 seconds. Neuville’s overall lead over Evans is now 8.6 seconds.
According to Neuville, his car was not in optimal condition during the rally’s opening stages.
“I can’t attack. I have to be so smooth and clean. No way for me to push, otherwise it doesn’t work. I would like to go faster,” he said.
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier is currently third in the event, 21.5 seconds behind Neuville. Ogier suffered in the morning due to his starting position, as the drivers ahead had kicked up mud and other dirt onto the road.
“We can be happy with our loop. We lost some ground, but hopefully better in the afternoon,” Ogier commented.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak had a challenging morning. Tänak holds fourth place but is already more than half a minute behind his teammate Neuville.
“No commitment today. I’m struggling more than in Monte. It’s hard to make it work,” Tänak lamented.
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux continues in fifth place, just over four seconds behind Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta, Andreas Mikkelsen, and Gregoire Munster are trailing the leader by more than a minute on the weaker side.
Four more special stages are scheduled for Friday afternoon following the tyre fitting zone at the Croatia Rally. The event concludes on Sunday.
Watch the summary of Friday morning’s events at the Croatian WRC round below. The competition’s current standings and schedule are listed under the video.
Standings at the Croatia Rally after SS4/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 32:26.1 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.6 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +21.2 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +37.3 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +41.6 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:12.2 |
| 7. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +1:39.1 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:57.3 |
| 9. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +2:07.6 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +2:20.0 |
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
