Fortunately for Neuville, the right front tire burst just at the end of the stage. However, the Belgian lost ten seconds, allowing Toyota’s Elfyn Evans to close within just 0.1 seconds of Neuville.
Neuville had been controlling the race beautifully before his mishap. As the first car on the Croatian asphalt roads, he had the best starting position on the tarmac surface.
Evans was ultimately the fastest on the sixth stage, 1.1 seconds ahead of his teammate, Sebastien Ogier. The French champion is currently third in the race, 18 seconds behind Neuville.
“I think I’m pushing since the beginning of the rally, there’s not much more we can do. Luckily the rain didn’t come down so much this time because the last stage was hard for us,” Ogier summarized.
Continuing in fourth place in the competition is Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who is now 40.1 seconds behind the leader. Estonian’s rival, M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, is lurking just 7.7 seconds behind. In sixth place is Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, ahead of Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen.
“No (issues), first time this week we are a bit more competitive. Small improvements have helped a bit. Just two seconds off the fastest time,” Tänak remarked.
Two more special stages will be run in the Croatia Rally on Friday. The race concludes on Sunday.
Watch the video below for a recap of Friday morning’s events at the Croatia RallyThe competition’s standings and schedule are below the video.
Standings at the Croatia Rally after SS6/20:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 47:13.8 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +0.1 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +18.0 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +40.1 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +47.8 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:31.0 |
| 7. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +1:56.6 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:34.3 |
| 9. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +3:00.3 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +3:15.4 |
| 11. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +3:28.7 |
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
