The Neuville rally had started badly on Friday with 48 seconds lost on the then leader, Ogier, in just four special stages. Suffering from his position as opener, with a small engine problem as a bonus, the Belgian then let his rivals escape in front. But everything went off the rails, clearly in his favour. Elfyn Evans (Toyota) had major turbo problems which made him lose several minutes and eliminated him from the race for victory. Problems which also affected Sébastien Ogier during the last special stage on Friday, with a 2’20 loss to the key. Saturday morning, it was Ott Tänak (Hyundai), then leader, who lost four minutes following two punctures in the first special stage. Also worth noting, even if he was not necessarily playing for the win, was the accident of Adrien Fourmaux on Friday in SS4, who hit a rock and broke his suspension.
