From the second special, the first of the day, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) seemed to want to strike a big blow. The Estonian, second on the road behind Thierry Neuville, was well on his way to setting a time when he hit a deer at full speed. Damaged at the front, the Hyundai was forced to abandon. A hard blow for the Estonian and for Hyundai who nevertheless saw Andreas Mikkelsen make the most of his starting position (8th) to immediately take the lead of the race ahead of an astonishing Martins Sesks. Discovering the Ford Puma Rally1 without a hybrid system, the young Latvian couldn’t believe his eyes. Third at the start, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) also fought to regain the maximum time in Neuville. Conceding almost 12 seconds to Mikkelsen on the morning loop, the Welshman did the job, ahead of his teammate Kalle Rovanperä, engaged in a race against the clock in terms of preparation since his late arrival by replacing him at short notice. unfortunate Sébastien Ogier, injured in reconnaissance on Tuesday.
At the end of this morning loop, the Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux and our compatriot Grégoire Munster (Ford Puma Rally1), also took advantage of their position on the road to have fun. Author of a second time in SS4, Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka offered themselves a somewhat muscular ‘jump’ landing with a 2nd time in the special at the end! Their best score since the start of the season!
As for Thierry Neuville, suffering as expected from the intense sweep, he took advantage of the neutralisation of SS3 to contain the haemorrhage, before conceding a handful of seconds in SS4 on poorly negotiated braking following a problem with the handbrake, locking all four wheels simultaneously.
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