Thierry Neuville, and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul take lead on Saturday. Image: Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville, and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul take lead on Saturday. Image: Hyundai Motorsport
Bastia (Corsica), 30 March 2019: Hyundai Motorsport has moved into the lead of Tour de Corse after a dramatic penultimate day of action in the fourth round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
Belgians Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul hold a 4.5-second lead over Elfyn Evans with two stages left to run on Sunday morning. Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio remain in a close fight for the podium, in fourth place overall, while Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena finished Saturday’s schedule in eighth position.
On the longest day of Tour de Corse, crews tackled almost 175km of competitive tarmac stages. A loop of three stages started with a 25.62km run through Cap Corse and the shorter 14.45km Désert des Agriates test, before culminating with the monster 47.18km Castagniccia.
The trio of Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crews all set times inside the top-three during the day. Sordo claimed a stage win in the first Castagniccia stage (SS9), while Neuville took honours with impressive runs in the two final stages of the afternoon loop.
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (#11 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Stage wins in SS11 (Désert des Agriates) and SS12 (Castagniccia)
Belgians moved into the rally lead with an impressive performance on the final stage
Neuville said: “We have had a really good day and I am delighted we can finish Saturday in the lead of the rally. Anything can happen when people are driving on the edge. This is a long and demanding rally so it’s important to stay focused. This morning, during the long stage particularly, we couldn’t really find the feeling we wanted, but things came good in the afternoon. When you have the right rhythm in the car, it’s possible to set fast times without taking risks. That’s exactly what we could do and we now need to defend our lead on Sunday. It won’t be easy but we’ll certainly give it our best shot!”Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (#6 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Stage win for the Spaniards in the first run through Castagniccia (SS9)
Competitive battle for the final podium position with five-second gap to Ogier
Sordo said: “We had a very strong opening loop this morning. My pace notes were very clear and we showed our potential with the fastest time in the long Castagniccia stage. I had a great feeling and the car was very nice to drive. We didn’t manage the same advantage in the repeat loop, as others seemed to make up more time, but we are pleased to enter the final morning in a close fight for the podium. Ogier made up a lot of time on us in the final stage today but we know we can also find some gains, so it promises to be a big battle tomorrow. We’ll try our best.”Crew Notes: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (#19 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Another day of improvements for the nine-time world champions following an off into the ditch in SS9
Crew worked hard on car set-up to make positive gains during the day
Loeb said: “We are not in the same rally as everyone else after our issues on Friday, so we have used today to improve our feeling with the car. Things started well but on the long stage in the morning loop we had a tricky moment. I understeered in a left-hander, which tightened, and I couldn’t turn which then sent us into a ditch. We lost a lot of time getting going again. The afternoon followed the same strategy to make adjustments to the car. Things were not perfect all the time but for the majority of stages we had a good car and a nice feeling. We will continue in this way tomorrow and aim to finish on a positive note.” Team Director Andrea Adamo: “Honestly speaking it is good that Thierry and Nicolas are leading Tour de Corse in a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, although we have to admit we have some work to do on improving the car to match their level. They did a truly fantastic job and they deserve their lead. We find ourselves in first and fourth place overall at the end of Saturday but as we have seen anything can happen; it’s not over yet!”
Sunday at a glance
Two stages remain on the Tour de Corse itinerary, with no opportunity for respite.
A long 31.85km run through Eaux de Zilia will start the day in style before the rally concludes with the 19.34km Power Stage at Calvi.
