1970-01-01 00:00:00
In a weekend full of twists and turns, Neuville wins again and extends his lead in the World Championship. Sordo and Tanak complete the Hyundai hat-trick, while Ogier goes off the road on the final stage of the rally
Rally Greece has once again confirmed its reputation as a car-breaking rally and has given us a weekend full of twists and turns. On a challenging terrain where strategy and luck merge, it was Thierry Neuville emerges firstdespite his inconvenient starting position on Friday. Yet, the Greek race had not started in the best way for the championship leader, who already on Friday morning complained about engine problems on his i20 Rally1. At that stage of the race it seemed that fate had turned its back on the Belgian who, in addition to the technical problems, also had to cash in on the provisional leadership of his number one rival in the title race: Sebastien Ogier.
Problems for Ogier
Temporary, precisely, given that The Frenchman saw his hopes of victory vanish in the afternoon when the turbo on his Yaris broke. The eight-time world champion thus had to pass the baton to his rival-friend There, Tanak who closed the first day in the lead. The judgment of the Land of the Gods soon affected the Estonian who the next day, on the first test of the day, he suffered a double puncture which caused him to fall to fourth position overall. The new leader has therefore become Dani Deaf. The Spaniard, never very fast but extremely concrete, found himself ahead of everyone for a couple of tests but was then struck by bad luck himself. A puncture on the right rear on the first pass of the feared “Aghii Theodori” he forced Dani gives way to teammate Neuvillefor an exchange of positions that would have occurred at the end of the day to favor the Belgian in the fight for the Drivers’ title.
Neuville at +38 on Ogier
Sunday then saw Ogier capsized right on the last stage while he was trying to take as many points as possible also on the Power Stage: one last twist, which paved the way to the Hyundai hat-trick (which brings the lead over Toyota to 35 points in the Constructors’ Championship). Among the Drivers, Neuville extends his lead in the standings: he now has a 38-point advantage over Ogier, 34 on teammate Tanak (winner of Super Sunday) who overtakes the Frenchman and moves into second position.
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