It was Toyota 1-2 with Sebastien Ogier winning WRC Croatia Rally from Elfyn Evans, as Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was third.
It was a close fight among three drivers in WRC Croatia Rally, with Toyota’s Elfyn Evans (co-driver Scott Martin) & Sebastien Ogier (co-driver Julian Ingrassia) and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe), all in contention for a win.
Neuville had a solid Friday in his Hyundai Coupe WRC, where he was leading after wins in SS1, SS2 and SS4, but Ogier and Evans were not far behind in their Toyota Yaris. The former won SS6, SS7 and SS8, while the latter did so in SS3.
It was not easy for Neuville and Ogier still as they both had close shave during the day. It didn’t end well for Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera (co-driver Jonne Halttunen), after he crashed out, having fallen into a ditch. He couldn’t return on the following days too.
The WRC standings changed on Saturday, though, when Neuville suffered hugely due to tyre choice. The Belgian started to drop behind, with Ogier taking the lead by the end of the day from teammate Evans – with wins in SS9, SS12 and SS16.
Evans won S11, while Neuville stood in the Top 3 still with wins in SS13 and SS15. The order behind had Hyundai’s Ott Tanak (co-driver Martin Jarveoja) in fourth with a win in SS5, while his teammate Craig Breen (co-driver Paul Nagle) dropped out of Top 5.
He suffered a puncture to drop to eighth by the end of the day, which allowed M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux (co-driver Renaud Jamoul) moved up to fifth in his Ford Fiesta WRC, ahead of teammate Gus Greensmith (co-driver Chris Patteron).
Another gainer was Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta (co-driver Daniel Barritt), who stood seventh after wins in SS10 and SS14. The final day of WRC Croatia Rally continued to be a three-way fight, with Evans taking over the lead before the Power Stage.
His wins in SS17 and SS18 helped him leapfrog Ogier, while Neuville winning SS19 kept in the hunt too. However, the Frenchman had the last laugh by winning the Power Stage. The margin in the end was a mere 0.6s, as Ogier won the WRC Croatia Rally.
He led a Toyota 1-2- from Evans, while Neuville was third ahead of Fourmaux in the Top 5. Behind, Katsuta gained a place on Greensmith to be sixth, with Breen in eighth rounding the WRC runners in the Top 10.
Here’s the full result: https://www.wrc.com/en/wrcplus/live-timing/
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