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From press release
Belgium's Thierry Neuville is the surprise leader of Rallye de France - Alsace after a complex opening day that rewarded accurate weather forecasting and shrewd tyre choices.
Neuville, who drives a Ford Fiesta RS, got the package just about right, and was fastest on three of Friday's six asphalt stages to return to the Service Park in Strasbourg with a lead of 9.8sec over Citroen's Dani Sordo. Volkswagen Polo R pilot Jari-Matti Latvala is third, just 1.9sec further back.
Neuville's day started well, with an inspired tyre choice for the opening loop of three stages.
While the majority of the WRC runners chose Michelin's hard compound tyres, Neuville gambled on a mixture of hards and softs. When rain made things damp on the day's second test, he benefitted from the extra grip of the soft rubber.
His Qatar M-Sport squad got it right again in the afternoon. This time Neuville's car was shod with hard compound tyres, while his rivals, who were expecting rain, biased their choices towards the soft. The rain held off, and Neuville was untouchable.
On his WRC swansong, Sebastien Loeb held the lead for much of the day. The Frenchman's legendary sense of grip kept him out front throughout the morning, even though he faced more rain than most on SS3.
In the afternoon, however, Loeb gambled on soft tyres. And when the rain he hoped for never materialised, he lost ground to Neuville - almost ten seconds on the last stage alone.
Power Stage winner Sordo snatched second from Loeb on Friday's final test. Reinvigorated by his recent victory in Germany, the Spaniard has been in sparkling form and a top-three stage finisher on all but one of the tests so far.
Latvala is third, just 1.9sec adrift of Sordo. The Finn has had a trouble-free day, and felt his wet pre-event test had helped him in the rain on SS3. However that advantage was countered by a set-up mistake in the afternoon.
The much-anticipated duel between Loeb and Sebastien Ogier was one of the casualties of the day. Newly crowned World Champion Ogier lies fifth in his Polo R, 16.5sec behind his team-mate. “This morning I found it difficult to wake up,” said Ogier. “This afternoon I tried to react and it was better, but I was still too slow. Unfortunately we didn't have the right tyre choice...”
Evgeny Novikov is sixth, 34sec further back in his Ford Fiesta RS, with Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen seventh.
Belgium's Thierry Neuville is the surprise leader of Rallye de France - Alsace after a complex opening day that rewarded accurate weather forecasting and shrewd tyre choices.
Neuville, who drives a Ford Fiesta RS, got the package just about right, and was fastest on three of Friday's six asphalt stages to return to the Service Park in Strasbourg with a lead of 9.8sec over Citroen's Dani Sordo. Volkswagen Polo R pilot Jari-Matti Latvala is third, just 1.9sec further back.
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| Thierry Neuville, Ford. (Photo: WRC) |
Neuville's day started well, with an inspired tyre choice for the opening loop of three stages.
While the majority of the WRC runners chose Michelin's hard compound tyres, Neuville gambled on a mixture of hards and softs. When rain made things damp on the day's second test, he benefitted from the extra grip of the soft rubber.
His Qatar M-Sport squad got it right again in the afternoon. This time Neuville's car was shod with hard compound tyres, while his rivals, who were expecting rain, biased their choices towards the soft. The rain held off, and Neuville was untouchable.
On his WRC swansong, Sebastien Loeb held the lead for much of the day. The Frenchman's legendary sense of grip kept him out front throughout the morning, even though he faced more rain than most on SS3.
In the afternoon, however, Loeb gambled on soft tyres. And when the rain he hoped for never materialised, he lost ground to Neuville - almost ten seconds on the last stage alone.
 |
| Special livery at Citroen for the last rally of Sebastien Loeb. (Photo: Citroen Racing) |
Power Stage winner Sordo snatched second from Loeb on Friday's final test. Reinvigorated by his recent victory in Germany, the Spaniard has been in sparkling form and a top-three stage finisher on all but one of the tests so far.
Latvala is third, just 1.9sec adrift of Sordo. The Finn has had a trouble-free day, and felt his wet pre-event test had helped him in the rain on SS3. However that advantage was countered by a set-up mistake in the afternoon.
The much-anticipated duel between Loeb and Sebastien Ogier was one of the casualties of the day. Newly crowned World Champion Ogier lies fifth in his Polo R, 16.5sec behind his team-mate. “This morning I found it difficult to wake up,” said Ogier. “This afternoon I tried to react and it was better, but I was still too slow. Unfortunately we didn't have the right tyre choice...”
Evgeny Novikov is sixth, 34sec further back in his Ford Fiesta RS, with Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen seventh.