Corsica WRC: Neuville eats into Ogier's advantage
Sebastien Ogier will take a lead of 46 seconds into the final day of Rally Corsica, after a charging Thierry Neuville beat the Frenchman by 13 seconds on Saturday's final stage.
Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport
Ogier started the Saturday morning loop by extending his lead to almost a minute over Neuville through the second run of the La Porta-Valle di Rostino stage, which was hit by rain prior to the first runs.
But the Belgian responded in emphatic style on the shorter SS8, as he beat the rally leader by a full 13s, heading a Hyundai 1-2 with teammate Dani Sordo only two seconds slower.
"I went off a little in the beginning and hit some stones," Neuville admitted. "I had a vibration but then it went. I tried to push and I know I'm good in these conditions."
Said Ogier: "Just wanted to finish the day in the tricky conditions. That was really cruising for us."
It meant Ogier's lead was whittled down from 59.5s to 46.5s with just Sunday's two stages remaining, Neuville also easing away from third-place man Andreas Mikkelsen.
The Norwegian, third fastest on SS7 and fifth on SS8, now finds himself 1m08s adrift of Volkswagen teammate Ogier, with the German marque's third driver Jari-Matti Latvala a further 33s back in fourth.
Citroen's Craig Breen continues to hold a strong fifth, just over two minutes shy of the lead, followed by the Hyundais of Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo.
The Spaniard overhauled Eric Camilli (M-Sport Ford) for seventh on SS7, and is only 21s behind Paddon.
Completing the top 10 ahead of the final two stages are Mads Ostberg (M-Sport Ford) and WRC2 leader Elfyn Evans.
Standings after SS8:
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
| 1. |  Sebastien Ogier |
Volkswagen | 3:27:10.0 |
| 2. |  Thierry Neuville |
Hyundai | +46.5 |
| 3. |  Andreas Mikkelsen |
Volkswagen | +1:08.0 |
| 4. |  Jari-Matti Latvala |
Volkswagen | +1:41.3 |
| 5. |  Craig Breen |
Citroen | +2.04.9 |
| 6. |  Hayden Paddon |
Hyundai | +2:42.7 |
| 7. |  Dani Sordo |
Hyundai | +3:03.9 |
| 8. | Eric Camilli |
Ford | +4:18.2 |
| 9. | Mads Ostberg |
Ford | +5:10.5 |
| 10. |  Elfyn Evans |
Ford | +5:47.0 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Yamamoto 'never imagined' scoring podium on injury comeback in Super Formula
Pourchaire “worried” for Super Formula prospects after nightmare debut
How Cassidy emerged triumphant from "mayhem" in Portland FE slow-burner
Mikkelsen: Why I chose Hyundai over M-Sport for WRC 2024 comeback
How being a target for young drivers spurred Mikkelsen back to WRC
Why Tanak's 'head or heart' call will shape WRC 2020
F1 Chinese GP Sprint race: Start time, how to watch, TV channel
F1 teams and Pirelli had no warning of "painted" Shanghai track surface
Red Bull 2025 F1 driver decision will be made "much later in the year"
WRC Croatia: Neuville sets the pace to lead title rival Evans
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
The new WRC highs Neuville reached to defeat Monte master Ogier
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments