WRC Estonia: Neuville leads as a fired up Tanak dominates the times

Hyundai driver Neuville produced head-turning speed on the fast gravel roads to leap into a 6.8s-lead over championship leader Kalle Rovanpera, having started the day sitting fourth overall.

Rovanpera produced an impressive damage limitation drive considering the Toyota driver had to open the loose gravel stages.

However, it was a determined Tanak, hit by a five-minute engine change penalty yesterday, who is yet to be beaten in the event’s four stages to date. The Estonian is 4m50s behind.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans headed to mid-point service in third (+13.0s) ahead of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi (+14.3s), who was hampered by a hybrid issue.

Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen ended his first morning driving a Rally1 car in fifth (+19.6s) in front of Takamoto Katsuta (29,7s), who lost time to a junction overshoot, and M-Sport's Pierre-Louis Loubet (+30.5s). Oliver Solberg led WRC2 in eighth overall.

Fired up by yesterday’s disappointment, Tanak produced a stunning drive to win the morning’s first stage (Peipsiaare, 24.35km), the longest of the rally.

The Ford driver, spurred on by huge crowds, chalked up a second stage win of the event with a time 5.0s faster than Neuville, despite starting third on the road.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

"To be honest, the mood is not the greatest this morning. But there is nothing to lose. Let's see how far we get,” said Tanak.

While Neuville wasn’t overly happy with his pace, his effort moved the Belgian into the overall rally lead with a 3.2s margin over road sweeper Rovanpera, who struggled cleaning the gravel the roads.

"I was pushing all the time on this stage and I am using the road everywhere. I can't do anything [more] but it's going to be cleaning a lot. We did our best," said Rovanpera, who was third fastest.

Hyundai Rally1 debutant Suninen impressed to set the fourth-fastest time, a second quicker than his more experienced team-mate Lappi.

Lappi, however, was hampered by a loss of hybrid caused by a heavy landing from one of the many jumps. The Finn took the blame for the problem stating that he “had jumped too much”.

Evans could only manage a time good enough for sixth-fastest after a scrappy run through the stage.

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Tanak extended his 100% stage winning start by setting the pace on stage three (Mustvee 1,17.09km).

This time the margin was smaller as the Estonian reached the stage end 1.8s quicker than Neuville, who increased his overall rally lead over Rovanpera. At the stage end, Neuville admitted “he could go slightly faster but it's early in the rally.”

Rovanpera found the going challenging starting first on the road as he struggled to find grip on the loose surface, but the Finn emerged only 2.5s slower than pacesetter Tanak.

Behind, Lappi was unable to reset the hybrid unit on the road section before the stage which left him with a significant pace disadvantage. The Hyundai driver also started the stage later due to a “misunderstanding” and nudged a bale during his run that was 7.7s away from the outright pace.

Evans showed improved pace to slot into third overall although the Welshman was battling to unlock the full potential of his GR Yaris.

Tanak completed his domination of the morning by winning the ultra-fast stage four (Raanitsa 1 21.45km) by 1.6s from Neuville, despite briefly losing engine power in his run. Neuville was also fortunate after a wild slide bought him perilously close to a telegraph pole.

Rovanpera maintained his pace in tricky loose conditions to clock the third-fastest time, 4.5s adrift of Tanak.

“We did everything we could," said Rovanpera.“This was one was rough and there was one big jump, and you can hear the boost on the limiter, and you get a small concussion on the landing.”

Lappi was only a second slower but was faster than Suninen and Evans, the latter battling with the balance of his GR Yaris.

Four more stages await the field this afternoon to complete Friday’s leg.