SS5 & 6 – Evans takes the lead ahead of Ogier at Monza

After a hard-fought morning on the winding stages of the Bergamasque Alps and a passage by the assistance, the rally resumed at the beginning of the afternoon on the Monza autodrome with two passages in the section of Cinturato and its 14.49 km. Presenting a profile radically different from that used this morning, the special alternated portions on the circuit with in particular the turn of Rettifilo, theater last September of the impressive hanging between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, passages through the banking of the speed ring or even narrower sectors or even dirt on the service axes of the autodrome.

In this still special exercise, Sebastien Ogier failed to maintain the pace he set this morning. Handicapped by a very slippery road, the seven-time World Champion even admitted that he had lost his entire lead in the standings in SS5 following brake problems. Although he had settled his concerns in the assistance, he was then unable to prevent his teammate Elfyn evans to take control of the general classification in the following special for 1 ”3. The Welshman is visibly more at ease on this type of special.

For his part, Thierry neuville showed a better face on the autodrome after a late morning. Despite a gearbox problem (SS5), the Belgian seems to have found solutions to his lack of pace, his best time in SS6 being there to prove it. If his regain of form saw him return to 21 “behind the leader, it also allowed him to widen the gap against Dani Sordo for the last step of the podium.

Convincing from the start, Oliver solberg continued his momentum to consolidate his fifth place despite a few errors including a half spin (SS5). The Swede even made a level playing field with his future teammates. 15 “from the team’s i20 Coupe WRC 2C Competition, Takamoto Katsuta got very close to the fastest time in SS5. Without a setting, the Japanese would have remembered a good memory since he had signed his first scratch in the WRC last year already at Monza.