Marmaris (Turkey) (AFP)
The Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) leads the general classification of the Rally of Turkey, 5th round (out of 7) of the World Championship (WRC), after the six special stages of the 2nd day (SS3 to SS8) contested on Saturday near Marmaris (southwest).
Neuville, victorious in the Monte-Carlo rally in January and 5th in the championship, widened a gap of 33.2 seconds over his two great French rivals, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) and Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai), tied for 2nd place.
Ogier, leader at noon, was delayed by gearbox problems, especially in SS6 at the start of the afternoon.
Loeb, who hasn't raced since Monte-Carlo in January (6th), was in the lead on Friday night and set the scratch time in the last special of the day (SS8).
General classification of Rally Turkey after SS8:
1. Thierry Neuville-Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL / Hyundai) 1 h 36: 38.6
2. Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena (FRA-MON / Hyundai) at 33.2
.
Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (FRA / Toyota) at 33.2
4. Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (GBR / Toyota) at 1: 00.8
5. Kalle Rovanperä-Jonne Halttunen (FIN / Toyota) at 1: 18.8
6. Teemu Suninen-Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN / M-Sport Ford) at 1: 35.0
7. Esapekka Lappi-Janne Ferm (FIN / M-Sport Ford) at 2: 28.0
8. Gus Greensmith-Elliott Edmonson (GBR / M-Sport Ford) at 3: 15.4
9. Pierre-Louis Loubet-Vincent Landais (FRA / Hyundai) at 4: 20.4
...
Best times in the special stages: Neuville 4 (SS1, SS5 to SS7), Ogier 3 (SS2 to SS4), Loeb 1 (SS8)
Abandonment:
Ott Tänak-Martin Järveoja (EST / Hyundai), steering problem (ES3)
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