Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville extended his lead on the first full day of the Rallye Monte Carlo, aided by a mistake from reigning World Champion Sébastien Ogier.
Neuville opened up a slender advantage on Thursday evening, with only one stage held after the first run was cancelled when a spectator sustained fatal injuries following Hayden Paddon’s crash.
Drama struck on the opening stage of the day (SS3) when Ogier went wide on ice and slid into a ditch, losing 40 seconds in the process, plunging towards the foot of the top 10.
Citroën's Kris Meeke emerged as Neuville’s closest challenger but he erred and hit a bank in SS4, breaking his C3’s suspension, side-lining him from the remainder of the day’s action.
Ott Tänak, who won the first stage of the day, emerged in second position, before Neuville extended his lead by winning three stages on the bounce.
Ogier, who had swiftly worked his way back up to third after his initial error, clawed back time with a commanding display through SS7 and emerged quickest once more from SS8, while Tänak lost further time to Neuville and slipped behind M-Sport team-mate Ogier.
Neuville, though, was compromised when he stalled the i20’s engine at a hairpin and drove without boost for 500 metres, before resetting the system.
The Belgian ace was nonetheless able to finish the day 41.5s in front of Ogier, with Tänak just three-tenths back in third.
Juho Hänninen initially led Toyota’s charge but crashed out after hitting a tree, leaving Jari-Matti Latvala to resume duties for the manufacturer, as he ended the day in fourth.
Latvala, who survived a glitch and a spin on the final stage, is over a minute behind Tänak.
Dani Sordo and Craig Breen both encountered problems; Sordo’s i20 stalled several times under braking for hairpins while Breen spun twice. The pair ended the day fifth and sixth respectively.
WRC2 leader Andreas Mikkelsen placed seventh, with Elfyn Evans eighth, Pontus Tidemand ninth and Jan Kopecký completing the top 10.
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