139km across six stages awaited the crews on what was the longest stage of the rally.
The first casualty was Ogier after clipping a rock 25.1km into the stage which broke a bolt and forced the Frenchman’s retirement.
Neuville, now with a better road position, quickly dispatched Munster while rally leader Evans dropped 9.7 seconds to Rovanperä, the gap now down to 1.8 seconds. The double and defending WRC Champion passed Tänak for second, helped by the Hyundai driver having a quick spin.
In spite of light rain falling and thick mist at the top of the stage, feeling the heat, Evans blitzed SS9, the last of the morning loop to open his lead to 11.3 seconds while Neuville took fourth off Pajari. Down in the M-Sport Ford camp, Fourmaux closed to 0.4 seconds off his teammate Munster.
In the tricky conditions, Gryazin lost his second place in WRC2 to Solberg with Rossel still comfortably ahead. After service, the status quo remained barring Fourmaux demoting Munster in the tussle for fifth.
Stage 11 saw the next change of overall positions, Evans dropping a whopping 24.1 seconds as thick fog swirled about. “I couldn’t see beyond the bonnet, it’s crazy”, reported the Welshman at stage end.
Rovanperä had 15.1 seconds in hand at the end of play, with Evans, Tänak, Neuville and Fourmaux holding station.
In WRC2, by mid day, Solberg had the lead he needed to win the title in South America. Rossel was in second ahead of the Bulgarian Gryazin. Stage 11 was also not kind to the WRC2 runners. Solberg had a lengthy stop to change a tyre, dropping to fifth, 1m23.7 off the lead he’d just held. Gryazin popped up in the lead from Gus Greensmith and Rossel
Discussion about this post