Neuville moves clear as Tanak drops out
Top 15 classification after SS15 at Rally Argentina
Thierry Neuville looks set to secure victory at Rally Argentina after major rival Ott Tanak dropped out of contention with a suspected battery issue on his Toyota.
Top 15 classification after SS15 at Rally Argentina
Thierry Neuville looks set to secure victory at Rally Argentina after major rival Ott Tanak dropped out of contention with a suspected battery issue on his Toyota.
The Hyundai driver saw his lead shrink to 4.3s over Tanak at the end of the 13th stage but disaster stuck for the Toyota driver midway through SS14 when he stopped on the stage. Toyota confirmed it suspects a battery or alternator-related issue after being aware of a decreasing battery charge at the start of the stage.
With the Estonian dropping down the order, Hyundai looks set for a 1-2 finish with Andreas Mikkelsen promoted to second place – 45.7s off teammate Neuville at the end of Saturday’s running.
Kris Meeke returns to the provisional podium places in third but has a resurgent Sebastien Ogier charging back into contention after fixing a power steering problem on his Citroen. The defending WRC champion ends SS15 2.8s off Toyota’s Meeke to set up an intriguing fight for the podium.
Hyundai’s Dani Sordo is six seconds off Ogier in fifth place with a comfortable 16.8s gap to Jari-Matti Latvala for Toyota.
M-Sport Ford’s Teemu Suninen remains seventh over two minutes off his fellow countryman with WRC2 leader Mads Ostberg, promoted to eighth spot ahead of Tanak in the general classification, as Pedro Heller rounds out the points places.
