Rally - Belgian surprise

Two Brits in the top ten at the end of the second full day of Rallying in Sweden but the star of the show is Thierry Neuville in the Hyundai who snatched the lead over the final two tests of the day.

At close of play today, a remarkably calm, and confident, Neuville said: “It has been another great day for us and it is a fantastic feeling to be leading the rally. I have pushed hard today and have really enjoyed the stages. I don’t think I have ever felt this good with the Hyundai i20 WRC. We made a good tyre choice today and I have been happy with our performance level. We have scored some stage wins and, in the final stage of the day, the repeat of Vargåsen, I had a fantastic jump over Colin’s Crest of 44 metres. It felt like a good jump and I am proud to pick up the award. We’ve had a close battle throughout the whole event so my target for tomorrow is, of course, to keep my position, but it’s close so we have to see what tomorrow brings. I’m ready for it.”

Neuville also earned himself this year’s ‘Colin’s Crest Award’ in the Vargåsen stage, breaking the record for the longest jump in the Arena as he leaped a staggering 44 mtrs. It is the second year running that a Hyundai Motorsport driver has claimed the award after Juho Hänninen took the honours last season.

Leaderboard after  18 (of 21) stages:

1. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) 2:29:54.5
2. Andreas Mikkelsen / Ola Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +1.5
3. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +9.6
4. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (Citroën DS3 WRC) +53.4
5. Ott Tanak / Raigo Molder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:29.2
6. Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC) +2:35.7
7. Martin Prokop / Jan Tomanek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +3:03.1
8. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +3:22.1
9. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (Citroën DS3 WRC) +3:22.5
10. Yurii Protasov / Pavlo Cherepin (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +4:19.6…