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Hyundai's Thierry Neuville holds a shock Tour of Corsica lead of 4.5 seconds over M-Sport's Elfyn Evans overnight, as Toyota's World Rally Championship leader Ott Tanak hit trouble.



Tanak had led the rally heading into the afternoon in his Yaris WRC ahead of Evans, with Neuville's i20 Coupe WRC 17.2s behind.

Fiesta WRC driver Evans started the afternoon with intent, trimming Tanak's 2.3s advantage down to 1.6s on the first stage of the loop, Cap Corse.

The pair's epic battle defused however when Tanak stopped on SS11 with a punctured tyre. The Estonian lost over two minutes changing the tyre to stage winner Neuville and plummeted from first to seventh.

Tanak recovered on the final stage of Saturday to end the leg sixth, but the frustration was obvious.

Neuville had begun to drift away slightly from Tanak and Evans ahead of him throughout Saturday, but smelled blood when Tanak hit trouble.

He put in a sublime performance to slash 16s out of Evans on the final stage -Castagniccia - which was almost 30 miles in distance, turning a 11.5s deficit into a 4.5s to set up a dramatic finish on Sunday.

This came as a surprise to Evans, who had thought he had set a competitive stage time.

Five-time world champion Sebastien Ogier momentarily lost the anti-lag in his Citroen C3 on the final stage of the day which caused him significant distraction, but the Frenchman still manged to pass Dani Sordo to end the day third after starting sixth.

Sordo dropped 19.5s to Ogier in the 30 miles of Castagniccia to trail by 5.1s overall, lamenting his speed in the second pass of the stage he won in the morning.

Teemu Suninen was rejuvenated in the afternoon after dropping from fifth to sixth in the morning.

The M-Sport driver struggled to make any ground on Ogier and Sordo ahead of him but crucially kept his car on the road. He is now fifth after Tanak's demise.

Esapekka Lappi looked the same downbeat figure he has all weekend on the afternoon loop, as he continues to work on optimising the set-up of his Citroen in seventh.

Sebastien Loeb was unhappy with changes he'd made to his Hyundai at midday service, complaining of understeer. He ended the day where he started it in eighth.

Kris Meeke "enjoyed" his afternoon as he continues to hold ninth overall in his Toyota, avoiding any drama in stark contrast to his Friday.

Jari-Matti Latvala picked up his second puncture of the weekend on the penultimate stage of the day, almost understeering into the undergrowth before stopping to change it.

The Finn admitted it was his mistake as he was trying to push but cut a corner and destroyed his tyre. Despite this setback, Latvala is still 10th.

The final stage of the day was red flagged after Eric Camilli's Volkswagen Polo R5 caught on fire. Camilli had lost his WRC2 lead in the morning but was hunting down new class leader Fabio Andolfi.

Leading positions after SS12

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1 Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 2h56m50.0s 2 Elfyn Evans, S.Martin M-Sport Ford WRT Ford 4.5s 3 Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia Citroen Total WRT Citroen 44.8s 4 Dani Sordo, C.del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 49.9s 5 Teemu Suninen, M.Salminen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford 1m32.1s 6 Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 1m54.5s 7 Esapekka Lappi, J.Ferm Citroen Total WRT Citroen 1m59.3s 8 Sebastien Loeb, D.Elena Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 3m21.4s 9 Kris Meeke, S.Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 3m55.9s 10 Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 6m35.4s 11 Fabio Andolfi, S.Scattolin Fabio Andolfi Skoda 9m15.4s 12 Nikolay Gryazin, Y.Fedorov Nikolay Gryazin Skoda 9m47.0s 13 Ole-Christian Veiby, J.Andersson Ole Christian Veiby Volkswagen 9m59.5s 14 Kajetan Kajetanowicz, M.Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Volkswagen 12m05.3s 15 Takamoto Katsuta, D.Barritt Takamoto Katsuta Ford 12m40.1s 16 Rhys Yates, J.Morgan Rhys Yates Skoda 12m57.7s 17 Olivier Capanaccia, F.O.Piazza Olivier Capanaccia Skoda 16m12.6s 18 Sebastien Bedoret, T.Walbrecq Sebastien Bedoret Skoda 16m55.9s 19 Manu Guigou, A.Coria Emmanuel Guigou Renault 22m34.7s 20 Jean-Charles Beaubelique, J.Pesenti Jean-Charles Beaubelique Citroen 24m51.7s 21 Tom Kristensson, H.Appelskog Tom Kristensson Ford 24m56.4s 22 Dennis Radstrom, J.Johansson Dennis Radstrom Ford 24m56.8s 23 'Pedro', E.Baldaccini Pedro Ford 25m01.5s 24 Julius Tannert, J.Heigl ADAC Sachsen Ford 25m03.0s 25 Guillaume de Mevius, M.Wydaeghe Guillaume de Mevius Citroen 25m37.7s 26 Lukasz Pieniazek, K.Heller M-Sport Ford WRT Ford 26m47.1s 27 Yannick Vivens, C.Valibouze Yannick Vivens Citroen 28m07.0s 28 Florent Joly, C.Machi Florent Joly Citroen 29m17.8s 29 Armando Pereira, R.Tutelaire Armando Pereira Ford 29m43.4s 30 Jan Solans, M.Barreiro Rally Team Spain Ford 29m48.8s 31 Enrico Brazzoli, M.Fenoli Enrico Brazzoli Abarth 29m57.5s 32 Tom Williams, P.Hall Tom Williams Ford 30m40.7s 33 Mathieu Biasion, T.Barichella Mathieu Biasion Peugeot 31m05.9s 34 Alain Vauthier, G.Dini Alain Vauthier Ford 31m12.3s 35 Roland Poom, K.Jarveoja Roland Poom Ford 31m16.6s 36 Enrico Oldrati, E.De Guio Enrico Oldrati Ford 31m47.5s 37 Raul Badiu, G.Lazar Raul Badiu Ford 32m19.4s 38 Nico Knacker, T.Braun Adac Weser-Ems Ford 32m28.8s 39 Adrien Fourmaux, R.Jamoul Adrien Fourmaux Ford 32m54.4s 40 Jean-Philippe Martini, Y.Raffaelli Jean-Philippe Martini Peugeot 33m14.9s 41 Fabrizio Zaldivar, F.Mussano Fabrizio Zaldivar Ford 33m42.6s 42 Stefan Gottig, N.S.-Schmidt Stefan Gottig Skoda 33m59.4s 43 Frederic Perrard, F.Leclercq Frederic Perrard Peugeot 34m26.9s 44 Cedric Cardi, G.Dini Cedric Cardi Peugeot 35m10.5s 45 Eric Filippi, F.Mazotti Eric Filippi Renault 36m16.1s 46 Pierre Tanci, S.Malet Pierre Tanci Peugeot 36m37.0s 47 Eric Giannini, S.Marquez Eric Giannini Renault 37m01.5s 48 Philippe Catudal, M.Chianea Philippe Catudal Peugeot 37m01.9s 49 Nicolas Ciamin, Y.Roche Nicolas Ciamin Volkswagen 37m09.8s 50 Nicolas Leca, A.Torre Nicolas Leca Peugeot 38m11.1s 51 Thomas Argenti, F.Gordon Thomas Argenti Skoda 39m54.9s 52 Pierre-Louis Loubet, V.Landais Pierre-Louis Loubet Skoda 40m24.0s 53 Jean-Michel de Meyer, E.Fratti Jean-Michel De Meyer Peugeot 40m45.7s 54 Andrea Nucita, G.Princiotto Andrea Nucita Hyundai 41m08.1s 55 Simone Tempestini, S.Itu Simone Tempestini Hyundai 41m11.4s 56 Sylvain Lemaire, J.Pacaud Sylvain Lemaire Citroen 41m35.6s 57 Paul Gardere, J-L.Bufferne Paul Gardere Peugeot 41m46.6s 58 Yoann Bonato, B.Boulloud Yoann Bonato Citroen 43m39.5s 59 Michel Branca, G.Forns Michel Branca Peugeot 44m00.9s 60 Petr Nesetril, J.Cernoch Petr Nesetril Porsche 46m38.9s 61 Emmanuel Bracconi, F.Saoletti Emmanuel Bracconi Renault 46m43.1s 62 Alain Mari, J-D.Cesari Alain Mari Renault 47m09.1s 63 Yohan Merlenghi, P-P.Hentges Yohan Merlenghi Citroen 47m59.9s 64 Gregory Perrard, A.Malfoy Gregory Perrard Peugeot 48m33.4s 65 Thierry Bousquet, E.Defrance Thierry Bousquet Renault 48m45.0s 66 Martin Lemaire, P.Barboni Martin Lemaire Citroen 52m35.7s 67 Guy Dutreuil, L.Mallon Guy Dutreuil Citroen 53m25.5s 68 Dirkjan Schram, A.Moncada Dirkjan Schram Renault 53m33.7s 69 Francois Fraymouth, R.Felicelli Francois Fraymouth Peugeot 55m06.3s 70 Frederic Souffez, P.Darras Frederic Souffez Peugeot 1h03m30.4s 71 Alberto Sassi, F.Cangini Alberto Sassi Citroen 1h04m46.7s 72 Michael Coufranc, A.Caddeo Michael Coufranc Renault 1h04m59.4s 73 Claude Bensimon, I.Barbe Claude Bensimon Ford 1h06m09.9s 74 Nicolas d'Ulivo, A.Paolini Nicolas d'Ulivo Renault 1h06m55.7s 75 Thierry Agostini, D.Agostini Thierry Agostini Citroen 1h07m41.1s 76 Florian Picchioni, M.Bellavarde Florian Picchioni Citroen 1h07m52.8s 77 Robert Simonetti, C.Simonetti Robert Simonetti Citroen 1h08m24.9s 78 Williams Zanotto, C.Buccino Williams Zanotto Peugeot 1h11m45.0s 79 Pierre Kemp, J-M.Kemp Pierre Kemp Renault 1h21m28.6s



