Date: Sunday, March 19th
Day: 4 Flash N°: 22
Special stage: San Diego Distance: 12.61 km
Weather: Warm and sunny, 19°C
Road conditions: Dry and dusty
NEUVILLE CLOSES TO WITHIN 2.7 SECONDS OF EVANS; OGIER LEADS BY 22.5 SECONDS
The penultimate stage of the rally. Was this the last chance saloon for Thierry Neuville in his quest to
overhaul Elfyn Evans and snatch second overall? The Welshman made a small mistake metres after
the start and that set the tone for the stage: Neuville closed the gap to 2.7 seconds heading into the
final speed test.
He had seen Evans working on his Toyota’s suspension on the road section to the stage, although the
Welshman claimed that the car was fine. It set up the prospect of a fascinating duel through the final
9.59km Wolf Power Stage at El Brinco.
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“We had some damper trouble on the last one. We make some adjustments and it’s affecting the
dampers.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“Of course, we try to save a bit the tyres and try and have a bit of pace. Let’s see who has the best tyres
for the Power Stage.”
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“I continue pushing. On the previous stage we had the dogs on the road and we lost one a half seconds,
Elfyn had been fixing his car on the road section. He had a suspensión problem on the last stage. He
is going to have some balls to drive flat out in this stage.
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
No mention of the potential suspensión issue. “Let’s see what happens…”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“We were managing in the morning. The Power Stage, we don’t go for the full attack but we go for a
decent drive.”
Car 7. LOUBET/GILSOUL
“For the moment it was not so easy. These two stages, the second pass was like driving on ice. It was
really tricky to stay on the road. I have no spare (tyre) so I was being really careful. Let’s just finish
now.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It was a very slippery stage. We take it easy.”
Car 9. SERDERIDIS/MICLOTTE
“We enjoy. We had a hot moment two kilometres from the end but we escaped from it.”
Car 20. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
“Its been a very zero risk morning. Not so pleasant when you think you have a slow puncture and you
are driving to the end. One more stage to go.”
Car 21. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
Made the same mistake at the same corner as Lindholm and dropped three seconds to the defending
champion. The car was not running smoothly at the stage finish. “Fast flat left over crest into a dip and
massive rock in the line and bang.”
Car 22. FOURMAUX/CORIA
Stopped for a long time in Otates and managed to finish the stage with the loss of around 17 minutes.
The team confirmed the Frenchman made an alternator belt change at the side of the stage. “I just saw
that the alternator belt went off and we first lost power steering and we drive 10km like this and then the
battery just died.”
Car 24. LINDHOLM/HÄMÄLÄINEN
An overshoot after running wide in a right-hander. “I stalled the car at a junction. My fault. Also with the
altitude so high you have to take care of the engine rpm. Oliver is probably a bit faster than us.
