Thierry Neuville scores surprising WRC win at Corsica's Tour de Corse

Thierry Neuville grabbed a dramatic victory at the WRC Corsica Linea – Tour de Corse on Sunday afternoon after final-stage heartbreak for Elfyn Evans.

Neuville was on the way to the podium ceremony in Calvi believing he had finished second when he discovered leader Evans had punctured a tire in the final speed test. Evans dropped 90 seconds, limping to the finish and handing Neuville a victory in his Hyundai i20 that moved the Belgian into a two-point lead in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Neuville carried a 4.5 second lead into Sunday’s final leg on Corsica’s east coast. His hopes took a hit when Evans destroyed him in the opening test, regaining 16.0 seconds to move into a seemingly comfortable 11.5 second advantage ahead of the final Wolf Power Stage.

“I tried to contact the team to get information, but we were unsure if we had won or not,” said Neuville. “Arriving at the podium I saw my mechanics and only then I understood we had.

“I’m really disappointed for Elfyn, who did a really good job, but we deserved it as well. It was a great battle.”

Three times Evans fought back to regain the lead during a topsy-turvy weekend on the asphalt, but there was no opportunity to do so for a fourth time.

“It’s difficult to accept but it’s the nature of the sport,” he said. “I think it happened on a straight piece of road, a hole or piece of stone that had lifted. I felt it straightaway but tried to drive on it to see if we could minimize the time loss.”

Sébastien Ogier was second, 40.3 seconds behind Neuville, after a torrid rally in his Citroen C3. Handling problems slowed the Frenchman and despite many set-up changes, he never found the pace he expected. He was 26.3 seconds ahead of Evans.

Dani Sordo took fourth in another i20, despite final day brake problems. The Spaniard fended off Teemu Suninen’s Fiesta by 6.2 seconds.

Ott Tänak completed the top six in a Toyota Yaris, the Estonian unable to recover from Saturday afternoon’s puncture which cost him the lead and a potential second victory of the season.

Esapekka Lappi and Sébastien Loeb were seventh and eighth, with Yaris team-mates Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala completing the leaderboard. Meeke provided some solace for Toyota by gaining maximum bonus points for winning the Wolf Power Stage.

Round five takes competitors to South America for the first of two fixtures there in three weeks. The gravel-road Xion Rally Argentina is based in Villa Carlos Paz April 25-28.
 

FINAL OFFICIAL CLASSIFICATION
POSNODRIVERELIGCLASSTOTALTOTAL
CO-DRIVERSTAGETIME
VEHICLETIME[PENALTY]
111Thierry NEUVILLE (BEL)MRC122:59.022:59.0
Nicolas GILSOUL (BEL)
Hyundai i20
21Sébastien OGIER (FRA)MRC123:39.323:39.3
Julien INGRASSIA (FRA)
Citroen C3
333Elfyn EVANS (GBR)MRC124:05.624:05.6
Scott MARTIN (GBR)
Ford Fiesta
46Dani SORDO (ESP)MRC124:17.424:17.4
Carlos DEL BARRIO (ESP)
Hyundai i20
53Teemu SUNINEN (FIN)MRC124:23.624:23.6
Marko SALMINEN (FIN)
Ford Fiesta
68Ott TÄNAK (EST)MRC124:39.024:39.0
Martin JÄRVEOJA (EST)
Toyota Yaris
74Esapekka LAPPI (FIN)MRC125:08.125:08.1
Janne FERM (FIN)
Citroen C3
819Sébastien LOEB (FRA)MRC126:38.226:38.2
Daniel ELENA (FRA)
Hyundai i20
95Kris MEEKE (GBR)MRC128:05.328:05.3
Sebastian MARSHALL (GBR)
Toyota Yaris
1010Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN)MRC129:43.629:43.6
Miikka ANTTILA (FIN)
Toyota Yaris
1138Fabio ANDOLFI (ITA)WRC2RC234:08.634:08.6
Simone SCATTOLIN (ITA)
Skoda Fabia
1228Nikolay GRYAZIN (RUS)WRC2RC234:12.534:12.5
Yaroslav FEDOROV (RUS)
Skoda Fabia
1335Kajetan KAJETANOWICZ (POL)WRC2RC237:01.937:01.9
Maciej SZCZEPANIAK (POL)
Volkswagen Polo GTI
1431Takamoto KATSUTA (JPN)WRC2RC238:00.538:00.5
Daniel BARRITT (JPN)
Ford Fiesta
1526Rhys YATES (GBR)WRC2RC238:07.138:07.1
James MORGAN (GBR)
Skoda Fabia
1649Olivier CAPANACCIA (FRA) RC241:48.341:48.3
Francois Olivier PIAZZA (FRA)
Skoda Fabia
1739Sebastien BEDORET (BEL)WRC2RC243:11.543:11.5
Thomas WALBRECQ (BEL)
Skoda Fabia
1854Emmanuel GUIGOU (FRA) RC349:43.249:43.2
Alexandre CORIA (FRA)
Renault Clio 4
1929Guillaume DE MEVIUS (BEL)WRC2RC251:24.851:24.8
Martijn WYDAEGHE (BEL)
Citroen C3
2081Julius TANNERT (DEU) RC451:50.051:50.0
Jürgen HEIGL (DEU)
Ford Fiesta
2130“PEDRO” (ITA)WRC2RC251:51.651:51.6
Emanuele BALDACCINI (ITA)
Ford Fiesta
2271Tom KRISTENSSON (SWE) RC451:51.951:51.9
Henrik APPELSKOG (SWE)
Ford Fiesta
2340Jean-Charles BEAUBELIQUE (FRA) RC151:55.851:55.8
Julien PESANTI (FRA)
Citroen DS3
2474Dennis RADSTROM (SWE) RC452:15.852:15.8
Johan JOHANSSON (SWE)
Ford Fiesta
2522Lukasz PIENIAZEK (POL)WRC2PRORC252:19.752:19.7
Kamil HELLER (POL)
Ford Fiesta
2655Yannick VIVENS (FRA) RC355:59.455:59.4
Christophe VALIBOUZE (FRA)
Citroen DS3
2766Florent JOLY (FRA) RC357:11.257:11.2
Cyril MACHI (FRA)
Citroen DS3
2873Jan SOLANS (ESP) RC457:38.857:38.8
Mauro BARREIRO (ESP)
Ford Fiesta
2941Armando PEREIRA (FRA) RC157:51.357:41.3
Remi TUTELAIRE (FRA)[10.0]
Ford Fiesta 
3025Adrien FOURMAUX (FRA)WRC2RC257:59.257:59.2
Renaud JAMOUL (FRA)
Ford Fiesta
3175Tom WILLIAMS (GBR) RC458:26.758:26.7
Phil HALL (GBR)
Ford Fiesta
3244Enrico BRAZZOLI (ITA)RGTRGT58:57.058:57.0
Manuel FENOLI (ITA)
Fiat 124 Abarth
3372Roland POOM (EST) RC459:25.359:25.3
Ken JARVEOJA (EST)
Ford Fiesta
3483Raul BADIU (ROU) RC459:50.359:50.3
Gabriel LAZAR (ROU)
Ford Fiesta
3586Mathieu BIASION (FRA) RC400:05.200:05.2
Tony BARICHELLA (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
3678Enrico OLDRATI (ITA) RC400:20.500:20.5
Elia DE GUIO (ITA)
Ford Fiesta
3742Alain VAUTHIER (FRA) RC100:31.400:31.4
Gilbert DINI (FRA)
Ford Fiesta
3882Nico KNACKER (DEU) RC401:26.901:26.9
Michael WENZEL (DEU)
Ford Fiesta
3987Jean Philippe MARTINI (FRA) RC402:44.902:44.9
Yoann RAFFAELLI (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
4052Stefan GÖTTIG (DEU) RC203:19.703:09.7
Natalie SOLBACH-SCHMIDT (DEU)[10.0]
Skoda Fabia 
4180Fabrizio ZALDIVAR (PRY) RC403:32.803:32.8
Fernando MUSSANO (PRY)
Ford Fiesta
4290Cedric CARDI (FRA) RC403:55.003:55.0
Francois GILBERT (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
4393Frederic PERRARD (FRA) RC404:17.504:17.5
Francis LECLERCQ (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
4434Pierre-Louis LOUBET (FRA)WRC2RC205:12.505:12.5
Vincent LANDAIS (FRA)
Skoda Fabia
45100Pierre TANCI (FRA) RC406:02.206:02.2
Sébastien MALET (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
4657Eric FILIPPI (FRA) RC306:06.505:56.5
Francis MAZOTTI (FRA)[10.0]
Renault Clio 4 
4736Simone TEMPESTINI (ROU)WRC2RC206:10.206:10.2
Sergiu Sebastian ITU (ROU)
Hyundai i20
4888Philippe CATUDAL (FRA) RC406:59.406:59.4
Mireille CHIANEA (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
4924Yoann BONATO (FRA)WRC2RC208:08.108:08.1
Benjamin BOULLOUD (FRA)
Citroen C3
5096Nicolas LECA (FRA) RC409:09.208:59.2
Jean François ORTS (FRA)[10.0]
Peugeot 208 VTI 
5199Paul GARDERE (FRA) RC412:27.412:27.4
Jean-Louis BUFFERNE (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
5268Sylvain LEMAIRE (FRA) RC313:03.113:03.1
Jeremy PACAUD (FRA)
Citroen DS3
5397Jean-Michel DE MAYER (FRA) RC414:06.014:06.0
Eric FRATTI (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
5451Michel BRANCA (FRA) RC214:40.714:40.7
Gerald FORNS (FRA)
Peugeot 208 T16
5546Petr NESETRIL (CZE)RGTRGT17:17.417:17.4
Jiri CERNOCH (CZE)
Porsche 997 GT3
56107Emmanuel BRACCONI (FRA) RC519:03.019:03.0
Florian SAOLETTI (FRA)
Renault Twingo
57104Yohan MERLENGHI (FRA) RC421:25.121:25.1
Pierre Pascal HENTGES (FRA)
Citroen C2
5863Thierry BOUSQUET (FRA) RC321:47.921:47.9
Elisabeth DEFRANCE (FRA)
Renault Clio 4
5995Gregory PERRARD (FRA) RC421:48.621:48.6
Andy MALFOY (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
60106Martin LEMAIRE (FRA) RC424:53.224:53.2
Philippe BARBONI (FRA)
Citroen C2
61109Guy DUTREUIL (FRA) RC527:14.427:14.4
Laurent MALLON (FRA)
Citroen DS3
6261Alberto SASSI (ITA)RGTRGT35:30.035:30.0
Fabio CANGINI (ITA)
Fiat 124 Abarth
6343Robert SIMONETTI (FRA) RC137:22.237:22.2
Celia SIMONETTI (FRA)
Citroen DS3
6460Michael COUFRANC (FRA) RC338:52.435:12.4
Allan CADDEO (FRA)[3:40.0]
Renault Clio 
65105Florian PICCHIONI (FRA) RC439:46.339:46.3
Melodie BELAVARDE (FRA)
Citroen C2
66108Nicolas D'ULIVO (FRA) RC540:08.340:08.3
Angelique PAOLINI (FRA)
Renault Twingo
67101Fred SOUFFEZ (FRA) RC447:49.647:49.6
Pascaline DARRAS (FRA)
Peugeot 208 VTI
6864Pierre KEMP (FRA) RC356:37.456:17.4
Jean-Marc KEMP (FRA)[20.0]
Renault Clio 
M = WRC MANUFACTURERS / T = WRC TEAMS / WRC2 = WRC 2 TEAMS/DRIVERS
WRC2 Prod = WRC 2 PRODUCTION DRIVERS / WRC3 = WRC 3 TEAMS/DRIVERS  
 JWRC = JUNIOR WRC / RGT = RGT DRIVERS

 

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