– Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) enters the final stage on Sunday as the leader of the Croatia Rally, the fourth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC). On the Saturday stage, which consisted of eight special stages (SS), Sami Pajari (Toyota) initially managed his lead from Friday in the morning.
Read more NLS3 2026: Schubert-BMW wins after KCMG penalty
On the second afternoon stage (SS14), however, Pajari suffered a puncture while leading. The necessary wheel change cost almost two minutes. “I have no idea where I got the [puncture]. But it can’t be changed now,” said Pajari at the finish of SS14.
What’s more: Pajari’s Toyota teammate Takamoto Katsuta, who had started the Saturday stage in third and had briefly taken second position from Neuville in the morning, suffered a puncture of his own on SS14. “There was a stone on the inside of a corner. It slashed my tire. It’s really annoying,” said Katsuta.
The beneficiary of the two punctures (they were not the only ones in the Toyota team on Saturday) was Hyundai driver Neuville. Although the Belgian did not set a single fastest stage time on the second day of the Croatia Rally, he enters the final stage on Sunday with a lead of 1:14 minutes over Katsuta. Pajari is just under 32 seconds behind Katsuta.
“Everything is just working this weekend,” said Neuville at the finish of the Saturday stage. “We found something we feel comfortable with. And lo and behold, we are able to fight at the top. I really have a good feeling in the car this weekend and I’m enjoying it.” Hyundai made changes to the dampers and the differential for the Croatia Rally.
There were also shifts behind the top 3 on Saturday. Neuville’s Hyundai teammate Adrien Fourmaux, who started the day in fifth, damaged the suspension of his i20 N in an incident on the last morning stage (SS12) and had to retire.
Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) remains fourth in the standings. The new fifth-place holder after Fourmaux’s retirement is now the leader in the WR2 standings, namely Leo Rossel in the Lancia Ypsilon HF. The Frenchman leads the WRC2 field by one minute over his younger brother Leo Rossel (Citroen) an.
Oliver Solberg with frustration in his gut: Six fastest stage times, two punctures
Toyota driver Oliver Solberg, who had slid into a ditch on the very first special stage on Friday and had to retire early for the day, was the first to take to the track on Saturday with the reversed starting order.
Read more Criticism of George Russell: “He is playing a certain game there”
He made use of this especially in the morning, as all four fastest stage times before the midday service (SS9-12) went to Solberg. “I’m happy with my performance today, but of course still extremely disappointed about yesterday,” Solberg said at the service park at noon.
In the afternoon, however, Solberg also suffered a front-left puncture on SS13, one stage earlier than the punctures on the cars of his Toyota teammates Pajari and Katsuta. Solberg reached the finish of SS13 with a large gap at a slow pace. However, the Swede is only eligible for championship points on Sunday anyway. The same applies to his championship-leading teammate Elfyn Evans, who had an accident on Friday.
After Solberg had secured all four morning stage wins on Saturday before his puncture, two more stage wins went to him in the afternoon. The other two fastest times were taken by Katsuta and Evans. On SS16, Solberg had another puncture after the left front tire slowly lost air. “That was a bit strange, but it’s okay. At least I won the other stages,” said Solberg at the stage finish.
Fire in Josh McErlean’s M-Sport Ford
The M-Sport Ford team also did not get through the day’s eight asphalt stages without problems on Saturday. Both Jon Armstrong, who had an accident on Friday, and teammate Josh McErlean suffered punctures of their own on Saturday afternoon. McErlean also struggled with a damaged rim after all his spare wheels had already been used up.
The biggest incident in the M-Sport team on Saturday, however, was a fire that flickered in McErlean’s Ford Puma on SS10. The cause was a cable fire. While McErlean and co-driver Eoin Treacy extinguished the fire, seven minutes passed.
In the rally standings, McErlean is in the lower part of the top 20 after the Saturday stage. Teammate Armstrong, like Toyota factory drivers Oliver Solberg and Elfyn Evans, is ranked outside the top 20 after his crash the previous day.
Read more Max Verstappen advised Gianpiero Lambiase to switch
