Neuville edges ahead of Ogier

Top 15 classification after SS5 at Rallye Monte-Carlo

Thierry Neuville has claimed the lead of Rallye Monte-Carlo but holds a slender advantage over defending champion Sebastien Ogier after Friday’s morning loop.

Neuville jumped into the lead on SS4 after SS3 was cancelled due to safety concerns with spectators spotted in dangerous areas. Neuville’s new Hyundai teammate Sebastien Loeb claimed his maiden stage win with his new team but it was the Belgian driver who moved into the lead ahead of overnight leader Ott Tanak.

But Ogier closed the gap to Neuville with victory on SS5 to end the morning loop 3.4s behind in second place. Tanak lost significant time on SS5 with “destroyed tyres” on his Toyota to slip to third place and 16.9s off Neuville.

Loeb has moved up to fourth place, 50.6s behind Neuville, with Hyundai completing a strong start to Rallye Monte-Carlo with Andreas Mikkelsen moving up to fifth place.

Jari-Matti Latvala holds sixth place for Toyota ahead of fellow Finn Esapekka Lappi for Citroen with Elfyn Evans (M-Sport Ford), Kris Meeke (Toyota) and Pontus Tidemand (M-Sport Ford) rounding out the top ten.