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Neuville in control at Rally Australia

Nov 18th, 2017Nov 18th, 2017

Thierry Neuville will take a commanding lead into the final day of Rally Australia at Coffs Harbour after mishaps claimed the defending champion, landed a car in a creek, and forced the cancellation of a stage.

The Belgian holds a 19-second advantage over Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala after an abbreviated second day of racing on the NSW north coast.

Saturday's second running of the Newry stage was cancelled due to a damaged bridge, believed to have been caused by one of the cars earlier in the day.

The stage remained open for NSW and Queensland championship competitors, but under triple-caution conditions.

In an incident-filled day, Queensland Rally Championship competitors Ross Cox and Janet Binns crashed their Mitsubishi off a bridge and into a creek on the Nambucca stage, with bystanders helping to roll the car back onto its wheels.

Both were unharmed. It is a separate to the incident that caused the abandonment of the Newry stage.

Earlier, overnight leader and 2016 champion Andreas Mikkelsen was forced to retire after hitting a bank and puncturing two tyres, while Kris Meeke's rally ended due to suspension problems.

Mikkelsen had led by more than 20 seconds from Neuville and Meeke after a near-faultless day one, but the World Rally Championship (WRC) finale has become Neuville's to lose.

The Hyundai driver is not getting ahead of himself though, given heavy rain is predicted for Sunday.

"It's a good lead, but we have to be careful now because tomorrow, if the rain is coming, it's going to be really, really difficult," said Neuville, who is second overall in the WRC standings.

"It's not easy and the rally is still long."

Mikkelsen was all smiles on Friday but it was a different story on Saturday.

Carrying only one spare tyre, he was forced to miss the spectator-friendly Raleigh Raceway stage that followed his crash on the Newry stage and concede soon after that his rally was over.

"It's devastating, but what can you do?" Mikkelsen said.

"We are trying to push as hard as we can. Sometimes you get away with it, but not today."

Drivers will complete a 1.2km super special stage on Saturday night on the Coffs Harbour foreshore, a stage that Neuville won on Friday.

About 65km of racing remains across five short stages on Sunday's final day, with M-Sport's Sebastien Ogier assured of claiming his fifth world title regardless of the outcome.


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