After SS10: Neuville hits back in Corsica

Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg’s Thierry Neuville has hit back in his efforts to win Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc after going fastest on stage 10, the 22.47-kilometre Marato-Acqua Doria test.

Neuville struggled through the previous run with a handling glitch, which enabled Jan Kopecký to close up in his Škoda Fabia. But he was 0.3s quicker than Kopecký on the next stage to take a lead of 14.8s into service in Ajaccio.

“I pushed so much, I can’t do much more it’s impossible,” said Neuville. “For the second loop we will only go for one spare wheel and it will be better.”

Kopecký said: “The car is perfect. We changed the set-up yesterday evening and now everything is perfect.”

Andreas Mikkelsen has moved ahead of Freddy Loix into third overall, despite reporting a problem with a loose gear lever in his Škoda UK Fabia. Loix said he was “pushing to the maximum” but admitted he was still dropping time in his BFO Fabia.

Bryan Bouffier has closed the gap to fifth-placed Pierre Campana to 8.7s after going 9.3s quicker through the stage than his fellow Peugeot 207 driver.

Corsican Jean-Mathieu Leandri lost ground with a puncture, which also caused a slight delay to the chasing Toni Gardemeister. Leandri’s delay has enabled Patrik Sandell to move into 10th overall.

Standings after SS10: