After SS7: Neuville grows Corsica advantage

Thierry Neuville continues to lead Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc following his victory on the repeat of the Taverna-Pont de Castirla stage.

Neuville, who is chasing his first victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, now holds an advantage of 17.4s in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 Super 2000.

“It was quite good,” said the 22-year-old. “The car is working good and Nicolas [Gilsoul] and me are working good.”

Škoda Motorsport’s Jan Kopecký was second fastest through the stage with Freddy Loix third to close to within 2.6s of third-placed Andreas Mikkelsen in the overall standings.

Corsican Pierre Campana, armed with new rear dampers on his 207, impressed with the fourth fastest time.

The stage was 15 minutes late starting following an accident on the previous test involving the course opening ‘zero’ car of Ari and Max Vatanen. Ari Vatanen has been flown to hospital in Bastia for checks. Max Vatanen was uninjured.

Stage eight, the 25.15-kilometre Erbajolo-Pont d’Altiani test, concludes today’s action. It is due to start at 17:40hrs local time.

Standings after SS7: