At the end of Friday morning, Adrien Fourmaux is new rally leader in Sardinia with Thierry Neuville and Oliver Solberg following him.
Adrien Fourmaux managed to gain five places and to move up from seventh to second overall just 0,7 seconds behind the first Sebastien Ogier at the end of Stage 2 as he was the fastest driver there. In Stage 3, Fourmaux took the lead of Rally Sardinia and was able to leave Sami Pajari behind as their gap was at 0,8 seconds in favor of Fourmaux at the end of SS2. In fact, Fourmaux was able to extend his lead over the third Pajari to 4,2 seconds and to be ahead of the second Thierry Neuville for 1,5 seconds after SS3. The Frenchman is now 4,6 seconds ahead of his teammate with three stages remaining until the end of Friday.
Thierry Neuville climbed from fifth to second overall after the end of Stage 3 as he set the fastest time there, but his second place is under threat by the third Oliver Solberg who is 3,5 seconds adrift after SS4.
Oliver Solberg lost seven places and dropped from first to eighth overall as he got a front left puncture in Stage 2, but he recovered in Stage 3 as he was fourth. The Swede driver set the fastest time in Stage 4 and stole the third place from Sami Pajari for 2,6 seconds while he is just 3,5 seconds behind Neuville.
Sami Pajari was able to take only one place and to be third at the end of Stage 2 while he kept this position until the end of Stage 3. In Stage 4, the Finn slipped behind Solberg for 2,6 seconds as it was difficult for Pajari to find pace with his Yaris considering that he was second on the road this morning.
Sebastien Ogier is fifth overall as he took three positions back in Stage 4. In fact, Ogier was leading Rally Sardinia for 0,8 seconds over Fourmaux after SS2, but he dropped to eighth overall after SS3 due to a front right puncture. However, he stayed out of trouble in Stage 4 and now completes the top five.
Elfyn Evans slipped behind Ogier for 1,9 seconds at the end of Stage 4 and is now sixth overall, but the main thing is that he was consistent despite his road position. In fact, the Welshman was fourth and fifth after the end of SS2 and SS3 respectively.
Josh McErlean is the best driver for M-Sport Ford as he sits in seventh position overall while he was just ninth after Stage 2 which means that he gained two places in Stage 3.
Teemu Suninen, Emil Lindholm and Gus Greensmith complete the top 10.
Takamoto Katsuta, Jon Armstrong, Martins Sesks and Dani Sordo are outside the top ten with the first one having a front left puncture and having had to stop to change it.
Armstrong was tenth overall after SS3 and lost more than two minutes in Stage 4 as he stopped to change a puncture which happened after a crest.
Sesks had the same bad with Armstrong in Stage 4 and was the highest-placed driver from M-Sport Ford as he was eighth after SS2.
Sordo's race worsened in Stage 3 as he stopped to change front right puncture. He lost more than four minutes as Robert Virves overtook him on the stage which means that the Spaniard had zero visibility due to the dust.
Watch below the stage times:
Watch below the overall classification after SS4:
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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