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Argentina WRC: Neuville closes in after more Evans trouble

The lead of Elfyn Evans in Rally Argentina was hacked down to just 11.5 seconds on Saturday afternoon, as problems with his DMACK Ford allowed rivals to dramatically close in.

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

McKlein / Motorsport Images

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport
Elfyn Evans, Daniel Barritt, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Elfyn Evans, Daniel Barritt, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota Racing

The reigning British Rally champion's advantage peaked at just over a minute earlier on Saturday, before two damaged tyres meant the gap was reduced to 44s over Thierry Neuville by the midday service.

Evans put a second back on his lead on the first afternoon stage, but reached the finish concerned at a potential problem at the rear of his car.

That turned out to be the loss of the car's diffuser, and he lost 15.1s to second and third placed Neuville and Ott Tanak as they shared the fastest time on the long Los Gigantes stage.

The problems escalated on the day's finale, Boca del Arroyo, as after a competitive first split Evans began dropping more time with a problem at the rear of the car that he could not explain, and that led to a spin at one point.

Evans lost 18.9s to Neuville as the Hyundai driver won the stage, leaving them only 11.5s apart with three stages left on Sunday.

Tanak could not match Neuville's searing pace on that stage and ended the day 15.3s off second place and 26.8s from leader Evans.

However he did outpace M-Sport teammate Sebastien Ogier throughout the afternoon, the duo now 23.1s apart.

Mads Ostberg had started the afternoon ahead of both M-Sport drivers in his privately-entered Ford, but lost out to Tanak when he was overly cautious through the Tanti watersplash that had ripped his diffuser off in the morning.

Worse followed on Los Gigantes when Ostberg clouted a rock near the stage end and had to retire with broken suspension.

Jari-Matti Latvala completes the top five, steadily losing touch with the Fords ahead through the loop.

Hayden Paddon is a distant sixth, further delayed in the afternoon by a penalty for starting SS14 late when he tried to fix a broken rollbar. His efforts were in vain, but he still managed third-fastest times on both the following stages.

Juho Hanninen had nearly caught Lorenzo Bertelli when his Toyota ran into further mechnical trouble and was left limping through the final two stages.

But he still moved up to seventh at the Italian's expense as Bertelli then had to stop to change a puncture on the last stage.

Dani Sordo's recovery drive following his Friday morning damage has now brought him up to ninth ahead of WRC2 leader Pontus Tidemand.

Kris Meeke had returned under Rally2 after crashing on Day 1, but rolled again early on Los Gigantes and retired for the second time in as many days.

Standings after SS12:

ClaDriver/CodriverCarGap
1 united_kingdomElfyn Evans 
united_kingdomDaniel Barritt 
Ford Fiesta WRC '17 2h53m45.7s
2

belgiumThierry Neuville 
belgiumNicolas Gilsoul 

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 11.5s
3 estoniaOtt Tanak 
estoniaMartin Jarveoja 
Ford Fiesta WRC '17 26.8s
4 franceSébastien Ogier 
franceJulien Ingrassia 
Ford Fiesta WRC '17 49.9s
5 finlandJari-Matti Latvala 
finlandMiikka Anttila 
Toyota Yaris WRC 1m24.6s
6

 Hayden Paddon

 John Kennard

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4m26.7s
7

finlandJuho Hanninen 
finlandKaj Lindstrom 

Toyota Yaris WRC 9m34.3s
8 italyLorenzo Bertelli 
italySimone Scattolin 
Ford Fiesta WRC '17 12m10.0s
9

 Dani Sordo

 Marc Marti

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 13m26.8s
10

 Pontus Tidemand

 Jonas Andersson

Skoda Fabia R5 13m57.5s

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