Neuville maintains a narrow lead over Ogier in Greece

It is a beautiful, tight fight for the lead in Greece. Thierry Neuville, piloting his Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team machine, reached the midpoint of the leg with a 6.3sec advantage over Sébastien Ogier. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver started the day 9.7sec back but clawed that margin down across Ghymno and Kolines. However, Neuville had the perfect reply on Menalo Mt, stopping the bleeding and pushing the gap back out to 6.3sec.

Neuville was measured, noting that on these roads, "Ten seconds in front or behind doesn’t change anything." Ogier, for his part, is playing the long game; the nine-time world champion is keeping his eyes on a clean run, rightly terrified of the puncture risk that defines this terrain.

Behind them, Adrien Fourmaux is holding a podium spot for Hyundai, though he admits to a massive scare on Menalo Mt caused by a pacenote error. Further down, Takamoto Katsuta has climbed to fourth for Toyota, while Josh McErlean is holding steady in fifth for M-Sport Ford. Championship leader Elfyn Evans is charging back up to sixth, while Andreas Mikkelsen continues his masterclass at the front of the WRC2 field in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.