World Rally Championship title hopeful Thierry Neuville shared the joint-fastest time on the opening stage of Rally Turkey with team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen as Hyundai set the pace.
Mikkelsen and Neuville – who is 33 points behind Ott Tanak in the drivers’ standings – both completed the stage in 2m2.6s, going 1.6 seconds faster than M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC driver Pontus Tidemand, who is making his first start since the second round of 2019 in Sweden.
Reigning champion Sebastien Ogier was the fourth-fastest driver around the streets of Marmaris in his Citroen, just ahead of Kris Meeke – who had been fastest in shakedown earlier in the day for Toyota.
Although it is Meeke’s first time experiencing the tough terrain of Rally Turkey he is aided by the experience of co-driver Seb Marshall, who finished on the podium last year alongside Hayden Paddon.
Citroen’s Esapekka Lappi managed a time 3.9s slower the leading duo and sits sixth, with the Finn looking forward to moving away from the asphalt street stage and onto the more representative gravel for the rest of the rally.
Points leader Tanak, who is the defending Rally Turkey winner, took a conservative approach to the opening stage of the rally and set the seventh-fastest time of the evening.
WRC2 Pro championship leader Kalle Rovanpera (Skoda Fabia R5) was 0.3s faster than Finnish compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala in his Yaris World Rally Car.
Dani Sordo set the 10th-fastest time on his first visit to the event, ahead of the M-Sport of Teemu Suninen.
Leading positions after SS1
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 2m02.6s | – |
| 1 | Andreas Mikkelsen, A.Jager | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 2m02.6s | – |
| 3 | Pontus Tidemand, O.Floene | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford | 2m04.2s | 1.6s |
| 4 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | Citroen Total WRT | Citroen | 2m04.3s | 1.7s |
| 5 | Kris Meeke, S.Marshall | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 2m04.6s | 2.0s |
| 6 | Esapekka Lappi, J.Ferm | Citroen Total WRT | Citroen | 2m06.5s | 3.9s |
| 7 | Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 2m06.8s | 4.2s |
| 8 | Kalle Rovanpera, J.Halttunen | Skoda Motorsport | Skoda | 2m06.9s | 4.3s |
| 9 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 2m07.2s | 4.6s |
| 10 | Dani Sordo, C.del Barrio | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 2m07.5s | 4.9s |
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