The Hyundai driver, contesting a first WRC event of a partial campaign, netted a fourth stage win of the snow rally to briefly extend his lead to 5.7s before Tanak fought back on the final stage of the loop.
Tanak struggled for pace in the day’s first two stages but a push in Stage 11 cut Breen’s advantage back to 2.6s, the margin that split the pair at the start of the day.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi was unable to close on Breen and Tanak, as the Finn completed the loop 17.3s behind, and only 10.2s ahead of world champion Kalle Rovanpera, who climbed to fourth.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville picked up a first-stage win of the event to head to midday service in fifth. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans struggled for pace, dropping from fourth to sixth overall, but comfortably ahead of M-Sport’s Pierre-Louis Loubet, who struggled with hybrid issues.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta rejoined the rally following his retirement due to damage incurred in a roll on Friday.
Rally leader Breen started the morning having escaped a time penalty overnight after FIA stewards found the Irishman had breached regulations on Thursday night by driving 30 metres in a designated hybrid zone in EV mode using his i20 N’s internal combustion engine.
Luckily Breen was only handed a reprimand after explaining that he left parc ferme using EV power for a 300-metre stretch due to an issue with his engine. The team managed to fix the engine problem but didn’t want to shut off the power in the HEV zone until they were confident it would fire up again.
Penalty scare avoided, Breen picked up where he left off on Friday, as he extended his overall lead on the morning’s first stage despite posting the third fastest time. The effort was quicker than rivals Tanak and Lappi as the advantage grew to 4.6s from Tanak.
“The [mad hatter’s] tea party is alive,” said Breen. “Fair play to the Hyundai engine boys, they’ve done a cracking job.”
Breen’s teammate Neuville posted the fastest time despite finding it difficult to trust the braking performance of his i20 N on the test that featured a series of long straights into corners.
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1
Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images
Toyota’s Rovanpera was the Belgian’s nearest rival 1.1s shy of the Belgian, but the world champion wasn’t happy with the suspension set-up change on his GR Yaris made overnight.
In the battle for fourth overall, Evans began to come under increasing…
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