As we wrote in the previous article, stopping for the chicanes creates dirt. They injured the driver after the first speed stage Ott Tanak, who failed to stop in time. Tanak then broke the rhythm and eventually finished 5th in 9.6 seconds on the stage.
And the surprise Craig Breen / Paul Nagle with Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC after pure driving came to the first position.
Craig Breen last drove here in 2013 and 2014 and, as he put it, struggles to remember where there is a grip and where there isn't.
Definitely in some places the grip is not good to attack at maximum all turns.
Gradually, Thierry Neuville / M. Wydaeghe got into the rhythm, who started to win stage victories and topped the standings. Neuville did not complain, saying that everything was under control.
The last stage for the first day of CE8 - Zonnebeke 2 was canceled for security reasons.
Thus, after the end of Day 1, Thierry Neuville / M. Wydaeghe led with a time of 1: 04: 27.0. Craig Breen / Paul Nagle did just 7.6 seconds.
Third are Ott Tanak / M Jarveoja in 31.2 seconds. The first three are with Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC cars.
The leader so far in the general classification Sebastien Ogier is sixth in 39.4 seconds.
There are only 8 seconds between the 3rd and 6th differences, so the fight continues tomorrow with 8 new stages.

Local hero Thierry Neuville had an advantage in the shakedown today and deservedly recorded the best time, namely 4: 22.50, ahead of Ott Tanak with 0.8 seconds and Sebastien Ogier with 2.1 seconds.
In the first special stage today Reninge-Vleteren 1 with a length of 15.00 km the fastest were Ott Tanak / M. Jarveoja with Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC followed by Thierry Neuville / M. Wydaeghe also with Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC at 2.3 seconds.
Surprisingly good weather for the Irishman Craig Breen with navigator Paul Nagle again with Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC only 2.5 after Tanak.
The race starts in perfect conditions 22 degrees and light clouds - dry tracks.
Sebastien Ogier made minor mistakes, finishing on 6th position in stage 1.
In general, there are a lot of chicanes in the Ypres rally, where there is dirt on the tracks and it predisposes to errors in braking distances by the racers.
Rally Ypres 2021 continues, and for today a total of 8 special stages are planned.