Despite holding a healthy 36.4s overnight lead, Neuville elected to push while the majority of his rivals opted to preserve their cars and tyres.
Heading into the final two stages of the rally, the Belgian opened up a 43.0s lead over Hyundai team-mate Esapekka Lappi, while championship leader Kalle Rovanpera maintained a lonely third, 2m11.2s adrift.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans cemented fourth ahead of Hyundai’s Dani Sordo, who completed the Rally1 field.
Conditions were at least dry for the opening stage of the day albeit held under ominous overcast skies.
The stage was won by M-Sport’s Ott Tanak, who rejoined the rally after his team was successful in fixing the electrical issue triggered by a water splash that put him out of podium contention on Saturday.
Tanak used the stage as a glorified test session to prepare for the visit to Kenya later this month.
Source: Autosport