Native hero Kalle Rovanpera (above) held an 8.0s WRC Rally Finland lead on Friday night time after an incident-filled opening leg ended with Toyota Gazoo Racing locking out the top-three locations.
The 2-time and reigning champion, who’s but to win his residence spherical of the FIA World Rally Championship, headed fellow Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Elfyn Evans after profitable 4 of in the present day’s 9 rain-affected particular levels. Sebastien Ogier rounded out the highest three, six-tenths of a second additional again in his GR Yaris.
Like eight-time champ Ogier, the flying Rovanpera, who was born and raised in Rally Finland’s host metropolis of Jyvaskyla, is working solely a part-time schedule in 2024. However ought to the 23-year-old Finn cling on for a victory on the super-fast levels that make up the “Finnish Grand Prix,” he’ll have swept the WRC’s run of three consecutive high-speed gravel occasions.
In stark distinction to Toyota’s early domination, arch rival Hyundai suffered a disastrous day, dropping two of its i20 N Rally1 automobiles to crashes. Title hopeful Ott Tanak, who was concentrating on a fourth Rally Finland win, was pressured out by a roll within the morning’s second stage. The heavy affect resulted in co-driver Martin Jarveoja being taken to hospital for precautionary medical checks, the place he’ll stay in a single day for monitoring.
Ott Tanak was aiming for a fourth Rally Finland win, however the Estonian’s quest ended prematurely when he rolled out on the opening morning. Jaanus Ree/Crimson Bull Content material Pool
In the meantime, Esapekka Lappi — a Rally Finland winner in 2017 — retired from fourth after hitting a tree which tore the rear suspension from his automotive. Lappi, who’s one other WRC common taking up solely a part-time function in 2024, is anticipated to restart his i20 N on Saturday.
Rovanpera battled extreme oversteer within the early levels to carry a slender lead of simply 0.2s over Evans on the day’s midpoint, however he raised the bar on the repeated afternoon loop to widen that hole because the puddle-covered gravel roads turned rutted and much more difficult.
There’s nonetheless two days to go, however the omens look good for the home-grown ace as, for the previous two years, Friday night time’s chief has gone on to win.
“It has been a difficult day, particularly with the climate,” Rovanpera mentioned. “Actually changeable and tough circumstances, so I’m fairly completely happy to have had a clear day.
“Tomorrow can be tough for certain — I believe there was lots of rain on these levels additionally, however we’ll see how it’s within the morning. All the blokes are pushing arduous and the gaps are actually small, so it’s going to be a giant battle.”
After the morning’s carnage, WRC factors chief Thierry Neuville was Hyundai’s final man standing. Climbing the standings after the retirements of his teammates, plus Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta’s crash on the morning’s ultimate stage, he held fourth in a single day, however was hindered by his automotive’s setup and a time-consuming overshoot within the morning. The Belgian trailed Ogier by 16.9s at day’s finish and, because it stands, is ready to see his factors buffer over title rival Evans shrink.
The shortage of a pre-event check meant Adrien Fourmaux needed to tweak the setup of his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 on street sections between levels. Holding an in a single day fifth with a 42.5s buffer over Sami Pajari, the Frenchman felt he had made good progress with the automotive by the top of the leg.
For Pajari, who was making his Rally1 debut in a manufacturing facility GR Yaris, the day was considered one of two halves. Two spins noticed the rising star finish the primary stage with a broken rear wing, forcing him to finish the morning’s remaining checks with considerably lowered aero.
Nevertheless, justifying the hype across the newest “Flying Finn,” he and co-driver Enni Malkonen went on to win the 4.82-mile Ruuhimaki 2 stage within the afternoon — their first quickest stage time on the sport’s high degree.
First trip in a headlining Rally1 automotive, Sami Pajari racked up a quickest stage time in his Toyota GR Yaris. Toyota GAZOO Racing
Gregoire Munster accomplished the Rally1 automobiles on the general leaderboard, the Luxembourg driver taking issues regular in his Puma Rally1 and constructing his expertise of the quickest rally on the WRC schedule.
In WRC2, the second tier of worldwide rallying, Oliver Solberg ended the opening leg with a commanding lead over Jari-Matti Latvala, whereas a number of of the class’s massive names bumped into bother.
Gus Greensmith, Emil Lindholm and Pierre-Louis Loubet had been simply a few of the main drivers to fall by the wayside in the present day, with all three struggling accidents on the rain-hit levels east of Jyvaskyla.
For Solberg, who stands in line to increase his WRC2 championship lead, there have been no such troubles. Driving a Toksport-run Skoda Fabia RS, the Swede was simply half a second away from Latvala on the day’s midway level, however a powerful afternoon efficiency, significantly on the second working of the 11.16-mile Laukaa 2 stage, noticed him widen that hole to 24.1s.
Latvala’s efficiency was spectacular in itself contemplating the Finn, whose “day job” is crew principal for Toyota Gazoo Racing, is contesting solely his second WRC rally in 4 years. The 18-time WRC occasion winner and co-driver Juho Hanninen grabbed stage wins on each passes of the 9.64-mile Myhinpaa check, a Finnish traditional.
Oliver Solberg constructed a commanding WRC2 lead after a flawless day in his Skoda Fabia RS. Jaanus Ree/Crimson Bull Content material Pool
Saturday is the rally’s longest day, that includes six levels and 89.61 aggressive miles, together with the return of the jumps and switchbacks that make up the legendary Ouninpohja stage.
WRC Rally Finland, positions after Leg One, SS10
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 58m24.7s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +8.0s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +8.6s
4 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +25.5s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +48.5s
6 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m31.0s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m52.7s
8 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 chief) +3m22.0s
9 Jari-Matti Latvala/Juho Hanninen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +3m46.1s
10 Robert Virves/Aleks Lesk (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m53.3s
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