WRC – Stunning Saturday puts Rovanperä in charge in Finland
Kalle Rovanperä is on course to break his Secto Rally Finland victory duck after a stunning run of five stage wins during Saturday’s second leg left him comfortably clear of the field.
The two-time winner of the FIA World Rally Championship completed the penultimate leg of the four-day event with a 44.2s advantage over his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid team-mate Sébastien Ogier. Points leader Thierry Neuville, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, ended up 39.2s further back in third.
Finland’s fast and furious Friday turned into a super-speed Saturday with Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Ogier heading up a Toyota 1-2-3 this morning. But it all went wrong for Evans when his car’s front right driveshaft broke on the blisteringly fast Päijälä test, forcing him to negotiate around 40 kilometres worth of special stages in road mode – losing almost six minutes – before repairs could be made in service.
Rovanperä’s advantage over the now second-placed Ogier had ballooned to more than 20s by the day’s midpoint and he continued his flawless drive despite changeable weather this afternoon, winning all but one stage including both passes of the legendary Ouninpohja.
“In the morning there was a good fight and we kept pushing today,” said Rovanperä, who crashed while leading his home fixture last year. “We did some quite strong times without taking any huge risks, so that is quite positive.”
Ogier was not in the mood for taking unnecessary risks and admitted that having not competed here since 2021, he lacked the commitment needed to challenge Rovanperä.
“The commitment needs to be at 100 per cent,” the eight-time champion remarked, “and two years missing here makes it more challenging. In Finland, there are not so many guys who can follow the 100 per cent of Kalle Rovanperä.”
After struggling for pace on Friday, today brought positivity for Neuville and his title aspirations. While Evans, currently third in the driver’s standings, has so far failed to register a score, Neuville’s overnight standing provisionally earns him 13 championship points. Ott Tänak, who was second coming into this round, did not restart following his crash on Friday morning.
Adrien Fourmaux set a similar pace to Neuville on the stages but trailed the Belgian by 25.9sec after struggling to regain time lost to him yesterday. His M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid team-mate Grégoire Munster’s day was over in a blink after the Luxembourger rolled four kilometres into the opening stage.
Sami Pajari and co-driver Enni Mälkönen are on course to record a top-five result on their GR Yaris Rally1 debut, with 29.5s separating the young Finnish pair from Fourmaux.
Oliver Solberg leads the FIA WRC2 category as well holding sixth overall ahead of category rival Jari-Matti Latvala. Jesse Kallio leads FIA WRC3 with FIA Rally Star Taylor Gill on top in FIA Junior WRC.
Following his Saturday restart, Esapekka Lappi was fastest through SS15 but was forced to change a damaged tyre on both runus of Ouninpohja.
Twin visits to Sahloinen-Moksi and Laajavuori form the Super Sunday route with the repeat of Laajavuori forming the event-deciding Wolf Power Stage from 13:15. The 14.27km Sahloinen-Moksi stage from 08:55 local time.