Kalle Rovanperä moved into the lead of Rally Finland after winning two of the four Friday morning stages. The two-time world champion’s Toyota GR Yaris holds a 4.4-second advantage, with Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux leading an incredibly tightly packed group of four cars in the battle for second as the early runners fought to keep in touch.
Seeking a maiden victory on his home round of the World Rally Championship, Rovanperä was third fastest through the day’s opening test, the 11.2 miles of Laukaa, marginally slower than his Toyota team-mates Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta.
But Rovanperä then won the next two. He was particularly impressive through the super-fast SS3 Saarikas, effectively a new stage as it ran in a reversed direction. The Finn was 1.6s faster than Fourmaux and at least 2.8s quicker than the rest, reckoning “it was a nice one because it had new notes so you can make some difference”.
Rovanperä extended his advantage over Fourmaux by another 1.1s on the rollercoaster ride through SS4 Myhinpää, ultra-commitment making up for his lack of confidence on the Hankook rubber. “I’m not comfortable on this kind of stuff this year, I don’t like the feeling,” he admitted. “But we are trying all the time.”
Though less than five miles long, there was a greater cleaning effect on the morning’s final stage, SS5 Ruuhimäki, due its number of junctions. Rovanperä was fourth fastest but still extended his lead by another 0.4s over Fourmaux.
Fourmaux was more than satisfied with his morning’s work, including recording the second fastest time on Saarikas. He reported: “I’m really pleased with the pace and the balance of the car, so it’s a good fight with Kalle. He is always quicker a little bit but we are there so the pressure is still there.”
Fourmaux appears happier with Hyundai than his team-mates
Like team-mate Rovanperä, Pajari won two of the morning’s stages, SS2 and SS5, pipping Katsuta by 0.1s on both. A year after making his Rally1 debut on this event, he lies third overall, just 0.1s behind Fourmaux and 0.3s in front of team-mate Katsuta. “Quite solid morning loop, I must say,” Pajari offered.
Fifth on the road, just behind Rovanperä, Neuville also had a decent morning despite complaining of a loose rear end and opting for a cautious approach through the fastest sections.
“It’s just pure taking risks,” Neuville bemoaned after SS3. “It’s not proper driving and feeling the car. It’s saying that it might be flat, I try and let’s see. It’s not at all what I like and that’s why I prefer just to take it safe. If you have a crash in there the average speed must be super-high, so not what rallying is about.”
Of the first three cars on the road, Elfyn Evans got the better of Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier and championship leader Ott Tänak’s Hyundai. Evans was second fastest through the “mega” Myhinpää and lies sixth overall, 4.4s down on Neuville and 9.3s off the ultimate pace. “It’s been OK,” he reckoned. “Things are working are OK, so let’s see what the afternoon’s like.”
Evans fared better than Ogier and Tänak through morning's stages
Ogier, last year’s Rally Finland winner, is 0.4s further back. He admitted he was still trying to find a rhythm on the event’s high-speed stages, having sat out last month’s Rally Estonia. “It could have been a little better,” he said, “but I think it’s all so close and a little hesitation costs a lot. The roads are almost too fast in places – they’re just flat out everywhere so not the most enjoyable in places, but I try to do better this afternoon.”
Sweeping the road for the rest of the field, overnight leader Tänak dropped to eighth overall, 6.4s behind Ogier. “For the moment, the package is not good enough to open quickly the road,” he summarized.
The M-Sport trio of Mārtiņš Sesks, Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster complete the Rally1 field, effectively fighting their own intra-team battle. Sesks leads the way in ninth overall, 5.9s behind Tänak and 6.1s ahead of McErlean.
Munster had a tough time, with a huge sideways moment on SS3 before overshooting a chicane on SS4. With a lack of confidence in his Ford Puma’s rear end, he slipped to 21.4s behind McErlean.
In WRC2, just 0.2s separates the leaders after Friday morning’s stages. Emil Lindholm (Škoda Fabia RS) leads the way from three-time overall Rally Finland winner Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota GR Yaris), both benefiting from advantageous road positions.
Estonian duo Robert Virves (Škoda) and Georg Linnamäe(Toyota) are third and fourth, another 3.2s and 5.9s back, respectively.
On his return to the category, Oliver Solberg had been running third before overshooting on the morning’s final stage and dropping around 10s. He has dropped to seventh, 13.7s off the pace.
