As Hyundai technical director François-Xavier Demaison had remarked the night before, it seemed a bit “strange” that a Finn was running rings around Ogier on the black stuff. The eight-time world champion had joked that he’d need to “take a double espresso” to match Rovanperä’s pace on Saturday morning – but no amount of caffeine would be enough.
Tejeda is among the fastest stages of the entire rally, featuring wide and sweeping high-speed sections along cliff-edges with big drops. The world’s best drivers all experience fear – but how you deal with it is another matter.
When you are over 40 [years old], then maybe it's more difficult to be on the edge in this conditionSébastien Ogier
“This one I’m too old to fight,” he told DirtFish when discussing the Tejeda test.
“It’s a crazy stage. It’s beautiful, but very fast in places with massive cliffs on your side and you definitely don’t want to jump off the road in this one.”
“When we did recce, of course we have seen that, [though] most of the time we keep our eyes on the road.
“For the average person, almost everywhere it seems crazy what we do. But this place is especially dangerous in a way, so for sure when you are over 40 [years old], then maybe it’s more difficult to be on the edge in this condition.”
Rovanperä has, in Ogier’s words, been “in another league” during the rally, with his stage win on Tejeda perhaps the most stark example so far.
Many of the faster and flowy sections of Gran Canaria's roads are up in the mountains with steep cliffs
The two-time champion said he “didn’t even push” on the 13.75-kilometer (8.54-mile) run, highlighting it was a strong sense of flow contributing to his dominance.
“Everything works well,” said Rovanperä. “With quite easy driving I can feel like I can carry the speed all the time and just have a good pace.”
Rovanperä’s lead at Saturday’s midday service is 36.9s, with Ogier holding a 16.9s advantage over championship leader Elfyn Evans in third.
