Kalle Rovanperä’s World Rally Championship title bid is in jeopardy as he damaged his rear suspension on the third stage of Rally Japan.
The Finn has won each of the past two Tarmac events in the WRC, and led Rally Japan after Thursday’s short stage before slipping to equal fourth after Friday’s opener.
But Rovanperä lost over two minutes on SS3 when an impact against an Armco barrier damaged the rear-left suspension of his GR Yaris Rally1, dropping him outside the top 10.
He explained: “One quite high speed narrow place I just came too fast, I don’t know if the note was wrong or something I need to check, but probably just a bit too optimistic and went a bit wide.”
Asked if he could fix the damage, he replied: “Let’s see.”
Rovanperä started Rally Japan equal with Sébastien Ogier in the championship, 13 points down on Elfyn Evans with two events to go.
Currently Takamoto Katsuta leads the way with Ogier 0.5s behind in second and Evans third, 3.1s adrift.
M-Sport’s Josh McErlean meanwhile crashed his Ford Puma Rally1; the rear-left wheel missing as the car came to a rest against a tree. Both he and co-driver Eoin Treacy are OK.
