Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera (above) is a big step closer to taking his first WRC Rally Finland victory after a stunning run of five special stage wins on Saturday’s second leg left the home hero comfortably clear of the field.
The two-time and reigning FIA World Rally champion, who was born and raised in the rally’s home city of Jyvaskyla, completed the penultimate leg of the WRC’s fastest all-gravel event with a 44.2s advantage over his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 teammate Sebastien Ogier. Points leader Thierry Neuville, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1, ended the day a further 39.2s back in third overall.
After Friday’s wet, but still super-fast opening leg, Saturday offered more of the same, with Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans and Ogier beginning the morning loop in a Toyota 1-2-3 at the top of the leaderboard.
But it all went wrong for Evans when his GR Yaris’s front-right driveshaft broke in the second stage of the day, the blisteringly fast Paijala 1 test. That forced him to limp through another 25 miles of special stages in road mode — losing almost six minutes in the process — before repairs could be made in the mid-leg service back at Jyvaskyla.
Rovanpera’s advantage over the now second-placed Ogier had ballooned to over 20s by the end of the morning leg. The afternoon was a repeat of the three special stages and the 23-year-old Finn, who’s chosen to run only a part-time WRC campaign in 2024, continued his flawless drive. Despite changeable weather through the day, he won all but one of the six stages, including both passes of 20.49-mile Ouninpohja’s legendary rollercoaster ride.
“In the morning there was a good fight and we kept pushing today,” said Rovanpera, who crashed out while leading his home rally last year. “We did some quite strong times without taking any huge risks, so that is quite positive.”
Eight-time WRC champ Ogier — another one of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s roster taking in only a limited 2024 program — 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 Rovanpera.
“The commitment needs to be at 100 percent,” said Ogier, whose only Rally Finland win came back in 2013 with VW, “and two years missing here makes it more challenging. In Finland, there are not so many guys who can follow the 100 percent of Kalle Rovanpera…”
After struggling for pace on Friday, the second leg was more positive for Neuville and his title aspirations. While Evans, currently third in the WRC drivers’ standings, has so far failed to register a score, Neuville’s overnight third position provisionally earned him 13 precious championship points. His Hyundai teammate, Ott Tanak, who was second in points coming into this round, did not restart following his heavy crash on Friday morning.
Adrien Fourmaux set a similar pace to Neuville on the day’s stages, but the Frenchman trailed the Belgian by 25.9s after struggling to regain time lost to him yesterday.
Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 teammate Gregoire Munster’s day was over in a flash after the Luxembourg driver rolled 2.5 miles into Saturday’s opening stage.
Behind Fourmaux, Sami Pajari and co-driver Enni Malkonen are on course to record a top-five result on their GR Yaris Rally1 debut, with 29.5s separating the young Finnish pair from fourth-placed Fourmaux.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Oliver Solberg continues to set the pace in his Toksport-run Skoda Fabia RS.
The 22-year-old Swede ended Friday’s opening leg with a 24.1s lead over former WRC ace and now-Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, who’s enjoying a one-off drive in a new-for-2024 GR Yaris Rally2.
Solberg eked out the gap over Saturday’s opening stages, then found himself enjoying 47.6s of clear air after Latvala lost time with a spin in the day’s closing test, Ouninpohja 2. A trouble-free run on the final day will see him extending his WRC2 points lead.
Sunday’s final leg consists of four more super-fast special stages, adding up to a short, sharp 25.89 competitive miles. Sahloinen-Moksi and Laajavuori are each run twice, with the latter as the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.
WRC Rally Finland, positions after Leg Two, SS16
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h03m53.8s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +44.2s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m23.8s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m49.7s
5 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m19.2s
6 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +7m32.4s
7 Jari-Matti Latvala/Juho Hanninen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +8m20.0s
8 Lauri Joona/Janni Hussi (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m52.4s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2, non-points) +8m57.7s
10 Mikko Heikkila/Kristian Temonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +9m04.8s
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