Lia Block will tackle a rally in an all-wheel-drive vehicle for the first time this weekend when she competes in the Lake Superior Performance Rally in her father’s Ford Escort Cosworth ‘Cossie’ V2. The 17-year-old will compete in the Marquette, …
Lia Block will tackle a rally in an all-wheel-drive vehicle for the first time this weekend when she competes in the Lake Superior Performance Rally in her father’s Ford Escort Cosworth ‘Cossie’ V2.
The 17-year-old will compete in the Marquette, Michigan event alongside co-driver Rihannon Gelsomino, with whom she wrapped up the Open 2WD class with two rounds to spare at the New England Forest Rally in July, where she took her fourth class win in five starts this season in a Subaru BRZ. In taking the title before her 17th birthday, she became the youngest winner of a domestic rally title in the U.S.
“Because of that, I get to do the last rally in my Dad’s Ford Escort Cossie Version 2,” Block revealed in an Instagram video. “This is my first time [rallying] an all-wheel-drive car. I’m super excited to race this at LSPR this year. I Think it’s gonna be really fun. Hopefully there’s some good weather, maybe no snow this year.
“I am just super stoked to be able to race this car.”
While it will be Block’s first rallying experience in an all-wheel-drive car, it won’t be her first time competing in one. As well as rallying, Block has been racing in Nitrocross’ NEXT category this season, and Extreme E where she has been racing alongside recent World Rallycross event winner Timo Scheider for Carl Cox Motorsport. The duo so far have a best result of fifth, in the first part of the second Island X Prix.
The Cossie V2 – built after the late Ken Block’s original ex-World Rally Cosworth was destroyed in a fire in 2018 – debuted at the 2019 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. It went on to feature in events across the world, including the Donegal International Rally in Ireland and Rally Mexico (pictured). It last competed in 2021 in the hands of Jax Redline on the New England Forest Rally, Redline failing to finish after the car developed gearbox issues.
M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja became WRC Rally Chile winners for the second time on Sunday, while rival team Toyota Gazoo Racing secured the manufacturers’ championship crown. Tanak, driving a Ford Puma Rally1, seized the …
M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja became WRC Rally Chile winners for the second time on Sunday, while rival team Toyota Gazoo Racing secured the manufacturers’ championship crown.
Tanak, driving a Ford Puma Rally1, seized the lead of the all-gravel South American event on Friday’s opening leg and, thanks to clever tire compound choices, built a commanding buffer which he carried through to Sunday’s short final leg.
It was Tanak’s second win of the 2023 season, the first coming on the ice and snow of the Swedish Rally, and it marks the end of a frustrating run of DNFs and niggling problems for the Estonian ace in recent events.
M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja celebrate their second WRC win of 2023.
Tanak went into the final day’s four special stages with a lead of 58.3s and played it relatively safe to end the rally with a 42.1s winning margin. But the focus was on the battle for second as Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen led teammate Thierry Neuville by 13.9s, with the team ruling out using team orders to calm their dual.
Neuville and Suninen were the two fastest drivers on both of Sunday morning’s stages, and the gap between them shrank to just 6.7s. It was Neuville who was fastest again on the second pass of Las Pataguas, while Suninen did not see the finish as he hit a tree stump on the inside of a right-hander, which immediately sent him sliding off the road and deep into the trees.
Suninen’s i20 N Rally 1 machine was out on the spot, elevating Neuville to the runner-up place. It also opened the door for Toyota Gazoo Racing to clinch the FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title with two rallies to spare.
Suninen’s demise meant Toyota needed to score four bonus points more than Hyundai in the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage. And with Neuville the only Hyundai entry still running, it did exactly that, with GR Yaris Rally1 drivers Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans setting the first- and second-fastest times respectively.
“A lot of things happened today, so I am really happy and pleased with everybody in the team and everybody working for the team that we managed to secure it here,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT sporting director Kaj Lindström. “It is not just the people here in Chile in the service park, but everyone working for us.”
As well as taking second on the Power Stage, Evans finished third overall in Chile, which was enough to keep the WRC drivers’ championship battle alive. He headed home his teammate and WRC points leader Rovanpera — who was celebrating his 23rd birthday on Sunday — by 1m4.1s and now takes the intra-team battle to at least the penultimate round, the inaugural Central European Rally later this month.
However, with Rovanpera leading the WRC points by 31 points, post-Chile, and a maximum of just 60 on offer from the two remaining rallies, the Finn could clinch the title on the all-asphalt event.
WRC points leader Kalle Rovanpera finished fourth in Chile, meaning the title battle remains unresolved. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
More than five minutes back from Rovanpera in a lonely fifth overall, and completing a GR Yaris 3-4-5, was Takamoto Katsuta.
The remainder of the top-10 leaderboard comprised WRC2 runners, with Oliver Solberg holding on to the lead he’d grabbed on Saturday’s final stage to steer his Skoda Fabia RS to the win in international rallying’s second-tier category.
Fellow Skoda drivers Gus Greensmith and Sami Pajari — the up-and-coming Finn who’d looked set for the class win before major tire issues on Saturday’s final stage — completed the WRC2 podium, with Yohan Rossel (Citroen C3) and Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda) ensuring WRC2 runners packed the rest of the overall top 10.
Sweden’s Oliver Solberg wrapped up the WRC2 class honors, heading an all-Skoda podium. McKlein/Motorsport Images
The WRC returns to Europe next for the Central European Rally, a brand-new, tri-country event. The all-asphalt event takes places Oct. 26 -29 with a unique format that includes multiple border crossings to take in special stages in Germany, Austria and Czech Republic.
WRC Rally Chile, final positions after Day Three, SS16
1 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) 3h06m38.1s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +42.1s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m06.9s
4 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m11.0s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +4m41.5s
6 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 winner) +8m18.5s
7 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andresson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m44.3s
8 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +9m20.6s
9 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +9m53.9s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +10m08.2s
WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 11 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 466 points (2023 champions) 2 Hyundai Motorsport 360 3 M-Sport Ford 247
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Ott Tanak closed in on back-to-back WRC Rally Chile victories after dominating Saturday’s stages to build a commanding lead heading into Sunday’s short final leg. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver (above) began the penultimate leg – the longest of …
Ott Tanak closed in on back-to-back WRC Rally Chile victories after dominating Saturday’s stages to build a commanding lead heading into Sunday’s short final leg.
The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver (above) began the penultimate leg – the longest of the South American all-gravel event – with a small 4.2s advantage over Hyundai Motorsport’s Teemu Suninen, but ended the day’s six special stages a whopping 58.3s clear after a leg which delivered trouble for FIA World Rally Championship title contenders Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans.
Saturday’s stages were longer, twistier and much more abrasive than Friday’s six-stage affair. And while Tanak’s rivals leaned towards Pirelli’s soft compound rubber for the morning loop, the Estonian’s decision to take four hard tires with him made a world of difference. It was something of a reversal of his all-softs Friday strategy, but once again it proved mighty effective.
With their rubber worn down by the time they’d reached the final stage before the midday service halt, Suninen and Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 drivers Evans and Rovanpera all leaked chunks of time. Tanak, whose hard choice boasted a longer lifespan, took full advantage and extended his lead to 47.8s by service.
Teemu Suninen (above) holds second for Hyundai, but catching leader Ott Tanak would be a big ask now.
Tire preservation remained a key factor on the repeated afternoon loop but, with the hard work done, Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja were able to manage their lead over Suninen’s Hyundai i20N Rally1. Victory on Sunday would ensure the pair retain a 100-percent victory record in Chile, a rally which featured on the WRC calendar just once previously, back in 2019.
“It’s been an extremely good day,” Tanak admitted. “It’s been working in our favor. On the stages which were bad, we had the advantage to slow down, but when it was needed, we were able to speed up. It’s not finished yet, so we need to keep it going tomorrow.”
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was hindered by a slow puncture in the day’s opening stage, but passed Evans late in the morning to make it two i20 N Rally1 cars in the overall top three. He and teammate Suninen were split by 13.9s at the end of the leg, and their 2-3 position means that, barring any changes on Sunday, Toyota Gazoo Racing will be unable to win the WRC manufacturers’ crown on Sunday.
For reigning WRC champ and 2023 points leader Rovanpera, who ended the day 10.7s behind teammate Evans in fifth overall, the wait for a second drivers’ title is also likely to go on.
Finn Rovanpera, celebrates his 23rd birthday on Sunday, carried a commanding 33-point lead into this 11th round of the season, with a maximum of 90 available from the final three rounds. But he needs to bank a score 28 points higher than teammate Evans if he’s to secure the title with two rallies remaining – an unlikely proposition as things stand.
WRC points leader Kalle Rovanpera was just one of the leading crews experiencing tire wear issues.
Takamoto Katsuta experienced tire troubles of his own in the final stage of the morning loop, but the Japanese driver remained a lonely sixth overall in another GR Yaris.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Oliver Solberg Solberg headed the class by a reasonably comfortable 25.3s after a frustrating final stage for erstwhile leader Sami Pajari.
Finn Pajari, saw a 5.7s lead over fellow Skoda Fabia RS driver Solberg after the penultimate stage dissolve, and then some, through the final 17.84-mile Maria de las Cruces test as he struggled with debilitating tire wear.
Just to rub it in, Gus Greensmith also moved past Pajari in that final stage, making it three Skodas in the WRC2 top-three positions.
Citroen C3 driver Yohan Rossel was fourth in WRC2 and completed the overall top 10 after problems late in the day for a pair of Puma Rally1 debutants, Gregoire Munster and local hero Alberto Heller.
Skoda driver Oliver Solberg (above) headed the WRC2 class after tire woes for former leader Sami Pajari. McKlein/Motorsport Images
Sunday’s final leg consists of the 8.2-mile Las Pataguas and 8.61-mile El Ponen stages, each tackled twice and punctuated by a brief 15-minute service halt. The second pass of El Ponen is the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage, where vital bonus points are up for grabs.
WRC Rally Chile, leading positions after Day Two, SS12
1 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) 2h36m16.2s
2 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +58.3s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m12.2s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m22.9s
5 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m24.0s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +4m07.2s
7 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +6m52.7s
8 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andresson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +7m18.0s
9 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +7m36.6s
10 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +8m01.1s
Ott Tanak led WRC Rally Chile on Friday evening after an inspired tire strategy proved to be decisive on the opening leg of the event. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver (above) set the pace in the day’s first special stage, the 12.28-mile Pulperia …
Ott Tanak led WRC Rally Chile on Friday evening after an inspired tire strategy proved to be decisive on the opening leg of the event.
The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver (above) set the pace in the day’s first special stage, the 12.28-mile Pulperia 1 test, but his fortunes soon took a dip when issues caused by a heavy landing from a jump dropped him to third. As well as knocking the wind out of co-driver Martin Jarveoja, the impact also caused minor suspension damage and the loss of the car’s hybrid boost system.
Nevertheless, it was Tanak’s strategic approach to the repeated afternoon loop of three stages which helped him to reclaim the top spot. In mild spring conditions on the FIA World Rally Championship’s only South American round, the Estonian was the only front-running driver to select a tire package consisting exclusively of soft compound Pirelli rubber, known for its superior performance, but shorter lifespan.
The 2019 WRC champ snatched the lead from Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen on the days penultimate stage and, crucially, went fastest again in the 14.49-mile Rio Claro 2 finale to extend his overnight lead on the all-gravel event to 4.2s.
“The first one and the last [stage this afternoon] were extremely tough,” said Tanak, who has been without a WRC victory since the snow of Rally Sweden in February. “When it’s this hard a base it’s moving so bad that you don’t find any stability. But we had a good clean run, so no trouble.”
The WRC has returned to Chile for the first time since 2019, and the flowing roads of the Biobio region showed little mercy to title-hunting trio Kalle Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville. All three reported exceptionally low levels of grip in the loose conditions, but it was Evans who fared the best, completing the day only 8.5s back from Suninen in third.
The Welshman trails Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate and defending WRC champ Rovanpera by 33 points in the drivers’ championship, and a result of eighth or higher in Chile would ensure the battle between the GR Yaris Rally1-equipped duo continues beyond Sunday. Rovanpera, first on the road and playing “road sweeper” because of his championship lead, suffered a half spin in the day’s final stage and slipped to fifth overall, ending the day 11.0s behind the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of Neuville, who in turn trailed Evans by 15.0s.
Traction frustrations were the least of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi and M-Sport Ford driver Pierre-Louis Loubet’s worries. Both rolled heavily early in the day, and both are unlikely to restart on Saturday due to the amount of damage each sustained.
Esapekka Lappi rolled his Hyundai within yards of the opening stage’s flying finish. He’s done for the weekend. Red Bull Content Pool
Takamoto Katsuta brought his GR Yaris to the overnight halt in sixth place and was comfortably clear of Puma debutant Gregoire Munster, whose co-driver Louis Louka spent the morning reading the all-important pace notes from a cell phone after accidentally leaving the paper copies in his hotel room.
Local hero Alberto Heller is the last of the remaining Rally 1 runners, holding 10th overall and enjoying every second of his first event in a rented M-Sport Puma.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Sami Pajari dominated the opening leg to head class rival Oliver Solberg by 13.3s overnight.
Finn Pajari, who claimed his maiden WRC2 victory on home soil earlier this year, held a slender 2.4s lead at lunchtime after trading times with Solberg’s similar Skoda Fabia RS during the morning loop.
But when the same three special stages were repeated after service, 21-year-old Pajari was untouchable. He was fastest on every single one of them and, with Solberg hindered by damaged rear suspension in the day’s final test, grew his buffer over the Swede into double figures.
“I love this rally,” beamed Pajari, who also sits an impressive eighth in the overall rally standings. “Friday was maybe my favorite set of stages, so I hope tomorrow and Sunday will be as good, but it was really tricky.”
Sami Pajari dominated the opening day in the WRC2 class, sweeping the afternoon’s stages. McKlein/Motorsport Images
Crews journey south on Saturday to tackle the rally’s longest leg. The 16.92-mile Chivilingo 1 stage is up first, followed by 13.1-mile Rio Lia 1 – the only stage which remains unchanged from the rally’s 2019 running. The 17.84-mile Maria de las Cruces 1 stage finishes within sight of the Pacific Ocean and completes the morning loop, which is repeated once more following a midday service.
WRC Rally Chile, leading positions after Day One, SS6
1 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 58m43.7s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +4.2s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +12.7s
4 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +27.7s
5 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +38.7s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +45.6s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m38.4s
8 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +2m09.6s
9 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +2m22.9s
10 Alberto Heller/Luis Allende (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m29.3s
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Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera (above) took his third victory of the season at Acropolis Rally Greece on Sunday to tighten his grip on this year’s FIA World Rally Championship. The 22-year-old reigning champ had looked set for only a third-place finish on …
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera (above) took his third victory of the season at Acropolis Rally Greece on Sunday to tighten his grip on this year’s FIA World Rally Championship.
The 22-year-old reigning champ had looked set for only a third-place finish on the 2023 WRC season’s 10th round, but found himself topping the leaderboard by more than two minutes after Saturday’s penultimate leg when former leaders Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier retired.
Both were sidelined by central Greece’s unforgiving rock-strewn mountain roads, with Neuville’s Hyundai i20 N Rally1 sustaining front suspension damage before Ogier hit a rock in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 in Saturday’s final stage. Despite his best efforts to make temporary repairs at the end of the stage, the Frenchman retired with rear suspension failure on the road section before the overnight halt.
Rovanpera could afford to relax through Sunday’s three-stage final leg in his GR Yaris, but still sealed a near-perfect weekend with one final push that added the maximum five bonus points for winning the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage to the 25 he earned for the overall victory. He headed Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans, his closest challenger in the championship standings, by 1m31.7s at the finish — the biggest winning margin in his 11 WRC rally wins — and extended his points over the Welshman to 33 with just three rounds remaining and a maximum 90 points available.
“Of course, it’s a big relief,” said Rovanpera, whose victory also helped extend Toyota’s manufacturers’ championship lead to 91 points over Hyundai. “After a difficult rally in Finland, we needed to come back now. A strong performance, starting first car on the road and finishing first is quite nice. We had a clever drive and still a good push here at the end [in the Wolf Power Stage].”
Kalle Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen celebrate their third win of the 2023 WRC season.
Evans lost more than one minute on Saturday as a result of his Toyota overheating, but fought back to finish second overall after battling with Hyundai’s Dani Sordo until the very last stage.
Sordo had held the upper hand overnight, but a sluggish run through Sunday’s opening Tarzan stage cost him the position. The Spaniard, contesting his first event since Safari Rally Kenya in June, lost out by just 4.2s, but secured his second podium of the season.
Ott Tanak incurred 3m40s in time penalties when a water pump failure meant he was late to leave Friday’s tire fitting zone and was playing catch up after that. But the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver enjoyed a relatively clean run from then on and climbed to an impressive fourth overall, albeit almost three minutes off the final podium spot.
Ott Tanak’s hopes of a win were dashed early, but the M-Sport Ford driver fought back to finish fourth overall. @World/Red Bull Content Pool
Esapekka Lappi was fifth after a glitch-filled event in his Hyundai, Takamoto Katsuta’s GR Yaris sixth, and a restarting Ogier, loaded up with two minutes of time penalties, 10th overall.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Andreas Mikkelsen overtook Gus Greensmith in Sunday’s penultimate stage to secure an important class victory.
Mikkelsen, who suffered tire damage on three separate occasions during Friday’s opening leg, delivered a no-holds-barred comeback drive on Saturday to climb from 12th to first in class in his Skoda Fabia RS.
However, an updated notional time issued by the rally organizers on Sunday morning dropped the Norwegian back behind Greensmith by 12.0s with just three stages remaining.
But drama would be just around the corner for Greensmith, with the British driver reporting a transmission issue on his similar Toksport-run Skoda. Although he was able to make it back to the final service, Mikkelsen had overtaken him in the penultimate stage and won the class by 10.3s, as well as finishing seventh overall.
“This is a special one,” said Mikkelsen after extending his WRC2 championship lead to 16 points over Yohan Rossel, who completed the podium 1m15.7s behind Greensmith in a Citroen C3. “After Friday, everything looked so dark and we decided we had nothing to lose. We drove the fastest we could on every corner the whole rally.”
Andreas Mikkelsen looked down and out after tire issues on the opening leg, but charged back for the WRC2 win. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
The championship heads to South America later this month for round 11. Rally Chile returns to the WRC calendar from Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Based out of the city of Concepcion, the gravel road event could be a last roll of the dice for Elfyn Evans in his chase of points leader Kalle Rovanpera.
WRC Acropolis Rally Greece, final positions after Day Three, SS15
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h00m16.7s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m31.7s
3 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m35.9s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m28.4s
5 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +6m22.3s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +7m20.9s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 winner) +9m41.0s
8 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +9m51.3s
9 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +11m07.0s
10 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +11m43.4s
WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 10 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 430 points 2 Hyundai Motorsport 339 3 M-Sport Ford 220
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Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera (above) is on course for a remarkable victory at WRC Acropolis Rally Greece after Saturday’s brutal penultimate leg forced leaders Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier into retirement. A furious fight in the morning became a …
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera (above) is on course for a remarkable victory at WRC Acropolis Rally Greece after Saturday’s brutal penultimate leg forced leaders Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier into retirement.
A furious fight in the morning became a matter of survival on the afternoon’s loop of stages as heat and punishing rock-strewn roads took a heavy toll in the 10th round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship.
Overnight leader Neuville was a relatively comfortable 10.9s clear when he thumped a deep pothole and shattered his Hyundai i20 N Rally1’s right-front suspension on the first stage of the afternoon. The Belgian had trailed reigning WRC champ and 2023 championship leader Rovanpera by 36 points coming into the event, but with only three more rounds after Greece, his slim title hopes appear to be shattered.
Neuville’s demise left eight-time WRC champ Ogier, who’s running only a part-time WRC program in 2023, seemingly in control in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. But the Frenchman, who entered Saturday’s leg-closing Eleftherohori 2 stage 12.4s ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Rovanpera, swiped a rock which destroyed his left-rear suspension. He crabbed out of the stage, but retired on the final road section, while Rovanpera moved into a familiar spot at the top of the leaderboard.
Sebastien Ogier’s attempts at repairs after hitting a final-stage rock would prove in vain. WRC photo
Rovanpera will start the final leg with a lead of more than two minutes over Hyundai Motorsport Dani’s Sordo, and completing the victory on Sunday would move the 22-year-old Finn another step closer to clinching back-to-back WRC titles.
“There was a lot happening at the front today,” said Rovanpera as news of Ogier’s issue reached him. “It was a nice battle of course, but not the easiest to push with Seb because we had the championship to think about. I think we had a good day; we were fast, but we also kept the car in one piece.”
There was drama throughout the field as Rovanpera’s closest championship challenger, Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans, limped to the finish of the morning’s final stage, Eleftherohori 1, in EV mode when his hybrid GR Yaris began overheating. Having plummeted to fifth overall, the Welshman hauled himself back up the order, only to be demoted to third by Sordo’s Hyundai in the final stage.
Sordo had ended Friday’s opening leg down in seventh overall, but crept up the order as those around him struck trouble. Cautious rather than spectacular, the Spaniard headed to the overnight halt with a 5.0s lead over Evans.
Dani Sordo kept his head as others encountered dramas and now holds second for Hyundai. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Despite having 3m40s in time penalties for being late out of Friday’s tire fitting zone after a water pump issue, M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver Ott Tanak enjoyed a clean day in comparison to his rivals and climbed from ninth to fourth overall, passing fifth- and sixth-placed Esapekka Lappi and Takamoto Katsuta in the process.
A transmission failure left Lappi’s Hyundai with only rear-wheel drive, while a fraught run through Karoutes 2 saw Katsuta stop twice to perform wheel changes on his GR Yaris.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Andreas Mikkelsen produced one of the strongest drives of his WRC career to climb from 12th to first in class.
After suffering three punctures on Friday, nobody could have blamed Mikkelsen for writing off his chances of claiming victory. But the Norwegian was far from down and out, and proceeded to gun his Skoda Fabia RS to fastest WRC2 times on all of Saturday’s stages — leapfrogging Gus Greensmith’s similar car in the day’s final stage to carry a miniscule 0.4s advantage into Sunday’s final leg.
Andreas Mikkelsen fought back from his Friday punctures to take the WRC2 lead. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Overnight WRC2 leader Yohan Rossel had topped the standings throughout the morning, but fell to third when his Citroen C3 sustained tire damage on the day’s penultimate stage. The Frenchman, who trails Mikkelsen by five points in the WRC2 title race, was more than one minute behind the leaders at close of play.
Sunday’s three-stage final leg totals a short, sharp, but potentially decisive 26.33 competitive miles north-west of the Lamia rally HQ and begins with the classic Tarzan test. Double runs of Grammeni round out the event, the second of which forms the Wolf Power Stage where bonus points are available.
WRC Acropolis Rally Greece, leading positions after Day Two, SS12
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h29m40.5s
2 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m04.4s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m09.4s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m49.7s
5 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +6m16.2s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +7m02.2s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +8m51.1s
8 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m51.5s
9 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +9m47.6s
10 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +9m56.3s
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Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (above) kept a charging Sebastien Ogier at bay to lead WRC Acropolis Rally Greece after Friday’s opening leg, the Belgian overcoming a late technical drama in the process. Just 2.8s separated Neuville from Toyota Gazoo …
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (above) kept a charging Sebastien Ogier at bay to lead WRC Acropolis Rally Greece after Friday’s opening leg, the Belgian overcoming a late technical drama in the process.
Just 2.8s separated Neuville from Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Ogier after the first full day of competition at the legendary Acropolis’s 70th edition. And despite winning just one of the five grueling gravel road tests that made up Friday’s 63.37 competitive miles, he led the day from start to finish.
The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver passed overnight leader Kalle Rovanpera, who’d set the pace on Thursday evening’s rally-opening, 0.92-mile super special stage in Athens, by going fastest through Friday morning’s Loutraki opener. Pushing on, Neuville had pulled out a 7.4s buffer over Ogier’s GR Yaris Rally1 going into the day’s final stage in Elatia, but his hard work was very nearly in vain as a mechanical problem, suspected to be transmission related, hampered him throughout the 17.6-mile blast.
“The rear diff was slipping all the time and I couldn’t go on full-throttle for first, second and third gear,” Neuville explained. “I was constantly losing time and I couldn’t rotate the car on throttle, so I was struggling a lot.
“It was stressful, also because it was a challenging stage. From the first kilometer I could hear the noise from the rear diff and I was worried that I couldn’t go to the end, but we managed.”
Ogier, who’s running a limited schedule in 2023 and is back in action for the first time since June, was poised to steal the lead late, but could only claw back 5.0s after low-hanging tree branches removed his Yaris’s rear wing. The eight-time WRC champ believes tire strategy will be key in Saturday’s punishing leg, which boasts almost 90 miles of competition.
“I felt that my rear wing was missing, but I had no idea why,” he recalled. “It’s going to be a bit like this all weekend — what the tire differences are between us — but it’s a big day tomorrow.”
Sebastien Ogier (above, rear wing still intact…) closed to within 2.8s of rally leader Thierry Neuville. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
GR Yaris Rally 1 driver Rovanpera earned one stage win as the rally threaded up the country following Thursday’s spectacular start in Greece’s capital city. Opening the road, the reigning WRC champ and 2023 points leader was hindered by loose stones as the surface dried after torrential rains in the days leading up to the event and trailed teammate Ogier by 25.5s at the end of Friday.
Just 5.5s behind was Elfyn Evans, who struggled to make an impact despite this rally being crucial in his bid to hunt down teammate Rovanpera in the championship points battle. A slow puncture in the morning’s first stage caused the Welshman minor time loss and he, like teammate Ogier, also lost his Yaris’s rear wing in the final stage.
Evans leapfrogged Esapekka Lappi in the Elatia closer to hold fourth overall by just 1.1s after the Hyundai driver was forced to err on the side of caution after nursing a water leak for much of the afternoon.
A stall in the final stage saw Hyundai’s other entry, Dani Sordo, slip from fifth to seventh on the leaderbaord, but the Spaniard’s frustrations were nothing compared with those of Ott Tanak, who sat ninth overall in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.
Tanak checked out of the mid-leg tire fitting zone 22 minutes late after repairing a technical fault and incurred a 3m40s time penalty as a result. Although coy on the details, he believed the issue was similar to the one which ruled out his M-Sport Ford teammate, Pierre-Louis Loubet, who retired before the day’s first stage citing “temperature issues.” But there were at least some positives the Estonian could take from the day, as he won two special stages in his Puma.
M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak has the speed, but a tech issue has put him out of contention.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel stormed to the front of the class field after rival Adrien Fourmaux suffered heartbreak late in the leg.
Fourmaux, who drives a Ford Fiesta Mk2 for M-Sport Ford, was undoubtedly the star performer on what proved to be a testing day for several of the WRC2 category’s regular front-runners.
His consistency appeared to be paying off as he carried an eight-second lead into the penultimate stage, but a pesky rock on the start line dealt the Frenchman front-left tire damage and his advantage was sliced to just 0.9s.
Worse was to come on the Elatia finale, however, in the form of another puncture. Fourmaux and Alex Coria opted to perform a mid-stage wheel change, dropping almost two minutes and handing the class lead to compatriot Yohan Rossel.
Rossel didn’t win any stages aboard his Citroen C3 Rally2, but headed Skoda Fabia RS driver Gus Greensmith by 6.8s at the overnight halt.
Adrien Fourmaux was WRC2’s star of the day until a pair of late punctures.
WRC Acropolis Rally Greece, leading positions after Day One, SS6
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 55m10.4s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2.8s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +25.5s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +31.0s
5 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +32.1s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +41.7s
7 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +48.6s
8 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2, non-points) +3m16.7s
9 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m34.5s
10 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 leader) +3m46.3s
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Elfyn Evans (above) sealed a dominant WRC Rally Finland victory on Sunday afternoon to keep alive his chances of fighting for this year’s FIA World Rally Championship title. A rally-ending crash and roll for his Toyota gazoo Racing teammate, …
Elfyn Evans (above) sealed a dominant WRC Rally Finland victory on Sunday afternoon to keep alive his chances of fighting for this year’s FIA World Rally Championship title.
A rally-ending crash and roll for his Toyota gazoo Racing teammate, reigning WRC champ and 2023 points leader Kalle Rovanpera, had propelled Evans’ GR Yaris Rally1 into the lead on Friday afternoon. The Welshman then reeled off seven back-to-back stage wins on Saturday to leave his closest challenger, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, trailing in his wake.
He extended the gap further on Sunday’s short final leg to win by 39.1s. With 25 points for the win and an additional five points for setting fastest time in the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage, Evans slashed Rovanpera’s championship advantage from 55 points to 25, with four rounds remaining and a maximum 120 up for grabs.
Evans’ Toyota Gazoo Racing team is based near the host city of Jyvaskyla, and victory extended its WRC manufacturers’ championship lead over Hyundai Motorsport to 67 points.
“It’s been a pretty good weekend,” said Evans, who also won on the high-speed gravel stages of Rally Finland in 2021. “Of course, we’re sorry for the loss of Kalle at the start of the rally, but after that it’s been really fantastic to drive this car — it’s such a joy to be behind the wheel on these roads and we’re really happy with this one. In terms of the championship, it’s also not bad that we’ve closed the gap.”
Elfyn Evans celebrates a dominant WRC Rally Finland win with co-driver Scott Martin. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT photo
Changeable conditions provided furious action on the fastest roads on the WRC calendar, with early challengers Ott Tanak and Esapekka Lappi both joining Rovanpera on Friday’s list of retirements. Engine failure sidelined Tanak’s M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1, while Lappi emerged unscathed after crashing his Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 into a tree.
Neuville enjoyed one of his strongest performances on Finland’s flat-out and undulating forest roads, but ultimately had no answer to Evans’ rapid pace. Remaining third in the championship after round nine, the Belgian finished with a hefty 57.6s margin over the third-placed Toyota of Takamoto Katsuta behind.
Thierry Neuville put in a strong showing on the super-fast Finnish stages to take second. @World/Red Bull Content Pool
Katsuta dueled relentlessly with Hyundai driver Teemu Suninen. The latter, starting only his second event in an i20 N Rally1, rolled the dice and bravely opted to save weight by not carrying a spare wheel through Sunday’s four-stage finale. But that still wasn’t enough to relegate the Japanese Yaris driver, who ended 4.3s clear to celebrate his fourth career WRC podium.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala made a popular return to top-level competition after more than three years away. The 38-year-old Finna was never really in the thick of the podium battle as he used the one-off chance to familiarize himself with the hybrid Rally1 cars first introduced in 2022, but consistency rewarded him with fifth, 2m28.4s behind Suninen.
The high attrition among the Rally1 cars enabled Oliver Solberg, driving a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, to claim sixth overall, but the Swede wasn’t registered for WRC2 points. That left Sami Pajari to take the class spoils in WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, the 20-year-old Finn finishing 30.1s behind the flying Solberg in seventh overall.
Prior to Rally Finland, Pajari and co-driver Enni Malkonen had twice finished on the WRC2 podium in their Toksport-prepared Skoda Fabia RS, but the stars aligned to deliver their first win in the category on home gravel.
Pajari fought back from a Friday afternoon puncture to reclaim the lead on Saturday when fellow Finn Jari Huttunen retired his similar car with technical issues.
A sizeable overnight advantage meant 2021 FIA Junior World Rally champion Pajari could afford to cruise through Sunday’s final leg and he clinched the victory by 33.8s.
Sami Pajari earned his first career WRC2 class win on his home gravel. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Second in the class went to Adrien Fourmaux, driving a Ford Fiesta MkII for M-Sport Ford. The Frenchman grabbed a handful of stage wins in a field filled with quick local drivers to head third-placed Nikolay Gryazin by 34s at the finish.
After the super-fast and super-smooth stages of Finland, the action heads to some of the WRC’s roughest gravel with Acropolis Rally Greece, Sept. 7-10. Can Elfyn Evans continue his surge on the Lamia-based event, or will Kalle Rovanpera fight back on an event he won in 2021?
WRC Rally Finland, final positions after Day Three, SS22
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2h33m11.3s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +39.1s
3 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m36.7s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m41.0s
5 Jari-Matti Latvala/Juho Hanninen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +4m09.4s
6 Oliver Solberg/Wlliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2/non-points) +9m33.6s
7 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 winner) +10m03.7s
8 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta MkII – WRC2) +10m37.5s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +11m11.5s
10 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +11m35.2s
WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 9 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 378 points 2 Hyundai Motorsport 311 3 M-Sport Ford 205
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Elfyn Evans (above) made major strides towards his second WRC Rally Finland victory after the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver moved into full attack mode on Saturday’s penultimate leg. The GR Yaris Rally1 driver was fastest on seven out of eight of the …
Elfyn Evans (above) made major strides towards his second WRC Rally Finland victory after the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver moved into full attack mode on Saturday’s penultimate leg.
The GR Yaris Rally1 driver was fastest on seven out of eight of the gravel road stages in the super-fast Finnish forests to extend a 6.9s lead at the start of the day into a commanding 32.1s buffer at the end of the leg, leaving Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai i20 N Rally trailing in his wake.
Rain showers early in the day played to the Evans’ strengths, and while Neuville grappled with wheelspin in the wet conditions, the 2021 Rally Finland winner excelled. The Welshman was equally at home in the repeated afternoon loop where the drying gravel roads became increasingly rutted.
With WRC points leader Kalle Rovanpera already sidelined by a crash on Friday, victory at this ninth FIA World Rally Championship round is essential for Evans — currently second in the points behind his Toyota teammate — to keep his title hopes alive. He was delighted with his performance on a demanding day that contained more than half the rally’s competitive distance.
“Obviously, it’s a nice position to be in, but of course there are still more stages to come tomorrow,” said Evans. “The focus will be on that now and we’ll try to keep doing the same.”
Although Neuville struggled to get his Hyundai’s setup dialed in for the changeable conditions, the Belgian was consistently quicker than the remainder of the field. Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta, his closest challenger, lagged almost one minute behind in third.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville continued his setup struggles, but still consolidated the second-overall spot. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Katsuta had dropped behind Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen after spinning in the morning’s first run through the Paijala stage, but charged back to reclaim the final podium spot in the first stage after the lunchtime service halt. He yielded the position again in the following test, then surged back in front by posting a benchmark time through the day’s closing stage, Vekkula 2. The pair were split by just 6.4s at the overnight halt.
Takamoto Katsuta charged back to a preliminary podium spot after spinning in the morning. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala was fifth overall, two minutes further back. The 38-year-old Finn, who is making his first WRC start since February 2020 to gain a better understanding of the current breed of hybrid Rally1 cars, overshot a junction in the day’s penultimate stage, but relished the chance to drive on his home roads again.
Oliver Solberg is not registered to score WRC2 points this week but climbed to sixth overall in his Skoda Fabia RS. Behind him, Sami Pajari is in line to celebrate victory in WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, after his closest challenger, Jari Huttunen, retired.
The 21-year-old Pajari had set the pace for much of Friday’s opening leg, but fell behind Huttunen as a result of a left-front puncture. He trailed his fellow Finn and Skoda Fabia RS driver by 12.9s heading into the penultimate day, but clawed back an amazing 10.0s in the wet-weather opener, the 11.77-mile Vastila 1 stage.
After being caught napping, Huttunen then doubled his buffer with a strong response on the legendary roads of the 12.54-mile Paijale stage, but later pulled off the road in the second pass of Vekkula. A technical issue meant he went no further and promoted Pajari back to the WRC2 top spot.
Sami Pajari claimed the WRC2 lead following Jari Huttunen’s tech-related retirement. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
The youngster, who sits seventh in the overall rally standings, leads M-Sport Ford Fiesta MkII driver Adrien Fourmaux by 33.9s going into Sunday’s short final leg. Victory in Finland would be the first at this level for Pajari and his co-driver, Enni Malkonen.
Just four tests covering 32.09 competitive miles make up Sunday’s final leg. Drivers face two runs each on the classic roads of Moksi-Sahloinen and Himos-Jamsa. The second pass of the latter forms the bonus points-paying, rally-closing Wolf Power Stage.
WRC Rally Finland, leading positions after Day Two, SS18
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2h08m07.0s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +32.1s
3 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m27.8s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m34.2s
5 Jari-Matti Latvala/Juho Hanninen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m39.5s
6 Oliver Solberg/Wlliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2/non-points) +8m05.0s
7 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +8m17.5s
8 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta MkII – WRC2) +8m51.4s
9 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +9m42.7s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +10m02.6s
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Elfyn Evans (above) was thrust into the lead of WRC Rally Finland when Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Kalle Rovanpera’s untouchable streak came to an abrupt halt during Friday’s opening leg. Home hero Rovanpera, who brought a commanding 55-point lead …
Elfyn Evans (above) was thrust into the lead of WRC Rally Finland when Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Kalle Rovanpera’s untouchable streak came to an abrupt halt during Friday’s opening leg.
Home hero Rovanpera, who brought a commanding 55-point lead into the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship was running first car on the road, yet reeled off five consecutive fastest times through the super-fast gravel stages in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Heading into the day’s seventh test, 9.64-mile Myhinpaa 2, the 22-year-old Finn was leading second-placed Evans by 5.7s and looking comfortable.
But a rare mistake 6.9 miles after the start brought a disastrous end to the reigning WRC champ’s day when he lost control of his GR Yaris, hit a rock in the roadside ditch, and rolled end over end. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen emerged from the wreckage unscathed, despite the force of the impact being strong enough to tear a rear wheel from the car.
Kalle Rovanpera was bossing the Finnish stages — until a costly error ended his hopes of a home win. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
“It didn’t really feel like we should have crashed,” said Rovanpera on his return — minus his stranded car — to the service park in Jyvaskyla. “Being the first car and not seeing a line to follow, especially for the rear wheels, maybe there was some mud that the rears got into? It was a full slide, full lock, and I couldn’t straighten the car. Then we hit something hard in the ditch — maybe bedrock.”
Evans, currently second in the WRC points, inherited the top spot from his stranded teammate and negotiated the remaining two stages almost error-free to head Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai i20 N Rally by just 6.9s overnight.
“A bit of a half-spin in the final stage didn’t help, but overall it’s been an OK day,” said Evans, who was frustrated to give away 2.8s to Neuville thanks to that moment in the Harju 2 finale. “We’re pretty happy overall and obviously we’ve still got a lot of driving to do tomorrow.”
Mistakes were punished brutally on the central Finland gravel roads, and Rovanpera wasn’t the only victory contender to come unstuck. Fellow Finn Esapekka Lappi crashed his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 into a tree in SS4 while running fourth overall, while M-Sport Ford saw its chances of a decent result end before they’d barely began.
M-Sport Ford team leader and three-time Rally Finland winner Ott Tanak, who led the event after Thursday’s evening’s short super special stage in downtown Jyvaskyla, retired his Puma Rally1 in Friday’s second stage with terminal engine failure and his M-Sport teammate Pierre-Louis Loubet crashed in the same test.
Neuville’s day wasn’t without drama, either. The Belgian reported a lack of rear traction during the morning’s loop of stages and struggled for visibility under scattered rain showers on multiple occasions. By the end of the day, he headed Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who won the morning’s opening stage, by 9.5s.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville struggled for traction and visibility, but is only 9.5s out of the lead. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
In fourth overall and definitely still within reach of a podium place is Teemu Suninen. The Finn is contesting his second rally aboard an i20 N Rally1 and trailed Katsuta by 12.4s at the overnight halt after building his speed throughout the day.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, a three-time Rally Finland winner, rounded out the top five on his first WRC start since 2020. The 38-year-old Finn is using the one-off event to gain a better understanding of the hybrid Rally1 cars that have competed in the WRC’s headlining class since 2022, and despite prioritizing bringing his GR Yaris safely to the finish, he’s only 54.9s behind Suninen.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Jari Huttunen showed he’s lost none of the speed which carried him to the 2020 WRC3 title as the 29-year-old Finn leads the way in WRC2 after Friday’s opening leg.
A year ago, Huttunen was driving a top-level Ford Puma Rally1 at his home WRC round. This year he’s out to prove a point against the WRC2 regulars after a lack of funding has left him unable to contest a full program in the class.
Huttunen led after Thursday’s super special stage in Jyvaskyla, but was quickly demoted to the second spot by fellow Finn Sami Pajari, who romped to an impressive four stage wins in a similar Skoda Fabia RS on Friday morning.
Pajari ran as high as sixth on the overall leader board, but disaster struck the 21-year-old Finn in the day’s penultimate stage when he punctured and shipped 11.1s, limping through the 5.68 miles of Halttula 2. That misfortune handed Huttunen an overnight lead of 12.9s.
WRC2 leader Jari Huttunen is out to prove a point in his Skoda after struggling for 2023 funding. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Nikolay Gryazin made a steady start in his Skoda, but climbed to third after increasing his pace throughout the day and trails Pajari by just three-tenths of a second heading into Saturday’s second leg.
Saturday’s second leg is the rally’s longest leg, with eight special stages totaling 99.84 competitive miles. The loop of four morning stages are repeated in the afternoon, and with more rain in the forecast, there’s the potential for more shocks and drama on the WRC’s fastest event.
WRC Rally Finland, leading positions after Day One, SS10
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +51m34.4s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +6.9s
3 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +16.4s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +28.8s
5 Jari-Matti Latvala/Juho Hanninen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m23.7s
6 Jari Huttunen/Antti Haapala (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +3m14.1s
7 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m27.0s
8 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m27.3s
9 Oliver Solberg/Wlliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m28.8s
10 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta MkII – WRC2) +3m36.4s
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