Rally Finland kicked off this evening with Special Stage 1, the 3.48-kilometre Harju, which determined the first provisional overall standings for the ninth round of the 2024 WRC.
The fastest time, thus becoming the first leader of the rally, was achieved by Thierry Neuville, navigated by the usual Martijn Wydaeghe. The leaders of the World Championship, who entered the test last as always happens in the Super Special Stages, stopped the clock at 2’46″1, inflicting considerable gaps on all their opponents.
Takamoto Katsuta is the first of the rivals having done worse than 1″1. Sure, a small gap in absolute terms, but if you consider how short the stage was, then this margin becomes important both for those who obtained it and for those who suffered it.
Tomorrow Neuville will have a much more difficult task, that of having to face 9 special tests opening them all, being in the lead of the Drivers’ World Championship. In the meantime today he signed a special victory that can give morale in view of the rest of the weekend.
Ott Tanak took the third fastest time in the second Hyundai i20 N Rally1, just 2 tenths behind Katsuta but quicker than Sébastien Ogier by just one tenth of a second. The eight-time world champion is starting to think about the possibility of trying to win a ninth title, but a lot will depend on how he goes this weekend.
Closing out the Top 5 is one of the two big favourites for the win this weekend, Kalle Rovanpera. The two-time reigning world champion is the last driver to have recorded a gap of less than 2 seconds, because Adrien Fourmaux, sixth with the first Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid, is 3″ behind Neuville.
Esapekka Lappi had a shiver when he slid on the dirt on a left-hand bend and ended up hitting a small pile of tires. Luckily for him, his Hyundai did not encounter any heavy obstacles other than the tires placed in that area to delimit the road, so he managed to escape with a small crack on the rear bumper.
If the Finn is seventh, but is among the big favourites this weekend, Elfyn Evans did not want to take any risks and finished eighth, 3.2 seconds behind Neuville. The Welshman from Toyota Gazoo Racing will have to try to regain the second place in the World Championship lost in Latvia to Ott Tanak and, if possible, get even closer to the top of the standings.
Sami Pajari’s adventure at the wheel of a hybrid Rally1 began with a ninth place. The young Finn, the first to take to the stage among the WRC reference cars, was 4″6 slower than Neuville, but still had the satisfaction of not being last. Worse than him was the usual Gregoire Munster, tenth with the second Ford Puma Rally1.
As for WRC2, Yohan Rossel (Citroen) got off to a good start, 2 tenths faster than Oliver Solberg and 4 tenths faster than his teammate Nikolay Gryazin. Not bad was the fifth time for Jari-Matti Latvala: the Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal returns to racing this weekend at the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 navigated by former teammate Juho Hanninen.
Rally Finland will resume tomorrow morning with Special Stage 2, the 17.96-kilometre Laukaa 1. The first car, the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, will enter the special at 07:13 Italian time.
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