WRC | Rally Finland, PS5: Rovanpera leader. Katsuta, suspension KO

Today’s morning round of Rally Finland concluded with the final stage, the 7.76-kilometre Special Stage 5 Ruuhimaki 1, which saw yet another change in the event’s lead.

Kalle Rovanpera set the fastest time in the special, stopping the clock at 3:52.8, six tenths ahead of Thierry Neuville. The most important thing for the reigning world champion was beating Elfyn Evans – third in the special – by 1.4.

This means that Rovanpera is now the new leader of the ninth round of the 2024 WRC with a margin of just 2 tenths of a second over his teammate Evans.

Sébastien Ogier, thanks to the fourth fastest time, confirmed the quality of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 on the Finnish route, but for the Japanese team this test also reserved some unpleasant surprises.

Takamoto Katsuta, who was fighting for the podium and firmly in the Top 5, ran wide with his rear end on a left-hand bend 1.2 kilometers into the stage, hitting a tree. The impact broke the right rear suspension, so the Japanese had to cross the finish line on three wheels, losing over a minute and a half to the best.

The accumulated delay caused Katsuta to slip from fourth to ninth, thus giving a place to all the other Rally1 drivers who were following him. Esapekka Lappi thus moved up to fourth, followed by Thierry Neuville, now fifth. Takamoto, during the transfer to the Service Park, lost the damaged wheel and was forced to retire.

For the Belgian, a decent morning in terms of results, but he has to complain about the mistake he made in the test in which Ott Tanak went out because he made a long run that made him lose at least ten seconds. Without the mistake, in fact, he would be in full battle for first place thanks to the rain that made his starting position today not penalizing as it usually is on dry earth.

Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster also gained a position, moving up to sixth and seventh place respectively, although several seconds behind the drivers ahead of them. Fourmaux managed to sort out the set-up of his Puma, although he is still not entirely happy with its behaviour on the wet gravel. Eighth place instead for Sami Pajari, who finally completed the morning after having done it without his rear wing, which was broken in the impact with a tree on SS2. We will see in the afternoon what his real value will be.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg is literally dominating the scene ahead of Lauri Joona. The Norwegian has increased his lead over the local driver to 22 seconds. The fight for second place is great, because Joona has Nikolay Gryazin and a combative Jari-Matti Latvala behind him in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Of note are the exits from the road by Pierre-Louis Loubet, who rolled over, and Emil Lindholm. After the accident of the Hyundai driver, the stage was interrupted.

The morning lap of the first leg of Rally Finland ends here. Now the drivers will be able to use the mid-day Service to prepare for the afternoon lap that will start with Special Stage 6, the 17.96-kilometer Laukaa 2. The first car will enter the test at 14:10 Italian time.

WRC 2024 – Rally Finland – Standings after PS5

WRC