Rain, continuous changes of leader during the morning, fear for Ott Tänak’s accident and joy for the first stage victory in WRC in front of his home crowd: the second day of Rally Finland has provided several emotions, with the outcome of the first ten special stages rewarding the Toyotapresent in the first three positions with Sèbastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and above all Kalle Rovanperäcurrently leading the overall standings in his home rally but with an advantage of 8 seconds over his pursuers.
Fear for Tänak and Jarveoja
Rally Finland which opened on Thursday in the name of Thierry Neuville in the small town of Harju, with the Belgian driver who immediately wanted to forget the misstep made in Latvia to return to defend his world championship leadership as best he could. However, after the best time set in the first test, today’s morning instead saw the great return of the Toyotawith Evans winner of the second stage ahead of his teammates Ogier (who became the new leader) and the home idol Rovanperäin a test made even more complex by the bad weather. A day that, in the third stage, became even more difficult for the Hyundais not only because of the success of Rovanperäwho at the same time moved to the top of the standings, but also due to Neuville’s mistake and above all to the bad accident of Ott Tänaktaken to the medical centre together with his co-driver Martin Jarveoja for checks, with the latter who will remain under observation tonight in hospital although fortunately without having suffered serious consequences, like the Estonian driver.
The reigning world champion, however, lost the lead later in SS4 to Evans, who also put in a great performance in the rain, before returning to the front of the pack at the end of the morning in SS5, overtaking the Welshman once again. A provisional hat-trick for Toyota, with Rovanperä followed by Evans and Ogier, but with the only negative note being the damage to the suspension for Takamoto Katsuta following an impact with a tree.
Toyota unstoppable. Neuville’s flash
A very similar mistake to the Japanese one, with the same damage to the suspension, also for Esapekka Lappi in the first afternoon stage, with the consolation of the Finnish public for the one-two in SS6 by Rovanperä followed by his compatriot Sami Pajari. A success that allowed the reigning champion to further extend his lead over Evans, who came in 2nd place right behind Rovanperä also in SS7. A gap between the two Toyota drivers that was reduced only on the occasion of the SS8in this case due to the return of Neuville among the fastest, followed by Ogier, Evans and Rovanperä. A success that the latter also missed in the last two tests of the day, won by Pajari, at his first stage win in WRCand Ogier, but with the #69 still maintaining the lead with an advantage of 8 seconds over Evans, in turn followed by Ogier, only six tenths behind. Friday therefore ends with Toyota once again candidates for victory in Finland, while Neuville, 4th, has a gap of 25 seconds from Rovanperä.
Rally Finland, standings after SS10 (Top-10)
| POS. | PILOT | CAR | TIME/GAP |
| 1 | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 58:24.7 |
| 2 | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.0 |
| 3 | Sébastien Ogier | Toyota | +8.6 |
| 4 | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +25.5 |
| 5 | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +48.5 |
| 6 | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:31.0 |
| 7 | Gregory Munster | Ford | +1:52.7 |
| 8 | Oliver Solberg | Skoda (WRC2) | +3:22.0 |
| 9 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Toyota (WRC2) | +3:46.1 |
| 10 | Robert Virves | Skoda (WRC2) | +3:53.3 |
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