Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen started the day that could become the most important of their careers with a special victory. The crew on their way to win the WRC title won Special Stage 14 of the New Zealand Rally, the Whitford Forest – Te Maraunga Waiho 1 of 8.82 kilometers.
The Toyota Racing Finn was 6 tenths ahead of his team mate Sébastien Ogier and 1 “4 ahead of his first rival in the World Championship, Ott Tanak.
The test was not affected by the rain, so whoever entered first in the special has effectively cleaned the trajectories for those who arrived later. Rovanpera, the last driver behind the wheel of a Rally1 being in command of the event, was good at exploiting this advantage.
This test did not lead to any shock in the general classification of the event. Rovanpera is the leader with a 29 “6 advantage over Ogier and 47” 8 over Tanak.
All the other Top 10 positions have already been defined, with Thierry Neuville at the foot of the podium and Oliver Solberg completing the Top 5.
Hayden Paddon continues to lead the WRC2, but also the national classification which sees him in the lead. The landlord, in the general classification, is even sixth due to the numerous withdrawals that took place yesterday.
Lorenzo Bertelli is also taking advantage of this, seventh overall at the first outing of his career at the wheel of a Rally1 car, the M-Sport Ford Puma.
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