Now Thierry Neuville really believes it. The Hyundai Motorsport driver also won the SS10 of the Rally of Finland, the 3.48 km Harju 2, inflicting abysmal gaps (for such a short stage) on everyone.
The Belgian has decided to push hard, because Kalle Rovanpera’s retirement means only one thing: to have the possibility of halving the disadvantage from the World Championship leader. But to do this, the current second place isn’t enough, and that’s why he has engaged a higher gear.
Neuville thus won the third consecutive special, lowering his delay to just 6″9 from the leader of the event Elfyn Evans. The Welshman tried to resist the attack of his rival, but suffered a gap of 2″8 in just 3 .48 kilometres. A huge amount.
Evans has often come under pressure from Neuville in the past when the Belgian has been making a comeback behind him. If he wants to relaunch his title ambitions and help Toyota Racing in the Drivers’ World Championship, tomorrow he will have to answer back to his rival and resist until the end.
Takamoto Katsuta set the third time of the special (a good 5″9 from the reference time trial) and made the third in the general classification even more jump, even if Neuville further opened the gap securing second place. The Japanese, however , he can rest easy because today Teemu Suninen has never shown that he has enough pace to worry about his position.
The Finnish driver of Hyundai Motorsport is 12″4 behind the podium. Today it seems difficult that he can make up everything tomorrow. Jari-Matti Latvala, although detached by almost a minute and a half from the leader, is fifth overall in the return.A good result, seasoned with zero errors and perhaps too much caution if we think of the type of driver he’s been in his career.However, it’s nice to see him back in the race and in an excellent position.
As for WRC2, Jari Huttunen finished in the lead just over 12 seconds ahead of compatriot Sami Pajari. The young Finn of the TokSport team paid dearly for a tire off the rim in the previous round, losing the lead to his compatriot.
Nikolay Gryazin retook third place by overtaking teammate Oliver Solberg. Fourth Adrien Fourmaux with the first Ford Fiesta Rally2. The Frenchman got close to both the Norwegian and the Russian and is now in full battle for the lowest step of the podium.
The first stage of Rally Finland 2023 ends here. The event will resume tomorrow morning with SS11, the 18.94 kilometer Vastila 1. The first car will enter the special at 07:05 Italian time and the day will feature 8 special stages.
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