The Rally of Finland got underway this evening, at 8 pm Italian time, with the first special stage of the 10 pm scheduled, the 3.48 km Harju 1. The first leader of the general standings of the event is Ott Tanak, thanks to the best time of 2’39″0 obtained on the special run almost entirely on asphalt.
The M-Sport team driver preceded the first of his rivals, Thierry Neuville by 6 tenths with the first Hyundai i20 N Rally1. If Tanak goes in search of redemption after the bitter weekend in Estonia, the Belgian will try to bring home a podium that could help him in terms of World standings.
Behind the top 2, needless to say, is championship leader Kalle Rovanpera. The reigning world champion was just 1 tenth of a second slower than Neuville and 7 if we take into consideration the reference time of the special.
Much more distant – considering the few kilometers of length of the stage – all the others, with Esapekka Lappi fourth with the second Hyundai i20 N Rally1. Elfyn Evans completed the Top 5 with an unusual test, because she is more cautious than one might expect knowing her driving style.
Good sixth time for Pierre-Louis Loubet with the second Ford Puma. The Frenchman was 2″2 behind and 9 tenths ahead of Takamoto Katsuta, at the wheel of the third Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The duel already seen two weeks ago in Estonia is back again: in that situation it was Loubet, sixth at the end of the event with a margin of only 3 tenths over the Japanese.
Two Finns close the Rally1 standings. The first is Teemu Suninen, called to an important race despite being just in the second event at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. Ninth time and 8″1 behind Tanak for the returning Jari-Matti Latvala. The Toyota Racing team principal, who is back racing this weekend after almost 4 years since his last race as a starter, needs to get familiar with the Yaris Rally1, tested for only a few tens of kilometers in a pre-event test, but nice to see him again in the race: we’ll see tomorrow, especially in the afternoon lap, what he can do.
In WRC2, the first position belongs entirely to Jari Huttunen. The Finn, at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, preceded his brand mates Nikolay Gryazin and Andreas Mikkelsen by 1″1, respectively second and third in class. Fourth time for the reigning champion Emil Lindholm with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 .
The first stage of the Rally of Finland will resume tomorrow morning with Special Stage 2, the 11.78 km Laukaa 1. The first car, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 number 69 driven by Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen, will enter the stage at 07:05 Italian time. The first day will be made up of 9 special stages.
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