Rally Finland restarted this morning with the second stage and Kalle Rovanpera immediately found the opportunity to increase his lead and secure his first position in the overall standings of the event.
The reigning two-time world champion won Special Stage 11, the 18.94-kilometre Vastila 1, taking advantage of the perfect starting position (last on the list among the Rally1) he deservedly earned yesterday.
Rovanpera outperformed his two rivals for the win, teammates Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier, beating the former by 2.2 seconds and the latter by 5.1 seconds. The 24-year-old posted an excellent time, aided by the surface providing greater grip several laps before his.
Evans and Ogier, however, are engaged in a fight within a fight, as both have ambitions to win the event, but also to outdo each other to, eventually, obtain second place.
Last night Ogier had reduced his gap to Evans to six tenths, but this morning the Welshman held off his teammate’s first attack well, going 2.9s faster in the first test. This means that there are now 3.5s between the two.
Evans, however, took a big risk during the special: in the first part, exiting a left-hand bend, he misjudged the grip of the surface and slid to the outside, entering a ditch with his rear wheels. Fortunately, he managed to rejoin the test losing only a few tenths and without damaging his car.
It seems that for Thierry Neuville today will be just a passage towards the last stage tomorrow. The Belgian is faster than those following him – as we have already seen yesterday – but, at the same time, slower than those in front of him. Impossible to catch, but also that he can improve his position without a mistake by those in front.
For a Takamoto Katsuta back in the race after yesterday’s accident, we must mention that of Gregoire Munster which occurred 4.68 kilometers after the start. In this case too, the Dutchman misjudged the grip coming out of a curve and ended up crashing into a dirt bank, destroying both the front and rear of his Puma.
The cell that protects the crew worked well, in fact both Munster and his navigator Louis Louka came out of the cockpit unharmed. The crashed Ford Puma blocked the road for a few minutes, forcing Sami Pajari to slow down and lose over a minute from the best. The race direction showed the red flag to ensure that the crew and the public present could move the wreck of the Puma to the edge of the road. Pajari, on the other hand, will be given an official time.
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