WRC | Rally Finland, SS15-16: Rovanpera finishes in the lead

Kalle Rovanpera closed the second stage of Rally Finland in the best possible way, winning 5 of the 6 special stages scheduled for today (only SS15 went to Esapekka Lappi), increasing his advantage over his direct rivals to such an extent that he has already secured his third consecutive victory after those obtained in Poland and Latvia.

The 2-time world champion is confirming himself as the king of fast clay and today he left only crumbs to his opponents. The day had started with an advantage over Elfyn Evans of 8 seconds net, but ends with a 44″2 margin over Sébastien Ogier, his new rival.

The race changed dramatically on this morning’s second stage, with Evans having to deal with a broken transmission on his GR Yaris Rally1, losing several minutes to the front runners until the end of the lap. To round off the Welshman’s terrible day, he was handed a further 2:40 time penalty for arriving 16 minutes late at Time Control.

This has pushed Evans out of the Top 10 and it will be very difficult for him to contain the loss of points to the leader of the World Championship Thierry Neuville. Speaking of the Belgian, after the gift from his rival for the World Championship he decided to maintain the position without taking any risks. With Tanak out for the weekend and Evans out of the Top 10 at the end of Saturday he was counting on taking 15 points which, however, will have to be confirmed tomorrow at Super Sunday.

Even behind the top 3 the positions are now consolidated, with Adrien Fourmaux solid at the wheel of the only Ford Puma Rally1 that reached the end of the second stage. Things didn’t go well for his teammate Gregoire Munster, who went out in the first stage this morning, mocked by the terrain that provides little grip due to the rain and humidity.

The Top 5 is closed by the rookie Sami Pajari, who also showed today that he can sign interesting times despite not having such a good starting position as yesterday. The talent is there, he will need a team that can give him other opportunities to make him gain experience also in rallies less congenial to his preferences and characteristics.

Of note is the delamination of a tire on the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of Esapekka Lappi in the last stage of today. For him it is the second of the day after the first also occurred on the Ouninpohja course.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg followed Rovanpera’s example to secure the lead. After a strong comeback by Jari-Matti Latvala this morning, the Norwegian from TokSport responded in kind this afternoon, extending his lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing’s team principal to 47.6 seconds.

Latvala then made a mistake in SS16, a spin that cost him several seconds and the chance to fight until the end for the first position. Unlucky Robert Virves, who in the last special saw his hood open due to a problem with a closure. This forced him to slow down and lose third place in the class, now in the hands of Lauri Joona.

The second leg of Rally Finland ends here. The ninth round of the 2024 WRC will resume tomorrow morning with Special Stage 17, the 14.27-kilometer Sahloinen-Moksi 1. The first car will enter the special at 07:55 Italian time.

WRC 2024 – Rally Finland – Standings after SS16