Rallies really do end once you get back to the Service Park, but what we witnessed on the penultimate special stage of Rally Finland is not something we often experience and certainly won’t have created a good atmosphere at Toyota.
Kalle Rovanpera, the leader of the event up to now and on his way to a third consecutive victory, was involved in an accident a few hundred metres from the end of PS19, the 14.27-kilometre Sahloinen – Moksi 2.
The two-time world champion, arriving at kilometer 13.63 of the special, found a large stone in his trajectory, right in the middle of a fairly fast left-hand bend. This, once hit, raised the nose of the GR Yaris Rally1 number 69, causing it to lose direction.
Rovanpera and Halttunen found themselves passengers in their car, which began to slide outward and hit trees just off the road, starting to roll over before coming to rest in the forest.
The best news is that both of them got out of the cockpit of the GR Yaris Rally1, which held up very well to the multiple impacts. The bad news is that Rovanpera sees a victory that he had in his grasp slip away for the second consecutive year. This year it was more bad luck than demerit, but the epilogue was the same as in 2023: retirement with the car overturned.
The good news for Toyota is that the first position is inherited by Sébastien Ogier, now leader of the event ahead of Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux, both on the podium. The second bad news came from Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin.
The main contenders for the Japanese manufacturer’s title were the authors of an accident on the same special stage, just 200 metres after the start. After a left-hand bend, the Welshman lost the rear of his Yaris and, in an attempt to correct, pointed the nose outwards, towards the trees.
Evans then attempted another desperate maneuver to avoid the impact, but the rear of his car hit a tree, before hitting two more on the other side of the road. It was the end of the event for Evans, who was also forced to retire from Super Sunday.
For Thierry Neuville, a sensational blow. He now finds himself in second place in the general classification of an event in which he has always struggled a lot. As if that were not enough, both of his main rivals for the Drivers’ World Championship have retired definitively due to two accidents. He has a great opportunity to sign a good haul of points and extend his lead over them, even if he will almost certainly also have to deal with Sébastien Ogier in the final part of the Championship.
With the double retirement of Rovanpera and Evans, Neuville immediately gains 2 positions also in the Super Sunday, rising from sixth to fourth place. Now to complete the work only the last special stage, the Power Stage, is missing, where other points valid for the title will be awarded.
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