Kalle Rovanperä is on course to break his Secto Rally Finland victory duck after a stunning run of five stage wins on Saturday left him comfortably clear of the field.
The two-time world champion completed the penultimate leg of the four-day event with a 44.2sec advantage over his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 team-mate Sébastien Ogier. Championship leader Thierry Neuville, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1, ended 39.2sec further back in third.
Finland’s fast and furious Friday turned into a super speed Saturday with Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Ogier heading up a Toyota 1-2-3 this morning. But it all went wrong for Evans when his car’s front right driveshaft broke in the blisteringly fast Päijälä test, forcing him to negotiate around 40 kilometres worth of special stages in road mode – losing almost six minutes - before repairs could be made in service.
Rovanperä’s advantage over the now second-placed Ogier had ballooned to over 20sec by the day’s midpoint and he continued his flawless drive despite changeable weather this afternoon, winning all but one stage including both passes of the legendary Ouninpohja.
“In the morning there was a good fight and we kept pushing today,” said Rovanperä, who crashed while leading his home fixture last year. “We did some quite strong times without taking any huge risks, so that is quite positive.”
Ogier was not in the mood for taking unnecessary risks and admitted that having not competed here since 2021, he lacked the commitment needed to challenge Rovanperä.
“The commitment needs to be at 100 per cent,” the eight-time champion remarked, “and two years missing here makes it more challenging. In Finland, there are not so many guys who can follow the 100 per cent of Kalle Rovanperä.”
After struggling for pace on Friday, today brought positivity for Neuville and his title aspirations. While Evans, currently third in the driver’s standings, has so far failed to register a score, Neuville’s overnight standing provisionally earns him 13 championship points. Ott Tänak, who was second coming into this round, did not restart following his crash on Friday morning.
Adrien Fourmaux set a similar pace to Neuville on the stages but trailed the Belgian by 25.9sec after struggling to regain time lost to him yesterday. His M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 team-mate Grégoire Munster’s day was over in a blink after the Luxembourger rolled four kilometres into the opening stage.
Sami Pajari and co-driver Enni Mälkönen are on course to record a top-five result on their GR Yaris Rally1 debut, with 29.5sec separating the young Finnish pair from Fourmaux. Oliver Solberg led the WRC2 category as well holding sixth overall ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala.
Evans incurred an additional 2min 40sec time penalty after the repairs to his car took longer than anticipated. He languishes over nine minutes back from the lead heading into Super Sunday, where up to 13 points are available across four stages totalling 41.66km.
Takamoto Katsuta and Esapekka Lappi both restarted after crashing on Friday. Lappi stopped to carry out wheel changes on both passes of Ouninpohja but managed to claim the fastest time for Päijalä this afternoon.
Leading positions after Saturday:
1. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris 2h 3m 53.8s
2. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +44.2s
3. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +1m 23.8s
4. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Ford Puma +1m 49.7s
5. S Pajari / E Mälkönen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +2m 19.2s
6. O Solberg / E Edmondson SWE Škoda Fabia (WRC2) +7m 32.4s
