Toyota is on course for a Rally Finland top-five lockout after Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux witnessed their World Rally Championship victory hopes vanish following punctures.
Kalle Rovanpera benefited from the drama that hit his nearest rivals Neuville and Fourmaux, who were sitting second and third respectively in the rally, to open up a 36.1s lead over Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.
Rovanpera had been the driver to beat across Saturday’s stages, which were held in changeable wet and dry conditions. The Finn, searching for a maiden WRC win on home soil, enjoyed an almost perfect Saturday morning, winning three of the four stages. Rovanpera only missed out on a clean sweep when he suffered a right-rear slow puncture in stage 13.
Heavy rain fell before the start of the afternoon loop, rendering the first stage incredibly slippery. Rovanpera declared the conditions the worst he’d experienced in Finland but managed to increase his lead by 0.2s over Neuville in stage 15 (Parkkola 2, 15.51km).
The battle for the victory was turned on its head when Neuville and Fourmaux suffered front-right punctures in the next test (Vastila 2, 18.94km), which was held in dry conditions. Despite both Hyundai drivers electing against stopping to change wheels, Neuville dropped 1m38.2s while Fourmaux lost 1m48.8s as the pair plummeted to sixth and seventh respectively.
Both Neuville and Fourmaux cut frustrated figures and were unable to explain the tyre failures.
Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team, Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai World Rally Team
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“It wasn’t even an impact, puncture number 13 or 14 this year,” said Neuville.
Fourmaux added: “There is no motivation anymore. I don’t know what it is. I need to check on the video. I have no spare wheel anymore. The rally is over so we just need to keep the positions.”
Rovanpera claimed victory in stages 17 and 18 to further extend his advantage over a quartet of Toyota team-mates.
Katsuta managed to hold off his eight-time world champion team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who had been closing the gap to the Japanese driver across the afternoon.
Elfyn Evans leapfrogged Sami Pajari in the treacherously wet stage 15 as the latter didn’t feel comfortable pushing in the conditions. Evans then benefited from the punctures suffered by Neuville and Fourmaux to end the day in fourth – 44.4s adrift, only 1.5s behind Ogier.
A disappointed Neuville ended the day in sixth, 1m54.7s off the overall lead, ahead of Fourmaux who is 2m23.7s behind leader Rovanpera. Team-mate and championship leader Ott Tanak also picked up a front-left puncture in stage 17, which dented his recovery from a five-minute penalty following a collision with a scrutineer on Friday.
Josh McErlean emerged as the leading M-Sport-Ford driver in eighth ahead of the sister Ford Puma piloted by Gregoire Munster.
Martins Sesks had been leading the M-Sport runner until he was forced to stop briefly to clear a foggy windscreen in stage 15. Co-driver Renars Francis attempted to keep the screen clear by strapping a cloth to his feet while delivering pacenotes.
Two passes through the famous Ouninpohja stage will decide the rally on Sunday.
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