Rovanperä began Saturday morning with a superb drive and immediately set the fastest time on the Świętajno stage, which is over 18 kilometres long.
Hyundai surprise Andreas Mikkelsen managed to challenge the Finn effectively from a good starting position but ultimately trailed Rovanperä’s pace by 1.3 seconds. Rovanperä’s teammate Elfyn Evans, in contrast, was just 0.9 seconds behind the Finnish driver.
In the overall standings of the rally, Mikkelsen maintained his lead, but now only half a second separates him from Rovanperä.
Evans is third overall. The Welshman now trails the leader by 1.6 seconds, making the competition at the top extremely close.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak had a very unfortunate day yesterday, colliding with a deer and having to retire on Friday. Tänak has nothing at stake on Saturday, but the Estonian was still all smiles after the first morning stage.
“It was a fun stage. We thought the conditions would be damp, but it had already dried out. I’m glad we managed to complete at least one stage now,” Tänak commented at the end of the stage.
After Tänak, only Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville completed the stage before it was interrupted. Apparently, spectators were again in the wrong places, causing a delay of about half an hour.
In stage times, Tänak was fifth fastest and Neuville sixth fastest. Martins Sesks driving for Ford was only seventh fastest this time, but the Latvian remained fifth overall.
Sesks is now 15.8 seconds behind the leader. Ford’s Gregoire Munster is sixth overall, and championship leader Neuville of Hyundai remains seventh.
“Maybe we could go a little faster, but I was just following the notes and we made it through cleanly,” Neuville said at the end of the stage.
Six more special stages will be run on Saturday at the Rally Poland. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Rally Poland Standings after SS9/19:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | 1:09:06.9 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +0.5 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1.6 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +9.7 |
| 5. | Martin Sesks | Ford | +15.8 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +35.3 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +37.7 |
| 8. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +41.9 |
| 9. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2:42.1 |
| 10. | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | Skoda | +2:53.8 |
| 11. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +3:06.9 |
| 12. | Joshua McErlean | Skoda | +3:09.2 |
Rally Poland Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 27.6. 10:01 Shakedown: Lubiewo (5.10 km) 19:05 SS1: Mikołajki Arena 1 (2.50 km) Friday 28.6. 08:45 SS2: Stańczyki 1 (29.40 km) 10:20 SS3: Wieliczki 1 (12.90 km) *CANCELLED 11:10 SS4: Olecko 1 (13.20 km) 14:05 SS5: Stańczyki 2 (29.40 km) 15:40 SS6: Wieliczki 2 (12.90 km) 16:30 SS7: Olecko 2 (13.20 km) 19:00 SS8: Mikołajki Arena 2 (2.50 km) Saturday 29.6. 08:30 SS9: Świętajno 1 (18.50 km) 09:45 SS10: Gołdap 1 (19.90 km) 10:35 SS11: Czarne 1 (22.40 km) 13:25 SS12: Mikołajki Arena 3 (2.50 km) 16:00 SS13: Świętajno 2 (18.50 km) 17:15 SS14: Gołdap 2 (19.90 km) 18:05 SS15: Czarne 2 (22.40 km) Sunday 30.6. 09:00 SS16: Gmina Mrągowo 1 (20.80 km) 10:05 SS17: Mikołajki 1 (10.73 km) 12:20 SS18: Gmina Mrągowo 2 (20.80 km) 14:15 SS19: Mikołajki 2 (10.73 km) *Power Stage
