Rovanperä had a very unlucky off-road incident. There was a loose stone in the middle of the driving line, which sent the car into the forest. The Finn could not have avoided the crash in any way.
Rovanperä was leading the rally overwhelmingly before the crash, and the disappointment is, of course, immense for the Finn. He was close to his first career win in his home rally, but once again, it remained a dream. Rovanperä also had to retire last year in Finland.
Rovanperä had a close call just moments before the crash. At that time, too, there was a loose stone on the direct line, but on that occasion, the large stone bounced forward, and the Toyota stayed on the road.
Toyota’s day had already darkened earlier when Elfyn Evans also crashed out on the second run of the Sahloinen-Moksi special stage and had to retire.
Sebastien Ogier is now on a strong path to victory in Rally Finland. At the same time, the Frenchman is firmly positioning himself in the World Championship fight this season. Ogier was the fourth fastest on the penultimate special stage of the day and now leads the rally by 42.5 seconds over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
