Kalle Rovanperä set fastest times on the morning loop, lifting the Finn into the rally lead.
However, teammate Elfyn Evans has thrown down a tough challenge, setting up an extremely tense situation heading into the afternoon stages. Rovanperä leads the rally by just 0.4 seconds over Evans.
“It’s been pretty tight this morning. From our side, it was clean, so there’s nothing particularly special to report,” said Evans.
The battle will continue on the afternoon loop. Evans’ plan is quite straightforward.
“What else can you do? Just keep driving and see where we are at the end of the race,” planned Evans.
“In this rally, you always have to take some risks in fast corners. At the same time, you have to drive cleanly, so it’s about finding the right balance, as always,” Evans continued.
In the fight for victory, Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen is also in the mix, trailing the leaders by just 2.7 seconds.
The Norwegian’s season has been difficult so far, but now he’s staying with the pace at the front and even led the entire competition after Friday.
“It’s been fantastic to be able to fight! Yesterday we lost time on the second loop, so we need to find improvements there. I’ll keep pushing and try to regain the time. I need to push harder this afternoon,” planned Mikkelsen.
There are still three special stages to go on Saturday in the Polish WRC rally. The competition concludes on Sunday.
