Despite limited preparation, Rovanperä has quickly found a good pace. After Friday’s stages, Rovanperä is in second place, just 1.8 seconds behind rally leader Andreas Mikkelsen.
“The summer boy has driven well. It didn’t quite start well, but as he gained more experience on the stages, the speed also started to come, ” Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala laughed.
Latvala referred to Rovanperä as the “summer boy” because Rovanperä had to interrupt his summer holiday to replace the injured Sebastien Ogier in Poland.
Friday in Rally Poland saw some unfortunate events, with a total of three special stages being ruined due to spectators’ misbehaviour. It must be said, however, that the actions of the local rally organisation along the stages have been far from adequate.
“These decisions were made today. I hope and perhaps see that the FIA has given a bit of a warning to the spectators with these cancellations. Maybe they’ve been cancelled more easily today so that on Saturday the spectators would understand to position themselves better. I hope there won’t be any more cancellations. It would be better for both the spectators and the competitors,” Latvala summarised.
Seven special stages are scheduled to be run in Poland on Saturday.
