Rovanperä set six fastest times on six stages on Friday and leads the rally by a fairly clear margin after the first day of running. The Finn was therefore the quickest on every stage of the day.
Not even eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier could match the Finn’s pace throughout the day. The gap between the Toyota duo is 26.8 seconds after Friday.
Rovanperä’s performance looked extremely convincing. Brimming with self-confidence, the Finn found good settings for his car already on Thursday, and since then Rovanperä has been able to do what he does best: drive fast.
And in that, Rovanperä succeeded almost perfectly on Friday.
“This was pretty close to a perfect day, but a driver never thinks a day is truly perfect. A really good day in any case,” Rovanperä told RallyJournal.com.
“The feeling has been really good. We have been able to drive our own pace all the time, and it hasn’t felt like we’ve been pushing super hard. It has felt like we’re just driving according to the notes and everything is working,” Rovanperä continued.
Rovanperä’s driving has looked very effortless and even easy.
“This hasn’t been easy. You just have to keep pushing and maintain the same kind of flow all the time,” Rovanperä said.
“These are the kind of roads where, when you drive fast, the rhythm stays good and no mistakes come. It’s the same everywhere, of course, but especially here,” Rovanperä added.
On Saturday at Rally Islas Canarias, seven special stages will be contested.
“Tomorrow will certainly be an interesting day and surely also a bit different. Maybe the car will need a bit different settings as well. We already tried a little on the last stage. Hopefully we’ll find good settings for the car for tomorrow,” Rovanperä hoped.
