Rovanperä suffered a loss of air in a tyre on the final stage of the morning loop, but the tyre did not fully deflate, so the situation did not cause any major problems.
Overall, the Finn’s morning loop was still successful, as he managed to close the gap to his team-mate Sébastien Ogier ahead of him. Ogier remains in seventh place, but Rovanperä has now climbed to within 19.9 seconds of the Frenchman.
And in such a punishing gravel event, that kind of gap is far from impossible to overturn.
“I’m just trying to be fast and avoid all problems,” Rovanperä said.
“The first run was really, really challenging – only four cars ahead, and still plenty of surprises and loose rocks. Still, it was okay. We are still closing the gap to the drivers around us, so that’s good,” Rovanperä continued.
During Rally Saudi Arabia it has already become clear that starting position plays a major role. Cars starting further back gain a clear advantage over the first cars on the road.
“It’s quite clear that the roads are getting cleaner here day by day, even in the afternoons,” Rovanperä said.
“I’ll just keep pushing and see what happens. The gaps ahead are too big to close just by driving, but we’ll try to push and avoid problems – we’ll see where that gets us,” the Finnish driver summed up calmly.
Rovanperä has not particularly enjoyed the driving so far. The special stages in Saudi Arabia are mostly technical “Mickey Mouse sections,” which Rovanperä has never been a fan of.
“The character of the stages is very technical, especially in the middle part. Still, driving on these roads is a bit more comfortable. But the conditions are still quite tough, and especially the final stage of the loop is going to be really difficult,” Rovanperä predicted.
