Rovanperä set two fastest times during the morning loop, moving to the top of the rally standings.
Teammate Elfyn Evans continued his good form in Finland, trailing the Finn by just a slim 0.2 seconds. Toyota holds the top three positions, with Sebastien Ogier in third place, three seconds behind the leader.
“This was, of course, the goal. The gap is too small, but otherwise, it’s quite good,” Rovanperä said at the end of the morning loop.
The morning conditions were extremely challenging. It rained heavily in the morning, causing the roads to deteriorate.
“There was surprisingly much dirt on the roads. I can’t remember the last time the roads got so dirty and slowed down this much. The roads kept getting a lot dirtier, and the feeling with the car wasn’t the best either,” Rovanperä recapped.
The morning loop was eventful. During the second stage of the morning, the Saarijärvi special stage, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak crashed heavily, and his co-driver Martin Järveoja was taken to the hospital. Even before Tänak’s crash, his teammate Thierry Neuville had overrun a corner, but luckily for the Belgian, he ended up on a forest road.
“In this kind of weather, there are always some surprises, but there weren’t too many today. I wasn’t pushing too hard because I had to fight a bit with the car. In such a situation, you don’t want to try anything extra,” Rovanperä said.
Rovanperä also successfully drove the Myhinpää special stage in the morning. Last year, Rovanperä’s rally ended on this very stage. However, old ghosts no longer haunted his mind.
“You don’t really have time to think about it. Of course, it comes to mind when you drive past that spot, but you don’t have time to think about it in advance,” Rovanperä said.
The afternoon loop will offer five more special stages. The morning stages will be driven again, and the evening will end with the Harju spectator stage.
