Rovanperä leads the rally by 4.9 seconds ahead of Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville. The Finnish driver has struggled with Hankook tyres throughout the season’s gravel rallies, but on home roads he has managed to deliver.
Toyota team principal Juha Kankkunen was overall pleased with his team’s performance. Behind Rovanperä, Takamoto Katsuta is in fourth, Sami Pajari fifth, and Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans follow in the next positions. The entire top six is within just over 17 seconds.
“We’re well in the game here. Maybe not the best Kalle, but good. He’s still capable of better. What was positive was that he smiled at me for the first time since Rally Islas Canarias,” Kankkunen chuckled.
“Surely he tried a bit harder than elsewhere, but it was still clean driving. He didn’t go wide, stayed on track. There was no thrashing about.”
Kankkunen didn’t feel Rovanperä was driving on the limit, but he emphasised in the same breath that in Rally Finland one can never take it easy.
“Everyone always drives on the edge and situations can arise. If you play it safe in this rally, then you’re battling for places 10 to 20. Surely he was close a few times, but I didn’t see a single moment where he’d have needed to look out the side window,” Kankkunen pondered.
“Taka also had a good day, but was a few times so close that it’s hard to get any closer. I’ve seen quite a few of his moments in this rally,” Kankkunen quipped.
The four-time world champion was surprised by Ott Tänak’s subdued pace. The Estonian was first on the road, which proved costly. A heavy impact with a tree on the opening stage of the afternoon added to his woes.
“I considered Tänak the biggest threat, but I must admit that especially Adrien Fourmaux has driven brilliantly. We knew Neuville would be quick, but Fourmaux has been a bit of a surprise compared to his usual performance,” Kankkunen summed up.
“Now you see why I’ve been trying to defend poor Elfyn to you all along. It hasn’t been an easy spot for him, having driven first on the road since Sweden.”
Pajari’s performance also delighted Kankkunen, although for example, on the second run of Laukaa and the Harju stage that ended the day, he lost several seconds to the front. Pajari trails Rovanperä by 15.7 seconds, nearly ten of which came on those two aforementioned stages.
“Sami posted plenty of good times. The only thing was that usually when he fought for tenths, then came a couple of stages where he lost five seconds. Maybe they just didn’t suit him well, but otherwise he drove beautifully. No complaints,” Kankkunen said.
By Friday afternoon, thunderstorms added their own spice to the competition. The same is likely to happen on Saturday.
“You can’t do anything about the weather, but of course it’s frustrating. I’ve had to face heavy rain and even hailstorms myself. There are no wipers in existence that can help in that. You can’t really see anything. You have to be cautious. No need to be a madman. You can roughly make out where the road goes,” Kankkunen described.
