The fastest time on the opening stage was ultimately recorded by Ott Tänak, who beat his teammate Thierry Neuville by exactly one second.
“I enjoy these roads, but they aren’t easy at all. Everything needs to be spot on, and we need full confidence. We will find out tomorrow what the feeling is,” Tänak said at the end of the stage.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans (+1.3) and Takamoto Katsuta (+1.6) placed third and fourth on the short super special stage in Mikolajki. Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen finished fifth ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä arrived at the fast gravel event in Poland on short notice on Tuesday evening. This meant that the Finnish driver, brought in to replace Sebastien Ogier, had no preparation for the competition.
Rovanperä couldn’t keep up with the leaders on the opening stage, finishing seventh, 2.1 seconds behind Tänak. The world champion spoke honestly about his tough situation in a live TV broadcast.
“I don’t think so (winning is possible), at least in a reasonable or safe way. But that’s the shit, it’s super annoying. You come here just to have a good finish. But when you are driving, it’s shit if you don’t try to win.” Rovanperä bluntly stated.
“For sure, I don’t try to win this time. There is no point; we are still late with everything. We are going to have a super long night,” Rovanperä referred to the fact that he and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen would review the special stages on video before Friday’s drive.
The Rally Poland properly kicks off on Friday, with a total of seven special stages on the schedule.
Standings in the Rally Poland after SS1/19 :
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 1:42.5 |
| 2. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1.0 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1.3 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1.6 |
| 5. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +1.8 |
| 6. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1.9 |
| 7. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +2.1 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2.7 |
| 9. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +3.7 |
| 10. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +5.7 |
| 11. | Roberto Dapra | Skoda | +7.1 |
| 12. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +7.3 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +7.4 |
| 13. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +7.4 |
Rally Poland Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 27.6. 10:01 Shakedown: Lubiewo (5.10 km) 19:05 SS1: Mikołajki Arena 1 (2.50 km) Friday 28.6. 08:45 SS2: Stańczyki 1 (29.40 km) 10:20 SS3: Wieliczki 1 (12.90 km) 11:10 SS4: Olecko 1 (13.20 km) 14:05 SS5: Stańczyki 2 (29.40 km) 15:40 SS6: Wieliczki 2 (12.90 km) 16:30 SS7: Olecko 2 (13.20 km) 19:00 SS8: Mikołajki Arena 2 (2.50 km) Saturday 29.6. 08:30 SS9: Świętajno 1 (18.50 km) 09:45 SS10: Gołdap 1 (19.90 km) 10:35 SS11: Czarne 1 (22.40 km) 13:25 SS12: Mikołajki Arena 3 (2.50 km) 16:00 SS13: Świętajno 2 (18.50 km) 17:15 SS14: Gołdap 2 (19.90 km) 18:05 SS15: Czarne 2 (22.40 km) Sunday 30.6. 09:00 SS16: Gmina Mrągowo 1 (20.80 km) 10:05 SS17: Mikołajki 1 (10.73 km) 12:20 SS18: Gmina Mrągowo 2 (20.80 km) 14:15 SS19: Mikołajki 2 (10.73 km) *Power Stage
