Once again, Rovanperä was in a class of his own on stage 11 of the competition. This time, the Finnish Toyota star beat his teammate Sébastien Ogier by two seconds.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä leads Ogier by a full 40 seconds.
“That (stage win) is good news. It’s not so often that we’re in this kind position that the stage wins comes this easily, but I’m enjoying – it’s quite nice,” Rovanperä said.
Behind Rovanperä, stage positions were decided by fractions of a second. Toyota locked out the top five, with Rovanperä, Ogier, Elfyn Evans, Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta all finishing within 3.5 seconds of each other.
In the overall classification, Toyota also holds a 1–5 sweep in the exact same order:
Rovanperä leads, Ogier is second, Evans third (+1:03.9), Pajari fourth (+1:25.3), and Katsuta fifth (+1:36.2).
Hyundai’s drivers have completely dropped off the pace of Toyota’s top five on Saturday. Adrien Fourmaux, Thierry Neuville, and Ott Tänak are now all over two minutes behind the rally leader.
During Saturday afternoon, the Hyundai drivers have begun experimenting with various setup options in their Rally1 cars.
“I’m on the maximum of what I can do at the moment with what we have. I tried to enjoy this one, but still not the greatest feeling,” said Neuville, who sits seventh.
M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster fell far from the top ten after going off the road. His Ford Puma got stuck at the roadside, and although spectators helped him get going again, the incident cost him over three minutes.
Two more stages remain on Saturday at the Canary Islands WRC rally. The event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Islas Canarias standings after SS11/18:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:07:50.5 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +40.1 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:03.9 |
| 4. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:25.3 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:36.2 |
| 6. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +1:55.6 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:04.5 |
| 8. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2:24.2 |
| 9. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +5:10.9 |
| 10. | Alejandro Cachon | Skoda | +5:29.1 |
| 11. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +5:34.5 |
Rally Islas Canarias itinerary (CET):
Thursday 24 April
10:01 SS1 Shakedown: Santa Brígida (6.26 km)
Friday 25 April
09:03 SS1 Valsequillo - Telde 1 (26.32 km)
10:49 SS2 Velleseco - Artenara 1 (15.27 km)
12:25 SS3 La Aldea - Mogán 1 (17.83 km)
14:35 Service
16:18 SS4 Valsequillo - Telde 2 (26.32 km)
18:04 SS5 Velleseco - Artenara 2 (15.27 km)
19:40 SS6 La Aldea - Mogán 2 (17.83 km)
Saturday 26 April
09:05 SS7 Moya - Gáldar 1 (24.09 km)
10:48 SS8 Arucas - Firgas - Teror 1 (13.75 km)
11:58 SS9 Tejeda - San Mateo 1 (23.30 km)
13:40 Service
16:05 SS10 Moya - Gáldar 2 (24.09 km)
17:48 SS11 Arucas - Firgas - Teror 2 (13.75 km)
18:58 SS12 Tejeda - San Mateo 2 (23.30 km)
21:35 SS13 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1.80 km)
Sunday 27 April
09:10 SS14 Agüimes - Santa Lucía 1 (14.97 km)
10:05 SS15 Maspalomas 1 (13.47 km)
11:35 SS16 Costa Canaria (1.50 km)
12:21 SS17 Agüimes - Santa Lucía 2 (14.97 km)
14:15 SS18 Maspalomas 2 (13.47 km) *Power Stage
