Rovanperä continued his streak of fastest times by setting a clear fastest time on the second run of Västilä. Toyota’s Finnish star beat his teammate Sebastien Ogier by 6.7 seconds.
Rovanperä has been the fastest on every special stage on Saturday. Even the fact that it rained more during his turn than for any other top-class driver didn’t slow him down on Västilä.
“I don’t know what the others are doing there because the rain once again came for us. I don’t know what is going on there because the rain always comes for us. But It was a good stage,” Rovanperä smiled.
Rovanperä now has a 28.6-second lead over second-placed Ogier in the overall standings. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is in third, but he is already over a minute behind Rovanperä.
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux remains fourth, ahead of Toyota driver Sami Pajari. Competing with Rally1 equipment for the first time, Pajari was fourth fastest on Västilä.
“It was a pleasure to drive this stage as well. The time is good too,” commented Pajari, who had to drive cautiously on the first run of Västilä due to Gregoire Munster’s crash.
Elfyn Evans, who suffered technical issues on Saturday morning, had his service extended by 16 minutes over time before the Västilä special stage. As a result, he was penalised with a two-minute and 40-second time penalty, dropping him out of the top ten in the overall standings.
Oliver Solberg holds the lead in the WRC2 class after the 14th special stage. Toyota’s team principal, Jari-Matti Latvala, is in second place, 22.6 seconds behind Solberg.
Rally Finland will have two more special stages on Saturday. The competition ends on Sunday.
Rally Finland standings after SS14/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:39:34.0 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +28.6 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:05.8 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:36.2 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2:05.9 |
| 6. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +6:06.9 |
| 7. | Jari-Matti Latvala | Toyota | +6:29.5 |
| 8. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +7:05.2 |
| 9. | Lauri Joona | Skoda | +7:15.3 |
| 10. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +7:16.2 |
Rally Finland Itinerary
Thursday 1.8. 09.01 Shakedown: Ruuhimäki (4.12 km) 18.05 SS1: Harju 1 (3.48 km) Friday 2.8. 07.13 SS2: Laukaa 1 (17.96 km) 08.20 SS3: Saarikas 1 (15.93 km) 09.35 SS4: Myhinpää 1 (15.51 km) 11.05 SS5: Ruuhimäki 1 (7.76 km) 14.10 SS6: Laukaa 2 (17.96 km) 15.17 SS7: Saarikas 2 (15.93 km) 16.32 SS8: Myhinpää 2 (15.51 km) 18.05 SS9: Ruuhimäki 2 (7.76 km) 19.05 SS10: Harju 2 (2.01 km) Saturday 3.8. 08.05 SS11: Västilä 1 (18.94 km) 09.05 SS12: Päijälä 1 (20.19 km) 10.05 SS13: Ouninpohja 1 (32.98 km) 14.35 SS14: Västilä 2 (18.94 km) 15.35 SS15: Päijälä 2 (20.19 km) 16.35 SS16: Ouninpohja 2 (32.98 km) Sunday 4.8. 07.55 SS17: Sahloinen-Moksi 1 (14.27 km) 09.05 SS18: Laajavuori 1 (4.35 km) 10.17 SS19: Sahloinen-Moksi 2 (24.27 km) 12.15 SS20: Laajavuori 2 (8.77 km)* Power Stage
